Answer # 2: Tips for Nursing With Flat Nipples

Hi MG!

First, congratulations on your new baby. I hope you are enjoying him. Now, on to your questions.

Flat nipples alone should not pose too great of an issue. There are things you can do to draw out the nipple. A tongue tie is slightly different. I do know one mother who worked very hard for 2 months, struggled with breastfeeding, but finally got her son to nurse at the breast. He nursed for almost 3 years.

However, this is the exception. Having your son’s tongue clipped is a minor procedure. You should be able to find a pediatrician, dentist, or ENT who will do it in the office with a local anesthetic cream. If you are not willing to have the tongue clipped, then there is still a great chance you can breastfeed.

As for the flat nipples, you can try to pump before nursing, for just a minute or two. This will help your nipples to become erect. The pumping will also begin to get your milk flowing which will make your let down come faster. This may help your son in that the milk will be there waiting and he will not have to work so hard to get a let down.

I am not sure about proper jaw development as the LC suggested. My expertise is not medical. I would consult with a pediatric dentist before I accepted something so far fetched. I would suggest, if you like, that you offer your pinky finger, nail side down, to your baby to suck on. This will also help to position his mouth correctly for latching on to the breast.

I would continue to offer the breast at every convenience. See if you can get him to latch on for comfort nursing as well as for meal times. You are clearly a dedicated mom and extraordinarily dedicated to breastfeeding. Offer the breast as often as you are able.

If you feel you need to supplement, check into getting a Supplementary Nursing Sytem or Lact-Aid. These are systems that have a small tube that is taped to the breast and runs alongside the nipple. When baby latches on, he will get milk from your breast as well as the tubing. You can fill the Lact-Aid with breastmilk, formula, or a goat’s milk which is much closer to human milk.

Also, I would suggest you find a La Leche League group in your area. There may be moms who have been in your situation and can offer you personal support. To find a group, you can go to http://www.lalecheleague.org/ and search for a group in your area.

Please feel free to ask anymore questions, and I offer you the best of luck!

This was another one of the answers I received to my question Help! My baby is still not latching at 6 weeks! I shall be posting more over the next few posts.

It was useful to receive many opinions and feedback especially at a time when I desperately needed help and support. However, it can also be confusing.

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Answer # 1: Horrible abrasions from latching on incorrectly

Dear MG,

Most of my experience is just personal as I nursed my two daughters for 3 years and 3 1/2 years. The nursing time overlapped a little so it was about 6 years 4 months of straight nursing. In that time and through asking questions when I had trouble and helping others when I could, I have learned quite a bit.

So when my first daughter was born, I knew I would nurse her and wasn't even prepared to consider any other options for feeding outside of some extreme, unforeseen reason arising. I think that's the only thing that kept me going! She was born naturally but the pushing phase was sort of difficult so she was really tired at birth and did not want to try to nurse right away.

That was my first clue that things don't always go the way you envision them. After about 5 hours or so of getting rest and just trying whenever she was awake, she finally took an interest. But she would suck in her lower lip, slide off the nipple, clamped down on the end of the nipple, you name it, she tried it (she is still that kind of person, always trying it her ways first, the advice of the experience means nothing to her!)

I got horrible abrasions from her latching on incorrectly. Both my nipples were totally scabbed and painful after just the first day of failing to get her on the breast correctly!

After a lot of adjusting, she seemed to be getting milk but it was killing me. My midwife helped me some and then I called the local La Leche League Leader. I'm not affiliated with them but they helped me so much that I always recommend them to women needing hands on assistance!

After recognizing that my daughter needed to open her mouth wider, take in more areola, stop sucking in her lip, and get her tongue under the nipple, we started to get on track. The LLL leader told me that after the baby began to get latch on correctly every time, the pain would stop immediately and the wound heal within a week or so.

Knowing this was what made me able to go on. I had to check that her tongue was down, start her again and again when she latched on at the end of the nipple, and manually adjust her lips to the correct position almost every time we nursed until about 4 months of age.

This meant my poor husband had to endure the closet light on in our room every night for the first several months so I could see what I was doing during night nursing. But he never had to get out of bed to heat a bottle either so I figured he could make the sacrifice!

My daughter finally became a pro nurser and went on to nurse through my pregnancy with the second one and tandem nurse with her sister for the first few months. She stayed with it until age 3 when I encouraged her to wean because I was very worn out with the two of them nursing!

I didn't have such trouble with my second child but it was partly because of my previous learning that I was able to avoid some of the pitfalls. I dealt with the sore nipples, pressure from family to wean early, breast infections, plugged milk ducts, thrush infections, exhaustion, etc. and it was the most precious experience of my life just knowing my daughter and I had that time together and she had the best possible start in life.

She's so independent already at age 6 1/2 it makes me realize it was worth it to be patient and stick by her so she could nurse. I hope it works out for you and you are able to nurse your baby. But whatever happens (and yours is a difficult obstacle to overcome) you are doing a great job, so you and your family will know you tried your best. If I can assist you more, let me know. I like to see it work and you seem so dedicated that if it can be made to work, I know it will.

Keep up the good fight! Best of Luck!

This was one of the many replies I received for my desperate question Help! My Baby is still not latching on at 6 weeks! Imagine getting a thoughtful email like that from a total stranger. One whom I have never met and probably never will. The wonder of technology and the goodness of knowing that there are still people out there who care enough to give their time to help others. It really helped.... just knowing that I was not alone.

I shall post some of the other replies I received in my next few posts and hopefully this will help to support some other mothers facing similar breastfeeding difficulties. You are not alone and you can perservere!

Related links:

La Leche League International

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Help! My baby is still not latching on at 6 weeks!

This was my desperate question to the experts at AllExperts.com when I had difficulty latching my baby on during the early days of breastfeeding.

Dear ...........,

My baby is still not latching on at 6 weeks.

I think that I have flat nipples and my lactation consultant has suggested that my baby has a tongue tie and we should think about having baby's frenulum clipped.. At the moment I am pumping and feeding baby from a cup. I have never given him any pacifier or bottle to avoid nipple confusion.

My question is:

1. Is there hope that baby will latch on? What else can I do? My baby can extend his tongue to his lower lip but not very much beyond. My husband and I do not wish to have his frenulum clipped because we are unwilling to take any risk or complications that may arise from the procedure. Does that mean that baby will be unable to breastfeed?
2. My lactation consultant suggested that my baby's jaw will recede and he may have poor jaw and mouth development that may lead to speech problems because he is not latching and does not have anything to suck on. Is this true? Should I be giving him something to suck on? What can I do?

I am thinking of pumping and continue to try to latch baby for 3 months after which I will start offering him expressed breast milk from a bottle as the current situation of pumping, trying to latch baby and cup feeding schedule is too difficult to keep up since I also have a demanding toddler to look after. Whats is your opinion?

Incidentally my toddler also had difficulty latching on. She managed to latch on at around 2 1/4 weeks but had poor weight gain for several months and I was eventually advised by my lactation consultant to supplement with formula. I breastfed her for 1 1/2 years.

I hope you have some good advice and I thank you for your time.

Yours Sincerely,

MG

Here are some more breastfeeding links I find useful:

1. A tongue-tie or ankyloglossia is caused when the membrane under the tongue (the frenulum) extends excessively toward the tip of tongue. Continue reading this article: Tongue tie: To clip or not to clip?
2. It is easier to prevent nipple confusion than to fix it.
3. Latching and Positioning Resources.
4. Breastfeeding stories from other mums with difficulty breastfeeding which inspired me.

Here are the answers I received:

Answer # 1: Horrible abrasions from latching on incorrectly
Answer # 2: Tips for Nursing With Flat Nipples
Answer # 3: Latch Technique for Infants with a tight frenulum
Answer #4: Keep nursing every 2 hours or 8-10 times minimum every 24 hours
Answer #5 & #6: Get his tongue clipped now!

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Do you have a question to ask?

I remember when I had breastfeeding problems, I had no one to turn to and so I turned to the web to search for answers. I was desperate! I was stressed! I was about to give up.

Eventually I found AllExperts.com. This is an excellent site. I want to recommend it to new mothers who need to ask someone a question. You can ask a question on just about anything and get it answered via email by volunteers. Just pick your category, scroll through the biodatas or profiles of the volunteers, then ask your question.

I was so desperate I typed out a standard question and sent it to all the experts in the breastfeeding category. I got a reply between one to three days from the volunteers. Although it did not solve my problems immediately, it helped to have more ideas and views so I could make an informed decision and it helped to just have someone to "talk" to.

Before asking your question, you could also scroll through and view the past answers (the link I have provided is the past answers to breastfeeding questions but you could browse the categories for some other issues or areas which applies to you) then see if any of it helps you. There is a great amount of valuable information there. Do check it out.

Coming next: My desperate question to the experts on breastfeeding.

Help! My baby is still not latching on at 6 weeks!

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The Slow Cooker - A Busy Mum's Lifesaver

With a baby and a toddler in the house, (this was written earlier. now I have a pre-schooler and a toddler in the house) the slow cooker or crockpot is a life-saver. Just dump everything in and a few hours later everyone has good, nutritious, hot piping food or soup. Even baby's food can be be cooked together with the adult's portion. Just remove the vegetable before seasoning and mash up for baby.

My husband and I are always rushing around during the weekend trying to get our chores and errands done. Usually we shop for our groceries on Saturday mornings and when we get home, I will immediately put the freshly bought meat (no defrosting required since it is still fresh). I would buy meat that has been chopped up for convenience and to save time. So all I need to do is to wash and put everything in the crockpot.

Here is one simple meal I usually make for our Saturday TV dinners. :-)

Main Ingredients
- 3 tomatoes
- 1 bombay onion
- 1 potato
- A few brocolli florets
- 2 whole chicken thigh and drum
- pasta (shells or sphagetti)
- salt, sugar and tomato sauce

Method:
1. Fill up slow cooker 3/4 quarters full of water or enough to cover all ingredients
2. Wash meat and put into slow cooker
3. Cut onions, tomato and potatoes into wedges and put everything into the crockpot
4. Cook on high for 2-3 hours
5. Add in brocolli florets and pasta and cook on low for 1 hour
6. Season with salt, sugar and tomato sauce to taste

Notes: Apart from brocolli florets, other vegetables like celery or whatever leftovers you have from your refrigerator can be used to add nutrition and taste to your meal. This soup together with the pasta is a whole meal on its own.

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