The "fit" between the mother and baby continues to change as the baby gets older and bigger, so you're right that sometimes the mother has to re-visit positioning and latching.

Sometimes a bigger older baby ends up nursing with their chin tucked down to their chest, with their head trapped in the crook of the mother's arm, so the top teeth are digging in a right angle to the areola.   So going back the newborn tricks to help the baby get a big mouthful -- maybe even a nice exaggerated "sandwich" as discussed by Diane Weissinger and Rebecca Glover.

 if the baby is nursing on the right breast, try moving the baby's body to left,  with the baby's head on the mother's forearm, free to move.  (If in side-lying position, move the baby down toward their feet, so he's really looking up at his mother's face. )  The baby's chin is anchored on the breast with the nipple up their nose.  Feeling the nipple under the nose will encourage the baby to tip his head back, and drag the lower jaw on the areola.  The lower jaw is doing all the work -- the areola folds in first and the nipple flips in last.  If the baby's head is tipped back, it should reduce the pressure and the angle of the teeth on the top.

Is she still using a pillow?  Is the baby really jammed up in an armchair?  Maybe trying a sofa where she can really spread the baby out more.  

Does the baby seem to have any difficulty in tipping his head back?



Good luck to the team.

Margaret Sabo Wills, IBCLC Maryland


> 
> Date:    Sat, 20 Jun 2015 16:58:17 -0400
> From:    "Jessica L. Callahan" <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: teeth and breastfeeding
> 
> Permission to post
> 
> Mom has 7 month old baby, ever since his top two teeth came in he is creating knicks on her areola right above where the nipple meets. She has tried many things with positions and holding but they keep happening. They are painful when nursing. Can you give me some more suggestions to try to help her out. Please mother is desperate. She has gone back and forth between pumping for a couple of days to allow the sore on one nipple to heal while she nurses on the other breast and then once its healed he has created sores on that breast so she switches and then it happens all over again. we've tried a nipple shield but it is a foreign object to him and he is not happy with it at the breast although he will play with it and suck on it he will not nurse with it. His latch looks great for a 7 month old.
> 
> jessica callahan RN IBCLC
> NC, USA
> 
>   

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