latching on

[nicole179]

my son is 2 weeks old and we are having a little difficulty with breast feeding, he won't latch on to my breast with out  a nipple sheild.  the shields are a pain the butt and i have to use a bottle if there is any one around since the shield does not allow me to be discreat, becuz he and i fumble around with it! i continuously try to give him my breast, or try to slip the sheild away 1/2 way through.  its been frustrating, he has latched 2x to my right breast only, for about 10 minutes each time, so that gives me hope.  does any one have any suggestions? i am working with LC.
also my left breast makes sooo much milk and my right does not. the other night i pumped 3 oz from left and less then 1 on right, this is typical, is there anythng i can do to increase prod. on right side, or should i not be concerned about it?

[AndiJ78]

Try starting baby off on the right more when the suck is more vigorous, that may help.

Have you met with a lactation consultant? she will be able to help you evaluate where the latch may be going wrong and ways to fix it. Try changing positions as well. Side lying is a great one for mom and baby.

[AndiJ78]

Also, I want to let you know not to worry too much about preferring one breast over the other. I nursed all 3 of my children, all very big boys, from only one breast exclusively for over a year each. It was a lot of work, but I just could not get my right breast to produce anything so it was up to my left to do the work of 2 and it did,

[tiredbuthappy]

try different positions. my little one latches much easier in football hold, and in the beginning, i had to mostly use that. We still can't use side lying. I also had to use my fingers and pull and stretch my nipple out sometimes so that she had more to latch on to.

there is a nursing pillow that is very helpful in the beginning while mom and baby are learning how to nurse because it promotes proper positioning. It's called My BrestFriend. You may want to read reviews about it and see if it would be helpful to you.