
Aparna Hari
Her experience in impactful writing combined with her background in Home Sciences makes Aparna the perfect candidate for content writing in the pregnancy and parenting niche.
Written by Aparna Hari
Her experience in impactful writing combined with her background in Home Sciences makes Aparna the perfect candidate for content writing in the pregnancy and parenting niche.
One major thing new moms have to learn quickly after childbirth is the proper way of baby latching. Your baby will require your breastmilk immediately after birth. Initially, your midwife or nurse will assist you to hold the perfect position and teach you the ways to breastfeed. But to understand the perfect latching for breastfeeding you will need a lot of practice. Baby latching is something that you and your baby will learn together with time.
Baby latching is extremely important for successful breastfeeding. Without it, your baby will not get enough breastmilk to fill the tummy and will get disinterested to suck more for the milk. And you will have to rely on formula milk to compensate for the deficiency of breastmilk. A poor latch will also cause nipple pain and discomfort. So, for successful breastfeeding, you will have to learn the ways to initiate perfect baby latching. Here are some tips for your help.
In This Article
Latching means the way a baby attaches or fastens its mouth against the breast of the mother while breastfeeding. In a good latch, your baby’s mouth will be wide open and the nipple of your breast along with the areola portion will be inside the mouth of your baby. Your nipple will rest in between the tongue and upper gum of your baby. The squeezing of your milk ducts by the gentle movements of your baby’s tongue and jaw will then make the milk flow.
In a good latch, you can realize a suction in between your breast skin and the mouth of your baby. You can hear your baby swallowing the milk. But in case of a poor latch, your baby’s lips will only grab the nipple section instead of the whole areola. As a result, enough milk will not be produced, and you will feel nipple pain. Here are some more signs of poor latching:
[Read : Baby Weight Loss After Birth]
There can be many reasons behind a baby’s poor latching, such as
[Read : Breastfeeding With Flat Or Inverted Nipples]
There is no particular time for a baby to learn to latch. Some babies can learn it in just a few tries while others can take several weeks to learn the process. Effective latching occurs when your milk flow gets smooth.
How fast your baby learns latching will largely depend on your approach to it. According to the Canadian breastfeeding Foundation, there is no proven evidence that a newborn baby needs to be fed every 2/3 hours. So instead of using force to feed your baby, you should use the skin-to-skin contact. Put the baby close to your breasts and let them find out the nipple and suck it on their own. They will soon learn perfect latching.
Here are some more tips for you to make your baby latch properly.
[Read : Skin-to-Skin Contact With Your Newborn]
There are two techniques for breastfeeding latching. One is called the traditional latch and the other is the asymmetrical latch.
This is the widely used method by mothers. In which your baby’s mouth will be centered around the nipple and areola section of your breast and you can see an equal amount of your areola out around all over your baby’s mouth.
In this technique, you will have to place your nipple towards the upper section of your baby’s mouth instead of the centre. Your baby will take more of the areola part towards the chin and less on the upper lip section. This technique is thought to be more effective and comfortable than the traditional latch. Especially women with big breasts find it helpful as they can see the baby’s nose is not getting blocked by the breast skin.
You may find it difficult for the first few weeks as both you and your baby is new to this baby latching experience. But after that, you will definitely become successful. Just keep trying.
If the baby latching is proper, then you will not feel any discomfort while feeding. You can see your baby’s jaw movements and hear swallowing sounds.
In a shallow latch, your baby’s lips will only cover the nipple not the areola section of the breast. The cheeks of the baby will look sunken, and you will feel nipple pain after some time.
Her experience in impactful writing combined with her background in Home Sciences makes Aparna the perfect candidate for content writing in the pregnancy and parenting niche.Read more.
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