Confusion while latching on mothers' breasts is not uncommon as the baby struggles to suck the nipples for milk. It is easier to suck from a feeding bottle teat or dummy as compared to sucking milk from a mother. In most feeding bottles, the teats are stiff, and the milk flow is also constant. This means that your baby does not need to do much work much for milk intake. However, when breastfeeding your baby, the baby needs to open the mouth to latch on and it takes 40 muscles to suck the milk.

There are many reasons why babies have difficulty in breastfeeding and the main reason is that they cannot get the hang of latching on to the breast. This is not a problem and it is normal in many babies, therefore you must not think that baby is rejecting you.

Babies Preferring Bottles Over Breast

You must understand why the baby prefers bottle teat instead of your own nipples. You may ask a professional consultant and seek help about the latching positions that can help you breastfeed the baby. Till the time your baby gets comfortable into latching, you can express your breast milk in a feeding bottle and feed the baby through a bottle so they can get all the benefits of breast milk. 

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Signs Of Confusion:

Baby finds it difficult to latch on a mother’s breast as they might not be getting enough milk. There are some signs that can let you know why the baby is not latching and having milk naturally. 

• Refuses to be breastfed
• Engorged breasts don’t give a baby mouthful of your breasts and they refuse to latch on
• Sore nipples
• Tongue-tie in baby also makes it difficult to latch 

These are all signs of confusion in a baby when they cannot get a proper latch-on mother’s breast. 

How To Prevent Nipple Confusion?

To overcome this problem, here are some tips that might help:

• Go back to the basics and snuggle more with the baby. Skin to skin contact will help baby root for latch form your breasts.
• Pump the breasts so the flow becomes smoother and the baby doesn’t have to put extra efforts.
• Latch the baby when he is hungry as timings are very important. When they are hungry they will try and latch themselves for breastfeeding.

If you have sore nipples or trouble feeding the baby, you can use Philips AVENT nipple protectors for easy and painless feeding.

ALSO READ: Breastfeeding Tips For New Moms