Dear Jennifer,

Just wondering what you mean by "She has that kind of suck where all of the work is being done by the top jaw and the bottom jaw barely plays a role. She is pretty much biting her mother."  Since the bottom jaw is the only part that actually is moving, I'm not sure what you mean.  What I think you are saying is that the baby is not opening wide and compressing the milk sinuses very well - she is depending mainly on suction to extract the milk, hence the blisters at the end of the feed.

Not trying to be nit-picky, but it never hurts to try to be as accurate as possible when describing what is going on during a feed.  Am I misinterpreting?

Mimicking the open mouth is a good idea.  Really try to get this baby to latch from below - maybe with a little pressure on the lower jaw to help widen the gape just before latch (works great with some babies, others just clamp down harder - always worth a try, I think).  Frequent feeds will have a less anxious, hungry baby at breast and may help her to relax the jaw.  Of course, the paci isn't helping.  Good luck.  If is always so much more difficult when mom is in a lot of pain while feeding - everything stays tense all the time.

Warmly,
Sharon Knorr, BSMT, ASCP, IBCLC
Newark, NY (near Rochester on Lake Ontario)
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