Jo-Anne's comments are well taken.
"It seems to help when I tell mothers that I see what is happening, that
I accept that is her experience, and that no, this is not the way it is
supposed to be. So in these circumstances, with these bodies, let's see
what might work to make everyone happy."
Last summer I posted to the list about my daughter's baby who was
breastfeeding but could not latch. She is 8 months old now, and has been
nursed exlusively. However, she still never has latched well. Fortunately
her mother has a very good milk supply which is being helped along by her
nursing 2 year old.
Sometimes the answers elude us. Baby Quinn was a normal vaginal delivery,
no meds. She was nursed from the beginning,lots of holding, lots of work
with asymmetric latching, good positioning, everything that would seem to
be what makes this all work right. If my daughter had not been committed to
breastfeeding, I am sure she would have given up. Breastfeeding hurts some
of the time! Still! And this little one has had a very difficult time
taking a bottle as well. After using many different nipples of varying
flows and shapes, the only one she will take is the disposable hospital Nuk
type nipple. Other Nuk type nipples don't work for her because of where the
hole is placed. Since my daughter is a labor and delivery nurse and works
12 hour shifts, it was important to find something that worked. It took a
while to try this one and see that she could latch and get milk with it.
She was 8 pounds at birth and is now about 17 pounds, doing well. There is
nothing really unusual about her, she has a rather short tongue and had her
frenulum clipped the first week, but the frenulum was very short to start
with and that didn't make a lot of difference.
We have all had these kinds of cases that don't magically improve by us
teaching and showing moms how to "do the right things." They can be very
discouraging. Fortunately we also have the kinds of cases that magically DO
improve when we offer assistance. It is humbling to know that we still have
a lot to learn, and that no matter what things look like on the outside,
there are some things beyond our control. Listening, sharing what we do
know, and having the "wisdom to know the difference" like the Serenity
prayer says, is who we are. We have come a long way in this profession and
we will come farther as we share more and more of our experiences,
creativity and research. Yet, in the end, kindness to our patients and to
each other is one of our best features!
Ann Calandro, RNC, IBCLC
***********************************************
To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail
To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest)
To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
All commands go to [log in to unmask]
The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(R)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html
|
