I have the impression that a cross-cradle hold and an oversupply can be a
bad combination, for several reasons.
He's developing more of an intellect, which starts saying to him, "Wait a
minute! We have rights too!"
He may begin to figure out that he's being *forced* to keep his mouth on
that firehose every time he eats, and may start to rebel against it.
He may not have much head extension in that position, requiring the milk
to go around a sharp "throat angle," which can involve gulping, which isn't
fun.
He doesn't have any fine-tuned control over flow available to him. The
control is all on his mother's side, and she's unaware of when the floods
come and recede.
And I've wondered if that's why lying down works with some of these
4-ish-month-olds who start refusing to nurse. They're allowed much more
control in that position - control they never get otherwise.
She might try working her way into some laid-back breastfeeding, but doing
it gradually, because he'll think it's weird if she throws it at him cold
turkey. Spend time relaxing on the couch together, chest on chest, offering
her breast the same old way but with her tipped slightly back, and then more
and more back until gravity holds him in position with very little help from
her and hands *off* his neck and head.
A thought, anyway.
Another thought would be to hug him more closely in whatever hold she
currently uses, so that his chest is *closely* held against her chest, and
he has more head extension as he "looks up the mountain". That, at least,
would help straighten out the neck kink. But since he's already reluctant
to nurse, I think this solution - even if it might have helped a couple
months ago - is probably too little too late.
Diane Wiessinger, MS, IBCLC, LLLL Ithaca, NY USA
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