7 day old baby and really struggling with feeding - any advice please?

[MrsDandOllie]

DS2 is a week old today. I bottle fed DS1 and so am trying breast feeding now for the first time.
Was all ok until a couple of days ago when the soreness of my nipples started to get worse to a point where it was unbearable...
The night before last I just couldnt face feeding him in the night, I was crying with the pain, and ended up giving him 2 bottles..
Yesterday my mw came and I asked her advice... she checked the latch and said it was fine, weighed baby and he has put on weight so is getting plenty of milk.. she suggested i express for 24 hours instead of feeding to give my nipples a rest and feed DS the expressed milk plus formula top ups as needed over that time.
I did that all yesterday and last night and did feel better this morning for it. Have been breast feeding him again all day today - was ok first thing, but he is feeding more often (I guess because he got used to the richer milk yesterday?) and now by the end of the day my nipples are really sore again! I know its only going to get worse over night and am not sure what I can do....
If it gets as bad again I know I will end up switching him onto bottles... I almost think I may as well do it now and not prolong the agony as I cant see it going any other way...
Any ideas???

[fingerwoman]

you need to see a bfc. get them to check him for tongue tie as well, this caused me immense porobs with both my boys.
what area are you in??

[minimenace]

could try Nipple Shields - I struggled for the first week and then my midwife gave me a set and they were a miracle to me. I was then able to give them up after about a month.

The avent ones are really good.

[cookbook]

You sound like you're doing really well.

Are you using any nipple cream? Linsinoh is amazing and worth every penny. Put it on before and after feeding. It's safe for baby to suck after you've put it on. It should bring you some relief quite quickly.

You could try nipple shields too??

[cookbook]

Good luck tonight x

[BroccoliSpears]

You're doing brilliantly.

Have you got a Baby Cafe near you? Sometimes it can me more useful to talk to a specialised Breastfeeding Councillor than a midwife who may not have the answers and experience to help you.

Keep on asking for help until you get it. Feeding can and should be painless and fluffy and warm and snuggly, and you'll be so pleased you stuck at it when you reach that stage.

I sometimes took a couple of paracetamol if it was the end of the day and I was in a lot of pain with another feed looming.

Good luck!

[cookbook]

oh, yeah, forgot about the paracetamol. I took them round the clock for about 8 weeks. ds had a tongue tie, which noone noticed.

[morocco]

have you tried the bf helplines or going to a bf drop in? your mw might or might not be right about the latch being ok, it's definitely worth double checking with someone else in rl.
are your nipples cracked? what do they look like after a feed? do they get any white ridges on them for example or look a different shape?
even small changes in position can cause more/less pain. I can highly recommend trying a 'deep latch', it helps reduce the pain
www.pumpstation.com/pumpstation/dept.asp?s_id=0&dept_id=3228

[Sanwi]

for quick sore nipple help - chilled white cabbage leaves were the most amazing thing for me. i didn't manage to bf long, but while i did, i couldn't live without them

[BumperliciousNeedsaGlassofWine]

You can do this! It's still very early days.

If it is hurting you definitely need to see a bfing counsellor. Any bfing groups near you? Or at the hospital? MWs aren't always the best people to check.

Nipple shields are a good way to go while your nipples heal but you definitely need to get his latch checked. Next time he feeds, if it hurts for longer than about 30 seconds unlatch him (by putting your little finger in the corner of his mouth to break the seal) and try again. It is tempting to feed through the pain as you are just so relieved that they are feeding , but don't feed through it if you can help it.

Have you tried the breast crawl. I tried this with DD even when she was 3 weeks old and it was the first time she latched on perfectly, burped herself and then fell asleep!

You can do this, keep coming on here for advice, we'll help you

[honey2theb]

no advise, only, keep at it! It really is worth it eventually, you'll be glad you stuck at it. xx hugs xx

[gemmummy]

i agree, keep at it. kamilosan cream helped me loads...so soothing.

[mummyplonk]

Another Vote for Lanisoh cream (about £10) but is pure magic and helped me and my friends BF longer, available in Mothercare, it really will be worth all of the pain if your nipples hurt and yes the savoy cabbage leaves have an enzime in them to reduce swelleing of the breasts and they were fab too. Good Luck.

[KJBM]

I agree with gemmummy. Noone tells you what agony it is for the first few weeks. My daughter breastfed for hour and half every hour and a half til I put her in baby booby boot camp and limited her. Noone told me about baby's who comfort suck and my nipples bled. Very painful and I sympathise. My toes curled every time I did it. Here I am though and still doing it 2 years later. You are doing amazingly it is painful but you will turn a corner. If you decide to bottle though don't beat yourself up about it. Do what you need to get you through.

[fishie]

mrsd it sounds as though you do not have a good latch established and i don't think your mw has given good advice. do you have numbers for bf counselling helplines? will post if needed. you are doing very well to have gone on through pain and uncertainty so far. but this isn't right and you need some help to sort it out.

[Dorasboots]

Another vote for lansinoh - i got it on presription, so check if your MW can ring through to the docs to get them to write out a prescription for you, then DP/H can pick it up for you, save you waiting at GPs.

What I did find helped though was only using it every other feed and rubbing milk over the nipple and letting it dry naturally.

DS did a lot of comfort feeding at the beginning and i was in agony, but as he spaced his feeds out and I learnt when he was feeding, v's just sucking it quickly improved. You're doing really well, but keep pushing your MW for help. Congratulations on DS2!

[Monkeybird]

I don't think the notion that is HAS to hurt is right, although it often does... the key is getting the right advice from people who are real BF experts, and unfortunately sometimes this is not midwives, though some are. I'm not sure why you needed to give top ups for example (unless there was some other clinical issue, since your baby was putting on weight) and I'm not convinced therefore that your MW is giving the best info. You'll get very up to date advice from the National Childbirth Trust helpline, the Breastfeeding Network helpline or the La Leche League helpline and all their websites are excellent if you or someone else have time. Also www.drjacknewman.com has good latching advice including videos so you can see what to try...)

The lansinoh helps a lot, and there's lots of other things you can try but the key is getting help with your positioning and latch, ideally face to face, from someone who really knows what they're talking about.

Please don't make any final decisions to give up at night when you're tired and it's hard and you haven't been able to get a BF expert to advise you yet... Even if you do have to give the odd formula bottle, you can still carry on and will be better to keep expressing to keep the supply going.

The shape of your nipple after feeds is helpful info and you can describe this to a BF counsellor over the phone and they'll probably be able to tell you how to move your baby a fraction which might help - please keep going...

I speak from bitter experience - all of my early BF experiences were really difficult and I only wish I wasn't so proud and had asked for expert help earlier. But BF is a skill that needs practice and sometimes to be taught - you and your baby are both new to it so it will take you both time and effort to get going...

...and when you do it will be really great for you both!

[BumperliciousNeedsaGlassofWine]

MrsD, how are you doing?

[Mungarra]

I would also suggest checking for tongue-tie. My third chid (who is now 12 weeks old and still breastfed) had tongue-tie. Luckily, she was my third child and I told the midwife that her latch wasn't right on the day after she was born and she found the tongue-tie. Breastfeeding was very painful until the tongue tie was cut when she was 9 days old. She also was slow gaining weight because she wasn't getting enough milk. After it was cut, things improved greatly because she could use her tongue properly.

I know someone, whose son had bad weight gain problems and his tongue tie wasn't diagnosed until he was 5 months old.

[Joolyjoolyjoo]

I have to admit, I found bf'ing v. painful for the first 2wks with each baby, but stuck with it and now pain free and so much less hassle than bottles. I would say if you really want to do it, give it 2wks then see how you feel. Agree with others that you should seek skilled advice- everyone just made me feel worse by telling me if it was sore I must be doing it wrong . I wasn't. It was sore! It gets better!