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Ever since Mateo got this strange sore throat virus he has not been latching very well.. he'll latch on the pull away and keep doing this. I just recently received a Lact-Aid and for the first time got him to latch without pulling away quickly and madly. My issue is ONE: I have very large breast and positioning the baby is becoming a problem because I don't want to suffocate the little guy and I basically need two hands to hold the breast and then position the nipple in his mouth. If I had a third hand this would be easy so finding a comfy place to nurse is a MUST but not always possible, the football hold seems to be the best way but he's getting bigger and kicks the back of the chair then gets mad because he loses his latch lol. Second.. I have to use adhesive to keep the Lact-Aid tubing in place because of the latching and pulling away problem but he seems to not like the tape at all.. is there a type of medical tape that is skin thin out there? Has anyone else had this problem? I feel so bad for him because he's starving by this time and we have such a hard time getting him to latch without the Lact-Aid tubing moving around. Mateo also gets frustrated and tends to move his head side to side quickly obviously looking for the breast but he gets so mad that when I finally get everything in order he just doesn't want it anymore so I just pour the milk in a bottle. Should I try to calm him then try again? Am I giving up too quickly?.. HELP! thanks!!

Hi,

How old is Mateo?
I am large busted as well. A couple of suggestions. Do you use a nursing pillow such as my breast friend? I found that very helpful when positioning my DD for nursing. I used the lact aid as well. What about using a band aid, that worked for me. I did have some surgery tape that worked as well.

I would position the lact aid around my neck ahead of time so that when DD fussed we could latch on immediately. Keeping the lact aid against your skin keeps it warm.

The more often you have success with latching on with the lact aid the better. Babies are quite astute and prefer the bottle cause it's easy! I would at least try and calm him and try and latch on again. Can you have anyone give you a hand for a few feedings until you get the hang of it? They could calm him while you adjust the lact aid and pillow.

Keep trying, it is worth it. I BF my DD for 14 months. We have such a strong bond now. : )

press on!
Linda

btw Mateo is DARLING!

Thank you so much for your advice, Mateo is 4 months old now but we havn't always had trouble with latching on with the lact-aid it's a recent problem. I pump primarily to make sure he gets mostly breast milk but I would really like the nursing to go more smoothly as it did before. We had no trouble at first but after he became ill he latches and releases over and over which makes it so much more difficult using the lact-aid. I found this adhesive called tegaderm which is very thin and clear and can actually go over the areola if needed and he does not seem to mind it as much though he still does the latch and release thing. It's getting a little better and I'm going to buy a breast friend pillow as the boppy just isn't cutting it. Thank you again and I'm sure I'll be back looking for more help lol

I am just wondering if maybe his ears are bothering him. When they suckle it can hurt their ears if there is an infection, that may be why he keeps releasing.

I think Claudia might be on to something. I didn't realize this was a recent problem. I would definitely check the ears.

Hope he continues to improve!

We did take him in and they said his ears were a little red but it was nothing to worry about and they found small bumps in his throat I can't spell out exactly what they called it but it was viral and they told us it could take 7-10 days to go away which is why he was latching and releasing. I stopped nursing during this time because feeding was far too difficult and he wouldn't stay latched, even feeding a bottle was a problem. Now that he is better and we're back to trying to nurse exclusively he still latches and releases but not as frequent I'm thinking we just need to get the hang of it again. I did find out information on LLLI here is a link just in case there are other mothers who have positioning issues. http://www.llli.org/llleaderweb/LV/LVMayJun89p35.html
There was a great tip in this article mentioning I could place a diaper or rolled up receiving blanket underneath the breast I am nursing from to help get a better grip. I am going to try that for our next feeding. Thanks for the advice ladies. Hopefully we'll get back to where we were before he was ill. ::Here's hoping::

:::Update::: The LLLI link posted above solved my issue completely. I rolled up a burp rag and placed it under the breast I was nursing from and just used a regular pillow to place Mateo on while in football hold position and he stayed latched even when he pulled off it was easy to get him back on with no fussiness!! I tried it first without the lact-aid and he latched perfectly, and then with the lact-aid, because of the position and extra support I had a free hand to help get him on the nipple correctly and position the lact-aid tube without an adhesive. I am so blissfully happy thank you all for your feedback and support. Hopefully Mateo and I will have a long happy breastfeeding relationship.

Good to hear. Congrats!

Great to hear and thank you for the link! That will help others.