Logan’s Story - My New Beginning in Breastfeeding

I was just lucky when Sarah (my daughter) came. Even though she was given both a bottle and a pacifier before breast, she latched and ate like a champ from the very minute they let her try. This is not to say that we didn’t have a little learning curve and adjustment where they needed to be, but only that our beginning was very relaxed and in tune with each other.

Mr. Logan on the other hand, not quite the same story. See he began as a lazy latcher. He wanted to be at the breast and he wanted to suck but he did not want to open is mouth very far and he especially didn’t want to have my nipple very far in his mouth. He would push it out with a pretty good force. He just didn’t know how.

Thankfully I had all the wonderful experience with my daughter who ended up nursing until three. This gave me the knowledge of how to tell that his latch was shallow and in which ways it was wrong. I had some of the tools we needed to correct his latch and prevent as much pain as I could.

First, I knew that his lips should be pushed out both on the top and bottom, but his lower lip was almost never this way. So we worked on his positioning and then also manually helped pull his jaw down and lip out (gently so as not to hurt him).

I also realized that I had become a lazy nurser while feeding my toddler. See, when they get a bit older they do all these funny acrobatics and their mouths are strong enough and large enough to hold on.

Newborns have none of this, so in order for him to eat well, I would need to get him in the right position, get his latch on their properly and then hold him tight and adjust where needed. We both had a new learning curve.

Now, I did work with the IBCLC (Internationally board certified lactation consultant) at the hospital and went home moderately confident we would do just fine.

Then his latch really was not improving and I discovered at his two week checkup that he was in fact not back at birth weight. I knew I was pouring milk (both from my leaking and pumping) but he simply wasn’t getting enough.

So I started looking for more help. I attended a breastfeeding group and even got a little one on one help from more than one source. Through a series of small adjustments and simply letting his mouth get bigger, we learned how to breastfeed together.

Now, at three months, he is latching better, and growing steadily on his curve. I assume he will always be a little bitty, just like his sister but he is growing well and that is all that matters.

Just because this is not your first baby, does not mean you are automatically an expert on this baby. Don’t beat yourself up, give both of you some grace and seek the help you need. Every baby is different and every journey is different so just take it one step at a time.

I would love to hear how your babies were different from each other in the comments. And it would be a true honor to help document your journey with a motherhood session and blog post. If you are interested in participating please contact me.

*All images in the blog were taken my Charming Clicks Photography. www.charmingclicks.com