Breastfeeding troubles

So here I am back in the same situation as with Little O and struggling with breastfeeding. I know that he’s only ten days old but it’s already becoming an issue. We just cannot get a good latch and have tried a few different positions and techniques but it just doesn’t seem to work.

After we left the hospital on Saturday afternoon, we came home and I carried on the breastfeeding that I’d started in the hospital. The first couple of days went fine, but I realise now that was mainly because, like most newborns, he really wasn’t feeding so much. Day three my milk came in and he responded by going on a bit of a feeding frenzy and it was then that the pain started each time he fed. Monday afternoon we had an appointment to return to the hospital where he was born for a check-up. A doctor checked him over and gave him the all-clear and a nurse checked his latch and said immediately that it was all wrong and that if he carried on that way, I’d get a permanent sore. When we tried him on the other side, she asked me if I had had similar problems when feeding Little O – yes, I had – and she told me that I did indeed have a permanent sore on that side from feeding him.

She showed me how to feed him in a different position and that worked so well while we were there and I was able to use my hands to hold down Baby E’s and she was able to push his head into the right position to latch on. Aaah, breastfeeding without pain – something I’d not experienced before, sadly. However, this just isn’t feasible at home as I need at least three arms to be able to do this hold and get him to latch on successfully. So, back to square one.

I called Amningsmottagningen – the hospital’s breastfeeding clinic – to try and get some help but unfortunately for the first seven days after a baby is born, they are still dealt with by the maternity unit at the hospital. I searched around a bit on the internet, growing increasingly sore and tearful by this stage, and then I found Amningshjälpen – a breastfeeding help service. You call a central number for the area in Sweden where you live and then are put in touch with someone who can talk to you over the phone and discuss the problems that you’re having. A wonderful lady called Elisabeth called me back within the hour, coincidentally just when I was reaching a really low point and was considering pulling out the formula and bottles. She talked me through a few different things and although she could not help me directly with the latch problems over the phone, she just made me feel so much better.

On Friday, the day that Baby E turned six days old, I called Amningsmottagningen back to get us an appointment for this week, so Wednesday we’re heading over to the hospital after dropping Little O off at preschool, and hopefully we can get some more help and some advice on how to get a proper latch. Now that I have seen the Holy Grail of pain-free breastfeeding, I want that. Please.