Sore nipples before milk has come in

[LittlePickleHead]

Gave birth to DS (DC2) on Monday and breast feeding has been going great! Was quite worried at DD refused to latch on until she was 6 weeks old which led to a pretty hellish first few weeks, but he fed straight after birth and has been great since then and is weeing/pooing fine.

My milk still hasn't come in, and the feeds are becoming more frequent (around 2 hourly which I know is normal). My poor nipple are becoming really sore and the first 30 seconds or so of a feed are becoming particularly painful. I've had my latch checked andi do try to reposition if he's not taken enough of the breast in, so I just wondered if thisis to be expected at the colostrum stage and if the pain will lessen once my milk is flowing more freely? Or if not, any advice on how to lessen the pain would be great. It's going so well I don't want anything to put a damper on it right now!

[noblegiraffe]

If it is hurting because it's damaging your nipples then you need to fix your latch before your nipples get worse and hurt more. Have you got any Lansinoh? Slather this on after feeding to protect your nipples and help them recover (it doesn't need washing off for feeding either, which is useful).

Hurting for a short period at the start of a feed during let down is normal and usually gets better after a couple of weeks, but I can't actually remember if you get a let down with colostrum!

[noblegiraffe]

Oh, and congratulations on your new baby! :)

[LittlePickleHead]

Thanks noble. I'm not sure about the let down either, I think there isn't one yet? I've just looked at a couple of latching videos and tried relatching which started off less painful - he seems to shift himself during the feed though and then it hurts again! My nipples are a bit misshapen so I guess it definitely is the latch that needs sorting

Lots of practice required I think