Abel’s Breastfeeding Challenges

Everything seemed OK for the first few days. Abel had what felt like a decent latch and was fairly content with breastfeeding. Then my milk came in and everything fell apart. He could no longer stay latched on because extremely fussy. After a rough, sleepless night we decided there was a problem. I pulled out my trusty breast pump and went to work. After our experience with Noah’s tongue tie I knew the only way we could overcome any breastfeeding issues was with a happy baby and a hungry baby is NOT a happy baby.

At first I thought my over productive milk was the issue but now I’m thinking Abel might have a mild tongue tie issue. Tomorrow we will go to the pediatrician to see if we can determine the cause of Abel’s struggle with breastfeeding. Babies don’t breastfeeding because they don’t want to it’s because they can’t. And usually their tongue or latch is the cause. Tongue is genetic and apparently Joe had it as a baby and I think Jude had a very mild case and obviously Noah did so it’s not surprising that Abel would have the same problem.

I’m hoping the pediatrician will be able to easily fix it by clipping his frenulum. Noah’s tongue-tie required we go see a special ENT to have his frenulum clipped (a second time). But ultimately Noah was able to breastfeed successfully for a year. I’m hoping it will be a quick and easy fix for Abel. He’s so close to getting it I can tell he’s growing frustrated with his lack of ability to maintain a latch. In the meantime I’ll continue to pump and bottle feed him. It’s terribly inconvenient but keeping my baby happy and healthy is top priority.