Hi All,

 

I've been working with a mom and baby for 6 weeks now.  Baby has had some
major issues with suck and body.  Traumatic birth and midwife who tried to
twist his body while he was in the birth canal because he was coming out
sunny side up.  When she let him go, mom says it felt like the baby snapped
back around into the original position.his body was extremely tight - he was
a VERY unhappy baby - very uncomfortable in any position.  If you even tried
to touch his upper body he would instinctively pull away from your oncoming
touch - you didn't even have to actually touch him to get this reaction.  

 

At any rate - he is currently 7 wks old.  He is doing really well but still
has some progress to make.  He still has a dysfunctional suck but it is
almost at 100%.  His body issues are being corrected with Bowen therapy - he
has relaxed tremendously, most of his body issues are resolving.  I did some
work on him tonight and watched as his jaws and body relaxed even more and
he was able to adjust his latch for the better.  

 

Mom and I had discussed letting baby take control of the feeds at breast -
let him figure things out for himself.  They came over for a couple hours
tonight and we worked on that.  Baby had so much success!  He was able to
self attach and nursed very well.  At home he nurses ok most times - but
needs a nipple shield it at the end of feeds when he is tired and gets a bit
disorganized (this is an improvement as they were using the shield 100% of
the time just last week).  Tonight (after self attaching without the shield)
he used it for a bit on each breast - then spit it out and fussed around on
the breast, latched on and stayed on.  Mom, dad, and my two sons (9 and
almost 12) and I were all thrilled!  My 9 yr old sat there watching the
whole thing telling the mom over and over, "Don't worry, he can do it - just
watch!"  :-)

 

So to get to the meaning to my subject line - when the baby is nursing in
the position of mom sitting upright and baby on his side - there is a lot of
lip movement going on that shouldn't be.  I am not sure if this is happening
while he is  on top of moms face down on the breast - I can't see!  I know
already the baby's suck is not 100% (per suck eval).  I believe he is
compensating for this by using the lips to help with the compression of the
breast to get his milk.   My question is there a way to fix this or do we
not fix what is actually working and let the baby figure it out on his own?
He has already made HUGE progress - his mother is doing so much work with
him already - suck training that is working well and has helped already to
very much improve his suck abilities.  Thoughts?

 

Notes:  Milk supply is great, baby is gaining well due to mom also
supplementing as needed.

 

Jaye Simpson, IBCLC, CIIM

Breastfeeding Network

Sacramento, CA

www.breastfeedingnetwork.net

 


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