Karen posted:
"She called a few weeks later to let me know that she had hired a
private=20=
IBCLC who had her put the baby NOT tummy to tummy, but in what we would=20=
normally consider a poor position - cradle hold with baby lying on her ba=
ck=20 next to mom, turning her head to latch. The LC had my friend leave the
la= tch=20 completely to the baby, who was finally able to latch comfortably
for the=  first=20 time ever. I don't know more of the details, like the
exact position of t= he baby=20 once latched, or whether the baby's bottom
was pulled in close. My friend= =20 continued to use this technique and saw
immediate relief from her sorenes= s,=20 healed quickly, and continued to
breastfeed her thriving baby to this day= , now=20 age 2 yrs.

I was so frustrated to find that 1) the complete opposite of what I had b=
een=20 taught was ultimately the solution and 2) that another IBCLC seemed
to kn= ow=20 something I had never heard of! Why aren't we putting more
emphasis on th= is?=20 Perhaps baby-led latching is the answer to those moms
who are put off by = our=20 awkward cross-cradle-too-many-pillows-asymmetric
technique that feels so=20="
***************************

Karen - I totally understand your frustration.  Just when we think we've
worked out what's going to be helpful we find out there's a whole other way!
But that's the appeal of our profession (one of them) - we're like
detectives trying to find the clue to solve the Mystery of the Difficult
Latch.  My experience is that most babies will respond very well to some
variation of what Rebecca Glover terms "baby's instinctive position" - the
classic belly-to-belly, extended neck, nose to nipple = lovely gape and deep
latch.  But then there are those babies who (for no reason we can determine)
act as if we're asking them to enter the 100-meter hurdles!

Most of these that I see have had trouble from the very start - there has
never been a good latch.  Swarms of hospital staff have tried.  Mom has
tried every feed, wrestling with the now breast-adverse little puppy.  If
the instinctive position doesn't work then I've found it helpful to sit back
and see what the baby will do if left to own devices. For example, the
occasional baby loves to be left lying supine on pillow while mom leans
over, elicits gape then leans breast to baby (no positioning baby at all).
They lie there blissed out gulping away.  After a few days they can then be
moved to breast in a position more comfortable for mom!  Some don't want to
be tight against mom - trailing out to her side (that "flag-flying"
position) may do the trick. And some dyads are in such an unhappy state that
the best bet is to give them a day or two to reacquaint and then start over
(very careful pump/bottle and skin-to-skin).  This works beautifully when
all else has failed (assuming there are no oral motor etc issues).

My humble opinion there is no One Right Way.  I'll use any technique that'll
work and tidy up the details as baby and mom become more confident.  

Joanna Koch, IBCLC  

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