This is going to be a controversial thing to say not to mention
self-contradictory, since I do pretty much latch babies during consults with
an off-central latch (I usually teach the cross-cradle hold, and being a
chin-first position, that kind of naturally lends itself to such a
latch-on)...BUT....honestly I have no problem with noses touching breasts.
Very often they do, and my community of clients are rather worried as it is
about "suffocating" the baby should his nose touch the breast. They need no
encouragement from me whatsoever in that regard - rather the opposite; if I
don't tell them it's "okay" for the baby's nose to touch her breast, and
that she won't suffocate him if he does, then she goes too far in the other
direction, doing whatever she can to keep his nose as far off as possible
(using fingers to compress that part of her breast where his nose is is
typical).
Also I find lots of moms who, in their fear that nursing will hurt, don't
move the baby far enough onto the breast in the first place - in that
initial moment of latch-on. Sometimes I see babies who literally have to
LEAP onto the breast in order to get to it. I've gotten to the point where
I've started to say, "I know this sounds counterintuitive, but the MORE
breast he gets in his mouth, the LESS you will feel." I'm not entirely
comfortable yet with saying that and in fact may stop, because it's not a
matter of feeling LESS but rather feeling BETTER, but I'm talking here about
women who can't imagine feeling anything BUT pain while nursing.
In this context, I'm supposed to warn a woman not to let the baby's nose
touch her breast? No. Or let's just say it's not on my list of things to
address with the mom. The truth is, if she moves him far enough onto the
areola, he's bound to touch her breast with the tip of his nose at some
point in those first few moments anyway. It won't necessarily remain in
contact with her breast, and I suppose I don't want it to...but I don't go
out of my way to ensure that.
I know plenty will disagree with me and personally that's fine by me as I
believe there's almost always more than one way to resolve any given
breastfeeding problem, but I thought I'd offer my $.02 in case anyone else
out there is, like me, still on speaking terms with noses that touch breasts
<g>.....
Regina Roig-Lane, BS IBCLC for Miami-Dade County WIC
-----Original Message-----
From: heather [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Sunday, October 20, 2002 6:27 PM
Subject: Re: nose and chin?
> >TUMMY TO TUMMY,
>>CHEST TO CHEST,
>>NOSE AND CHIN
>>SHOULD TOUCH THE BREAST.
We usually say 'tummy to mummy' as some mothers are a different
shape to others, and their babies cannot touch 'tummy to tummy'.
I agree with Diane - some breasts are very soft, and floppy, and the
nose might seem to touch them. Mostly, I look (and encourage mothers
to look) to see the nose is *not* touching the breast, as it can be
good sign all is well inside, and the baby and mother have ensured
the nipple and breast have entered the top part of the mouth. A nose
that's touching or buried can mean the latch is too central.
Heather Welford Neil
NCT bfc , Newcastle upon Tyne UK
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