Very sore nipples and very hungry baby

[Nismy]

Please can anyone help. My DS is now 15 weeks and I exclusively BF. He has been endlessly hungry, screaming for me to feed him for about a week now. Last week I took a little babymoon and just lay in bed and let him feed whenever he wanted but as a result, I have blood blisters all over my nipples and they are so sore that even clothing is making me jump in pain and feeding him is absolute agony.

He was tongue tied until 6 weeks and I was in this kind of pain then too but had sort of assumed that it was a thing of the past since getting the tie cut. Generally, I have been OK since apart from a couple of episodes of mastitis.

He has had a cold and has generally been restless and easily distracted recently (ao although he wants to feed all the time he doesn't always stay on the breast for very long). Could this have had an impact on how well he is latching on? Can babies forget how to feed properly? HV can't see anything wrong with latch but I know she is not a BF expert.

I am worried because I feel that my supply may be getting low (he is so hungry and his weight gain has slowed right down - although he is still gaining) but I am in so much pain that I dread feeding him. DS won't take a bottle any more so can't just use EBM until they heal up. Am putting lansinoh cream on and keeping boobs out of bra for as much time as poss. Also using cabbage leaves in my bra (oh, just so glam!!) on the advice of the HV, which wierdly do seem to help a bit. I am very committed to carrying on with BFing (although would like to get Ds back on the bottle so that DH / nanna could feed him sometimes!) but being in this much pain is really depressing and I also worry that being this tense will also badly affect my supply. Sorry for long rant, very grateful for any help / ideas that people might have.

[fingerwoman]

hiya
I would say it sounds like it could be a latch problem. I got very lazy with ds2's latch once we cracked the breastfeeding (he was tongue tied too, incidentally) and have had bouts of soreness which have got better once we have started being more careful getting him latched on.

he may also be going through a growth spurt, which will explain the wanting to feed a lot more- well done on managing a babymoon
do try and get him to take some ebm, if expressing is less painful than feeding him- I found with ds that feeding him while he was sleepy was slightly more successful. and also having quite warm milk (warmer than you might think)

other than that I think you're doing all the right things. and you can always see a BFC if you want to get your latch checked

[MrsBadger]

It sounds like you need to see a bf counsellor irl to gt that latch checked - ring one of the bf helplines:
Association of Breastfeeding Mothers helpline 08444 122 949
Breastfeeding Network Supporterline: 0870 900 8787
La Leche League Telephone Helpline: 0845 120 2918
National Childbirth Trust Breastfeeding line: 0870 444 8708

(disclaimer from hunker;s blog:
Perhaps try getting your partner or a relative or friend to make the first call, in case you need to leave a message, since you may be emotional and it can be hard to key yourself up to ring for support, then get an answerphone message.
These lines are staffed by volunteers, often mothers of small children, so it?s not always possible for them to have a long conversation with you at the time you ring. But rest assured, they are very keen to help you (after all, they?ve spent a long time training to be breastfeeding counsellors) and if you leave a message, somebody will ring you back. You are not putting them out, you are not being a nuisance and they DO want to help you, so, please, if you need help, ring them.)

[Lovelove]

Could it be thrush? One of the symptoms is cracked nipples that don't heal, plus sensitivity to clothing, and that might account for his fussyness, as perhaps his mouth is sore. I'd say you need a visit to the GP, and to a breasfeeding counsellor if you can, as when I had thrush my GP was completely useless. Plus have a look on the Breasfeeding Network website, they have a good section on thrush and nipple pain. Good luck, I've been there and I know how awful it is. Sounds like you're doing really really well to keep going and to have got this far.

[IorekByrnison]

So sorry that you're suffering. It does sound as though it could be thrush (from my experience - I'm no expert), particularly if you have had a period of relatively painless feeding previously. The thing about clothing making you jump with pain sounds very familiar to me from when I had it. Also I don't know whether you had antibiotics for the mastitis, but they can make you more susceptible to thrush.

There's information on the kellymom website and lots of threads on here about symptoms and treatment.

If you think it is thrush, I would try to see a GP tomorrow about it, but beware that GP's aren't always brilliant at diagnosing it, so go armed with information, and definitely contact a breastfeeding counsellor as well to sort out any possible latch problems.

Hope you get some good advice in the morning. Best of luck.

[Trolleydolly71]

Message withdrawn

[Nismy]

Thanks for all the support. Am going to call GP (although not holding out too much hope on that one!) and a BFC today. I did wonder about thrush but DS is showing no signs of it himself. He spending a lot of time arching his back when he feeds, not sure if this means anything or if he has just learnt how to do it!

[hbmummy]

With the sensitivity to clothing, I find the breast pads help a lot. The disposable ones as they creates a soft cushion for the nipple to press against.

Am extremely careful when drying the breasts with towels as the nipples are very very sensitive.

[Lovelove]

Re baby showing no signs of thrush, my baby didn't either which is why it took nearly 5 weeks of agony before I was diagnosed. Thrush shows up as a spectrum of symptoms, so don't let them fob you off by telling you (as they did with me!) "there's no white patches in his mouth so its not thrush." That's not to say it is thrush either, but go armed with as much info as you can.