Q: My baby is 4 days old. I am not able to latch her on for breastfeeding. She always ends up sucking only the nipple. Hence even though I am getting large quantities of milk, my baby is not able to drink it. I am also getting soreness of nipples due to the wrong latching on. When I put the baby to the breast, she either only cries or she falls asleep in half a minute. Hence I am in a lot of breast pain and I have now started expressing milk by hand into a bowl and feeding the baby with a spoon. Please let me know how can I breast feed with ease, how can I get her to latch on properly and how do I eliminate breast engorgement?

A:First of all relax! If you are very anxious it becomes that much difficult to get on with breast feeding and proper attachment. If you have lot of milk it may be useful to express milk as you are doing and before offering this expressed milk with spoon you try direct feeding on a partly empty breast. Baby should latch on properly this way. Sit in a warm room, don't over clothe your baby, be in a comfortable position and try again. You can visit websites for breast feeding which show you the photographs for proper attachment. If your nipples are sore expose them to air for some time in between and try applying hind milk i.e. milk which is in the last portion of breast which is rich in fats which will help soreness. Proper latching itself reduce soreness since the baby is not sucking on to the nipple. I am sure if you relax and take these precautions, you will be able to establish good breast feeding.