Pain Breastfeeding: Sucking Problems
Breastfeeding is completely natural and painless for some mothers, but not for all.
In fact, there are some women who experience difficulty latching on to the breast, pain, cracks and slow growth of their baby.
In this article I will explain why these problems arise during breastfeeding and how to resolve them with the competent and timely support of a midwife specialized in breastfeeding and a pediatric osteopath.
Before starting, I'll leave you three useful pieces of information:
- If you would like to schedule an office visit with me or my midwife colleague, you can find us here.
- You can also find us on Instagram with the profile @drsilva.com_official
- You can find an in-depth video course on breastfeeding here .
Breastfeeding Pain: Introduction
Fortunately, in the postpartum period, all hospitals now provide great practical and informative support on the topic of breastfeeding from midwives .
Despite all this knowledge, problems with sucking by newborns and consequently pain during breastfeeding are now really widespread and common. The consequences of these are difficulty in latching on , cracks, mastitis and poor growth in the child. In fact, did you know that according to Istat data from 2016 , only 31% of women have exclusively breastfed 4 months after the birth of their child?
But what could be the problem?
Often, we tend to contact a breastfeeding consultant or ask for the help of a midwife. However, there is another important figure in the phase of initiation to breastfeeding: the pediatric osteopath . In fact, we usually tend to evaluate and support only the mother, but the newborn could also present difficulties that compromise this delicate phase. Precisely for this reason, the osteopath should be among the professionals to contact in the case of sucking problems.
All sucking and breastfeeding problems are caused by 2 factors :
- incorrect positioning of the baby at the breast by the mother (resolution within the competence of an obstetrician);
- contractures in the mouth and limitations of the jaw caused by the child (resolution within the competence of osteopathy).
This is why both the midwife and the pediatric osteopath are essential to resolve them.
In breastfeeding there are always two people involved: the mother and the baby.
Therefore, for successful (and painless) breastfeeding it is essential:
- correct positioning of the baby by the mother;
- a newborn who can open his mouth wide and latch on optimally to feed.
Unfortunately, due to a lack of support during the initiation of breastfeeding , the focus is often only on the mother and not on the baby.
The problem is that if there are contractures in the mouth, jaw or neck , there may be difficulties for the baby to open his mouth correctly and have adequate suction.
The consequences are weak and ineffective suction, insufficient growth, the need to resort to supplements of artificial milk but also breast pain for the mother, cracks, mastitis and engorgement up to the point of abandoning breastfeeding.
How to understand if there are breastfeeding problems?
Breastfeeding is a natural experience for both mother and baby. However, it can present challenges and, in some cases, cause pain or discomfort. Early recognition of signs of breastfeeding problems and pain is essential to being able to intervene quickly and ensure a positive experience for both.
In the early stages of breastfeeding, nipple pain and a burning sensation are common problems among new mothers. However, there is no reason to worry too much, since in the days following delivery it is normal to have more sensitive skin due to the baby's sucking. These discomforts may last a few days and then disappear completely, but what are the signs to recognize to understand that there may be sucking problems?
Remember that all sucking and breastfeeding problems are caused by 2 factors :
- incorrect positioning of the baby at the breast by the mother (obstetric expertise);
- contractures in the mouth and limitations of the jaw caused by the child (osteopathic expertise).
This is why both the midwife and the pediatric osteopath are essential to resolve them.
Pain when breastfeeding
Feeling pain while breastfeeding is not normal. This should be the first warning sign that there is a problem to check.
In fact, one of the main symptoms to understand if the newborn has sucking problems is pain when latching on to the breast .
When the newborn is poorly positioned at the breast or has contractures in the mouth and a limited opening, the mother often reports nipple pain when attaching the newborn to the breast.
If the problem is caused by contractures in the baby's mouth, the pain is usually greater in the first few seconds of latching on to the breast and tends to decrease after about 30-40 seconds.
To solve this problem, it is necessary to show the mother how to perform a correct deep latch on to the breast (obstetric task) and treat the baby's mouth and neck muscles to improve their opening (osteopathic task).
Child irritability
Another sign that your newborn is having trouble sucking is if the baby often detaches and tends to arch during breastfeeding.
Very often, when the newborn starts crying during breastfeeding, often detaches and shows irritability, it is a symptom of one of these three problems:
Newborn falls asleep at breast or sucks weakly
Another sign that your newborn has sucking problems is that the baby gets tired of eating quickly and tends to fall asleep during breastfeeding.
This problem is often caused by contractures in the neck that cause the baby to suck ineffectively and with difficulty.
Furthermore, it is very important to always evaluate the presence of a short lingual frenulum in the newborn which could limit the child's sucking strength.
The newborn prefers to attach to one breast rather than the other during breastfeeding
The mother should alternate breasts at each feeding, but if the baby notices that he prefers only one of the two, a more thorough check may be necessary.
There are two reasons why a newborn prefers to latch on to one breast rather than the other:
- incorrect position of the mother during breastfeeding (it is not easy to have the same correct position on both the right and left)
- the newborn has contractures in the neck (i.e. myogenic torticollis ) which forces him to turn his face mainly to one side. The torticollis, in addition to causing difficulties in breastfeeding, can also lead to postural plagiocephaly . Therefore, it is important to resolve it as soon as possible.