Judy,
I recently saw a client who did much the same thing-as baby moved to latch,
mum would "hunker down" tense up and pull slightly back in anticipation of
the latch.  Also found her to be squeezing her breast quite tightly as she
supported it.  All this subconciously to conteract the pain during latch.  I
brought it to her attention and called out reminders to sit up straighter
and squarer and to relax her grip on the breast as she nursed and used an
additional pillow under the babe so she couldn't pull back so far from baby.
She responded quite well and was pleasantly surprised to find the pain was
not nearly as bad as she anticipated once the babe was latched correctly.  I
suppose this was along the same lines that are used in Lamaze for the
partner to verbally tell mom to relax her shoulders and face, etc.
Worked well for this mom.  She would go through the check list in her mind
each time she latched the babe for  the next  several weeks.
Hope that helps,
Debbie
----- Original Message -----
From: <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, September 13, 2000 8:25 PM
Subject: shallow latch and sore nipples


> Hi all,
>
> Worked with a mom of a two week old yesterday.  She had the sorest
> appearing nipples I think I have ever seen.
>
> We ofcourse worked on latch.  Baby opened mouth very wide and we quickly
> latched him .
> Upon examining latch, corners of mouth were not as wide as I would have
> expected.  We worked several times attempting to obtain a deeper latch
> without success.  Although it didn't seem obvious, I am wondering if
> perhaps mom may be moving away from baby as she latches, perhaps in
> anticipation of discomfort.  Baby seems to suck normally on a finger.
>
> She also had some complaints of discomfort within her breast between
> feedings.  She described as prickly or burning.  Yeasty, beasties????
>
> I did suggest a nipple shield, figuring if we healed the nipples then we
> could work on the latch.  Talked to her today and she did not like the
> shield.
>
> Any suggestions of tips for latching or about those sore nipples.  Have
> been reading archives about hydrogel dressings.
>
> TIA,
> Judy RNC, IBCLC
> Upstate NY
>
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