One of the most important parts of Baby‘s first few days is how they feed. For moms who are breastfeeding, getting a great latch early on is key to ensuring proper nutrition for your baby and preventing breastfeeding pain.
How to get your newborn to latch on
If you’re breastfeeding for the first time, even if the process goes relatively smoothly for you and Baby, you might still face some challenges along the way. Even though newborns have the instinct to breastfeed, in many ways, breastfeeding is still a learned skill, both for you and for your little one.
One common challenge is difficulty with the baby’s latch onto the breast. Educating yourself early, even while you’re still pregnant, can help you prepare for a smooth transition. If you gave birth at a hospital or birthing center, you may have had access to lactation consultants to help you get comfortable nursing your baby and begin to address any latch issues early on. But there are always surprises when adjusting to something new, no matter how well you prepare.
Even if you don’t get it right the first time, there’s a good chance you and Baby will just need to make some slight adjustments to find the right latch. If you continue to have trouble — especially if you don’t have support early on — it can be helpful to reach out to a lactation consultant, ask your healthcare provider to refer you to someone who might be able to help, or bring it up with your baby’s pediatric provider. In the meantime, here are some tips and tricks that might help you both get more comfortable.
Early bird special
Introducing Baby to your breast as soon as possible after birth can help with latching success. As long as you and your little one were healthy and able to, chances are good that your OB provider placed them onto your chest for skin-to-skin contact. This allows parents to immediately try nursing, which helps tap into baby’s earliest latching and nursing instincts. Some newborns may even try to independently wriggle their way right up to the breast to start latching on their own.
Even once you bring your baby home, continuing skin-to-skin contact will reinforce their natural nursing instincts and reflexes and may help facilitate a comfortable latch. Although some babies need a lot of direction, try letting Baby lead the way just like they did the first time around.
Get into a comfy position (or two… or three)
Even though most of the time, when you breastfeed, you’ll be sitting or lying down, it’s definitely hard work. Try to get comfortable as you begin settling in to nurse Baby by using any pillows, footstools, or other support you might need.
You can try several different breastfeeding positions, and some might work better than others in terms of comfort and latching, so it’s a good idea to experiment as needed. If there’s one position that helps Baby get a better latch, then you might want to rely on this early on, as you occasionally try new ones when you have the energy.
Rest assured, as you get into the swing of things and your baby grows, you can continue to try different positions that allow you to nurse comfortably.
Whatever position you’re in, in the early days of nursing when Baby is still so little, make sure that their back and hips are supported and that they’re snuggled close to you so you are both tummy to tummy. Pro tip! Holding the back of your newborn’s head or neck may make them reflexively push away from the breast.
Pucker up
If Baby isn’t opening their mouth, you can brush your nipple across the top of their bottom lip and down to their chin, almost as if you are tickling their lip. This may help them wake up some feeding reflexes to open wide! You can also hand-express a bit of colostrum, then take your nipple to your baby’s nose so they can smell it, and then bring your nipple toward your baby’s mouth. Hopefully, this will make your baby open their mouth wide and drop their chin, bringing you closer to a good latch!
Aim high
Once Baby is opening their mouth, your instinct might be to try to place your nipple right into the center of their open mouth — especially if you’re feeling desperate to get them to latch already — but if you instead aim your nipple toward the roof of their mouth, it may help facilitate a deeper latch.
A deep latch is a good latch. This will allow your little one to draw more milk from the breast and cause less nipple discomfort for you. Every baby is unique, so feel free to experiment with which angle or aim is the most comfortable for you. If you are holding your breast to support or aim it while Baby’s latches — don’t let go until the feeding is well underway. Every baby is unique, so feel free to experiment with which angle or aim is the most comfortable for you. If you are holding your breast to support or aim it while Baby’s latches — don’t let go until the feeding is well underway.
All hands on deck
If you are trying to guide your nipple into Baby’s mouth, you may have to hold the breast they’re trying to feed from. Your thumb and fingers should form a “C” shape around the breast to guide things along, keeping your fingers as far from their mouth and chin as possible. It’s easy for your hand to accidentally get in the way and force a shallow latch.
Depending on the size of your breasts, you may even want to gently squeeze the breast a bit, so that you can compress or “sandwich” your breast tissue, allowing Baby to get a better latch. If you do this, make sure that the compression is parallel to their lips, like you would eat a sandwich yourself. And if your breasts are on the larger side, placing a rolled-up towel beneath them and a very firm pillow beneath Baby might make it easier for you to do all of this (often challenging) baby and breast juggling.
If your baby also wants to bring their hands up toward your breast and their mouth while nursing, don’t feel the need to move them aside or use mittens. If they really get in the way, that’s probably a sign that you should hold your baby just a little bit closer to your body. But having their hands there will provide them with greater comfort and expertise as they eat.
And when your baby gets bigger, they may even try to help guide your breast into their mouth. So helpful!
Easy does it
If Baby is having a hard time latching, you may be tempted to push their head onto your breast, but this could cause them to arch away.
It’s more effective to bring their body towards the breast and then hold your breast steady for them to latch onto, either letting them explore and self-attach or guiding the nipple into their mouth as described above. Try not to jiggle them or move your breast continuously. Again, it’s important to focus on supporting your baby’s and hips rather than the back of their head. Babies like to feel secure, so making sure their hips are supported with a little hug to their tush can help as well!
Avoid the ouchies
You will know that your little one is latching correctly if you feel only a pulling or tugging sensation and there is no discomfort for you.
Your nipples might be a little tender in the early weeks of breastfeeding as pregnancy inflammation and hormones decrease. But there should never be visible skin changes to your nipples, bruising, cracking or blistering. Once you’re in the swing of things, breastfeeding isn’t supposed to hurt when done correctly. If it does, it’s often a sign that there may be something not quite right about the latch and that you may need to try to make some adjustments.
If things are really hurting — if you feel pinching or pain after a few sucks — and you need to take Baby off your nipple, don’t try to pull them directly off, or you’ll be facing even more ouchies. To break the seal of the latch with minimal discomfort, gently slip your finger between your breast and the corner of Baby‘s mouth, break the suction from your breast, and then try again. Many lactation consultants can also show you how to adjust the latch without starting from zero, which can lessen the wear and tear on your nipples, and the frustration for Baby.
Listen up
Another way that you can be alerted of a not-so-perfect latch is if you hear clicking or smacking noises because when Baby latches well, things shouldn’t be so noisy. These sorts of noises could mean that your little one needs work on their latch, which can cause nipple pain. If you feel pain-free and notice a lot of noise, it can be helpful to get an experienced opinion, as some babies are just naturally noisy and gulpy eaters!
Lip locked
Once your baby is latched, their chin should be pressed into your breast, with their body in alignment facing you. If Baby’s hands are tucked in front of their chest, their tummy is facing the ceiling or their neck is bent forward – these can all make it tricky for Baby to swallow milk. You can make gentle adjustments to Baby’s position as the feeding gets going to achieve ideal positioning.
A deep latch happens when Baby puts not just your nipple but, in fact, as much of your areola into their mouth as possible. This allows your nipple to get past the hard palate of their mouth, and into the softer territory in the back of the mouth.
A deep latch also allows your baby’s gums to compress the milk ducts behind your nipple, stimulating the mammary glands behind the areola. This is great for milk production and flow.
If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again
Unfortunately, it takes time to figure out an A+ latch consistently. There might even be times when it seems like Baby is fighting you or pushing you away as you try to maneuver them into a better latching position, which can be frustrating. But Baby isn’t trying to make your life harder. Your little one is just as new to the whole process as you are, and it may take a little time for the two of you to figure out how to work together.
Remember, you can and should seek out help if you need it. Baby’s pediatric provider will certainly let you know if they’re gaining weight as they should be — one indicator of how well they’re eating — and may also answer your latching questions. Lactation consultants can be a huge help during this time, so reach out if you need support or have pain or concerns about latching. These experts will be able to let you know if you’re facing normal latching challenges or if Baby is having trouble eating due to other issues.
But most early latch issues are totally normal, and it may just take a little bit of trial and error to get things right. Again, it’s highly likely that you’ll work through these early challenges quickly and will soon be breastfeeding with ease!
Reviewed by the Ovia Health Clinical Team
Read more
- Breast pain while breastfeeding: What’s normal and when to get help
- Lactation consultants: what they do and how they can help
Sources
- “Positioning” La Leche League International, Retrieved Aug. 23, 2024. https://llli.org/breastfeeding-info/positioning/
- “Baby led attachment” Australian Breastfeeding Association, 2022. https://www.breastfeeding.asn.au/resources/baby-led-attachment
