[blparent] Breast-feeding problems

[mdffeiner at gmail.com]

First of all, congratulations on your baby. It is such an exciting time at the same time it can be nerve-racking. I am an avid follower of Dr. Sears. He has a website full of tips for every type of issue you might have with children. I will insert a link into his tips for latching on. He describes them very well with  words.
What I found helpful with nursing my baby in the beginning was holding them in a cradle position. With the other hand I will put my thumb on the top of the breast and my third finger underneath the breast with my second finger I will place it on the babies chin and pull down this makes baby open their mouth at the same time you can feel where their mouth is.sometimes it helps to put that second finger inside their mouth and then exchange your finger for their mouth. This can be a little tricky though. It can help to have someone else in the beginning push down on the babies chin  is difficult to describe completely through writing. I would be glad to communicate with you either through my email address or on the phone would be easiest  i nursed my three children and I thoroughly enjoyed doing it once I was able and the baby was able to catch on. But it is a learning process 
Also, have you check to see if your baby is tongue-tied? This is one the skin under the tongue is connected to much to the tongue so that the baby cannot latch  on correctly  when it is connected very close to the beginning of the tongue sometimes the doctor will perform a procedure to sniff that piece of skin. This sounds really bad but in fact it is supposed to be fairly simple and not very painful.

Also as others have mentioned, it is very helpful to have a nursing pillow.

Here is the link to the information from Dr. Sears website about latching on

http://www.askdrsears.com/topics/feeding-eating/breastfeeding/rightstart-techniques/proper-positioning-and-latch-skills
My email address is mdffeiner at gmail.com
Finally, I hope this post was not too lengthy and I apologize for any grammar mistakes. I am using dictation and don't have that much time to edit. But this topic is very important to me and I hope that some of the information will be helpful.
Good luck and I would be glad to communicate with you off list.