This little one reminds me of my sixth baby.  David had an abyssmal latch 
and very disorganized suck.  We had weight gain issues from the beginning. 
I'm an IBCLC and I looked at everything with this child.  He had a perhaps 
slightly a little tight frenulum, but nothing that should really cause 
issues on this order.  Everything else was normal except he had trouble 
maintaining a good latch (would fall off the breast while nursing) and was a 
very inefficient nurser.  After much thought I realized he'd been born with 
meconium and the cord around his neck tightly - he'd been a little blue. 
Since he was born to a grand multipara, there was no time for distress to 
become evident to others during labor - I had about an hour labor.  Since he 
was born so quickly,  I don't think his issues really registered with anyone 
at the hospital but me (I was the one to remove the cord for example).   He 
seemed very upset at birth and would not nurse for an hour or two - unlike 
my other children.

I believe he had some neurological disorganization from his birth.  I spent 
the next 5 months stroking around his lips before he nursed, holding his 
chin up in the dancer's position (which seemed to help him use more energy 
to nurse effectively) while he nursed, and doing breast compressions 
throughout every feeding.  Those things and the large supply from breasts 
that knew what they were doing kept him gaining enough once I implemented 
them.  After five months of this, things fell into place for him and he 
became a champion nurser that nursed until he was maybe 2 and a half.

For me, as a homeschooling mother of six children at the time, it was much 
easier to do whatever it took to keep him direct-nursing.  It was easier to 
sit in my recliner all day with him than it would have been to pump.  In the 
recliner, I could keep teaching my other children.  My teen sons would have 
been very uncomfortable with me pumping (they don't mind nursing at all) and 
that would have taken me away from the other children everytime I had to 
pump.  The bottles and whatnot I knew very little about using daily like 
that would have been a big burden, too.

Anyway, I would look at the possibility that this little one may be an 
ineffective latcher and nurser due to either the physical issues of big 
nipple/ small mouth and as well, that he may have neurological 
disorganization and need some extra help to nurse.  The green stools, etc. 
I suspect may be coming from an abundant milk supply trying to feed this 
babe - too much foremilk.  That was the case with David and I kept him on 
one side for several hours at a time.

BTW, whatever issues David had as an infant have thoroughly resolved.  He is 
five now and talks like he's 45 years old - a bright and funny child  :-)

Hope that helps a little,
Melanie Young, IBCLC

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