Catching on to Latching on
by Mary Perfitt-Nelson

The extraordinary litter has arrived. Your incantations and years of mental Mr. Potato Head are about to reveal themselves in a perfect composition of living wonder. The mother is purring and invested and you are elated. But one day in and you realize that you’ve got one little nursing-impaired baby who just doesn’t get it. Their nose gets a whiff of the milk and before they open their mouths, immature legs and arms push them in the opposite direction. Or their fat siblings shove them out of the way, just as Darwin predicted. We could let nature take its course, but we know that with a little boost, our little underdog will be racing to weaning with healthy exuberance. Some kits systems are a bit less mature. They try to synchronize “suck, swallow, breath and push” like an awkward bag of hammers. Overly sensitive and reactive, their internal timing is off kilter. Their arms and legs brace to push milk out before their mouths have latched on. They almost seem to reject that which they are frantic for. Important to know is that this is a temporary state that we can affect. Nursing is a skill that can be taught. You, along with the dam, are the teacher. Pull up your sleeves, wash your hands and get on it!

Ten Tips For Dealing With the Nursing Impaired Kit

1. Most importantly, know you are dealing with a kit that wants to nurse, but lacks the skill. If they simply aren’t interested, you have a different issue. Consult your vet and supplement in the meantime.
2. Engage in persistent latching-on practice sessions. These can last 45 minutes. They will frustrate you, the baby and the mother. Sessions should occur when kit is hungry (and physically superior sibs are full). Practice many times a day until they have mastered the skill.
3. Create a brace or frame with your fingers so they’ve no choice but to hit the nipple (and suck). With their head between your non-moving fingers, the wobbling still leads them to the nipple. Express milk beforehand to entice and remind them of potential splendor. A screaming kit is an open mouth. Take advantage of it!
4. Support immature legs with bolsters. Their fullbellied siblings are the best, like dead weight logs. Use your hands, rolled up cloth diapers or the sides of queen bed.
5. Hand feed the weakest after nursing sessions for additional hydrating boost until they figure out how to milk the bar on their own.
6. Hand feed the strongest before the sessions to suppress their urge to take more than their share. The weak ones can use their lazy, snoozing siblings as boosters to the milk bar. Poetic justice to the max.
7. Pay a human kid to become latching-on experts. Money talks. My Madeline built her stellar I-Tunes collection by latching on newborns. She is now a 12- year old expert.
8. Hand feed after turbo latch-on practice sessions if you feel they still need the fluids. Diluted goats milk has been used successfully by many.
9. Use a Snuggle-Safe heated disc to lull physically superior sibs into sleepy, drunken stupor. They will stay on the disc while the weaklings practice.
10. Pray your dam stays patient and selfless and the kit is persistently full of piss and vinegar. Do Not Give Up if kit is invested. Their asynchronous movements become poetry in motion with time and practice.

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