What are the big breasted and nippled mamas doing to encourage a bigger latch?

So for some context, I’m 3.5 postpartum with 34K sized breast and 24mm nipples. Baby was having difficulty at first with breast feeding with getting her mouth around the breast and putting her hands in the way of her mouth.

I visited a lactation consultant multiple times since baby was steadily dropping too much weight. She gave me a nipple shield and things have gotten better. My supply is decent and I EBF. I only pump 1-2x daily and have enough for baby throughout the day with a bit extra if I want to share a night feed or go out for extended periods of time.

However, I want to get off the nipple shield and that’s been so hard. I think I made it worse by introducing a pacifier a few days ago. I since stopped but baby girl is still having a shallow latch and now it’s a fight to even use the nipple shield.

We’ve both been in tears at some point for the last few days out of frustration with her pushing her hands away and refusing the breast both with the shield and without. There’s not a feeding position that consistently works for us and though she’s steadily gaining weight, she’s still not back at her birth weight. I’m thinking I might need to talk to the lactation consultant again but does anyone have some tips that might help?

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I’ve had similar issues with both of my girls. For the first, I used a nipple shield to help with my flat nipples. I found that if I could get her to nurse with it for a few minutes, they’d get pulled into the right shape enough to take it off and have her latch without it. Other times I’d need to pinch them to get them pointy enough to get in her mouth. After a few months, I didn’t need the shield at all. My second girl has a shallower latch due to a lip tie so I usually hold my nipple between two fingers (my first lac consultant called it a boob sandwich) and shove it into her mouth. To get her in the right position I have to make her hug my boob (tuck one hand under so it can’t block her mouth), then hold the nipple just out of her reach so she does that angry shark big wide mouth thing, and then shove it in. I hold onto the sandwich for a couple seconds until she’s got a good latch, then let go and she’s usually good.

I was taught to pinch from side to side and place it in babies mouth while you support his head I also have the same size and that’s the best way I got my baby to latch with help from the lactation consultant

Thank you all for the tips!

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