Hi everyone

The week end is almost over and tomorrow I am heading to the breastfeeding clinic. I wanted to talk briefly about the subject of latch. So many issues stem from a bad latch. Some research actually says that 80% of problems in nursing are related to a bad latch. When I help moms, the first thing we always do is to look and correct the latch. Also remember that if you are experiencing pain during nursing there is something wrong. It should NOT HURT!!!. When nurses tell you the latch looks good but you are still in pain then you must do something. It is not normal. A few simple tricks to remember is to point the nipple towards the nose so that the baby has to reach up and open his mouth very wide. Remember that the baby’s neck also needs to be in extension or looking up. It will be a lot easier for the baby to move his tongue down and swallow as well.

Another thing that we seem to have forgotten is that babies are programmed in their brain to nurse and to latch well. At the clinic and what I use a lot in my practice is called self latching. We place the baby in an upright position between the breasts of the mother and we do not touch the head or force the baby on the breast. The baby will then move around and find the breast by himself and attach in a much better position with a wide mouth. A great web site you can visit for more information on that is http://breastcrawl.org/ I encourage you guys to view that video and to see how amazing this little baby is.

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Hi everyone

I am very excited about launching this new blog. My goal is to inform you as much as possible. I love feedback and questions so feel free to write me back. I wanted to start talking about the lactation conference I attended last week. It is always refreshing to go and listen to great speaker. I always come out of these refreshed and ready to go back to the clinic and apply what I have learned. I had the pleasure of hearing Catherine Watson-Genna the tongue tie expert from New-York. So today the post will relate to breastfeeding. So what is a tongue tie. It is a little filament under the tongue that prevents it from moving well. For babies to breastfeed effectively they must be able to move their tongue well. They should be able to lift it all the way up to the roof of the mouth and move it side to side. If these motions are restricted then baby can not suck effectively and get milk. It may be quite sore to the mother as well. The best thing to do is to look under the tongue of your baby and if you see a little white line you may consider seeing a lactation consultant to determine if the tongue tie needs to be addressed. For certain moms it will save their breastfeeding!!! If in doubt call a lactation consultant for advice. You can find a list of lactation consultant on the website www.ibclc.qc.ca.

Hope this was informative until the next time

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