painful breastfeeding

[bini]

I am breastfeeding my six week old baby but I am still getting bad pain when he latches on. I've had the positioning and latching on checked and it's all fine and I've been examined by a doctor and apparently I have nothing wrong with my breasts. Why am I still getting pain and will it ever get any better cos I can't see me carrying on much longer otherwise!!!

[moondog]

bini,poor you. Things should be settling now. Have you though about thrush? This was the cause of my long standing pain.

[pupuce]

When is it paingul, where and for how long?

[NotQuiteCockney]

First, is your baby gaining weight well?

Second, when exactly do you get the pain? Is it right when s/he latches on, or is it a bit later? Does it last for the whole feed, just a bit, whatever? Does it ever come when you're not feeding?

Thirdly, what sort of pain is it?

Fourthly, who has checked your latch? HVs and midwives aren't always good on these things, a breastfeeding counsellor can often help when they fail to. The NCT, the LaLeche League, or the Breastfeeding Network all have good local counsellors, all over the country.

Congratulations on your baby, by the way, and for keeping on feeding. You shouldn't be putting up with pain, I'm sure it can be sorted out.

[pupuce]

So does the Association of BF mothers (have counsellors all over the country)

[pixiefish]

agree with the others- contact a breastfeeding counsellor rather than hv or mw

[popsycal]

has it hurt from day one or did it get better then hurt again? where exactly does it hurt?

I ask as I have had thrush in my breasts and my baby has had it in his mouth

[NotQuiteCockney]

Another possibility is painful let-down - which I've had both times. It only hurts for a few seconds, soon after the baby latches on. It sometimes hurts when you're not feeding - you get a sharp pain, followed by leaking boobs. Unfortunately, there isn't anything you can do about this, but it gets worse for a while, then gets better and goes away. Oh, and it's apparently pretty rare.

I also had some latching on pain with DS2, but it only lasted a few seconds, and I think it was because he fed so so so hard. He never fed for more than a few minutes at a time, and he was always nice and fat. He also had sucking blisters on both lips for his first few months! Probably a different position could have helped, but I didn't manage to demonstrate the problem very well to our local BFC, and it went away eventually anyway.

Oh, yes, pupuce, I forgot the Association of Breastfeeding Mothers. We're all BFN here, but I think who you get depends on where you are.

[pupuce]

Blanching of the nipples can make BF extremly painful, it's rarely talked about and was not talked about during my BF counsellor training but I learned about it afterwards.

[moondog]

'blanching' pupuce??! (Visions of your acolytes spritzing with boiling water! Ouch!!)

[pupuce]

I'll tell you it is very painful and it is down to constriction of vessels in nipples.

[natts]

the initial latch can be painful.
no-one can tell you you are definatly latching correctly unless they have an exray!
they can only observe the lips and the way the baby gets on, and position. definitly agree about getting the help of a bfc as they are sooo experienced.
if you imagine the pain from 1-10 what number would you say the initial latch is?
what number is it after 20 secs. it really should be low if at all high then get help.
my latch was painful for about 6 weeks and then it was just the getting settled into the feed. but no discomfort after the initial latch

[moondog]

When does it happen then?

[moondog]

...the blanching.

[natts]

Never heard of that either pupuce, whats that?

[pupuce]

Moondog, hope this satisfies your thirst for BF knowledge

[natts]

how do you help that, heat?

[ionesmum]

bini, I had painful letdown and blanching of the nipples with my dd2. My nipples blanch when rubbed by material that is even a little rough, like a t-shirt, and are very sensitive. Don't know if this rings any bells? Also I had so much milk, I think the sheer weight made me sore. And I did have to watch my positioning - I used cushions to prop dd2 on and she grew so quickly, I did have to keep adjusting them. I got a lot of help from the NCT counsellor over the phone, she was able to correct a minor positioning problem for me - I'm quite large and dd2 needed to be back at an angle slightly, not tummy-to-tummy. The good news is that by about three mo everything had settled down, and I'm still bfeeding dd2 at 14 mo. I don't get any pain or blanching, unless of course she bites me! Good luck, I hope it works out for you.

[bini]

The latching on has been checked by the woman who deals with breastfeeding at Queen Charlottes. I agree about MW's and HV's though. I will get it checked by a counsellor though. The woman at Queen Charlottes said get myself and baby checked for thrush cos my nipples aren't cracked or dry.I'm not showing any visible signs of thrush & nor is baby. The doc said it's not thrush...not convinced he has a clue about it. The pain I get is a sharp pain in my nipples that makes me jump, it usually lasts about 15 secs when latching on but starts again if baby moves his head about. It is also painful after he has finished. I sometimes get pain in my breasts too, like a sharp shooting pain. This is usually when feeding but sometimes at other times.

[ionesmum]

I got the sharp shooting pains too, they went right the way round to my back. Once my supply settled they stopped. Dd2 and I never have had thrush, even though I had some of the symptoms.

[moondog]

You know me pupuce,always willing to learn!
Actually,think I had this a few months ago. (Boring anecdote alert!!!) Was in Istanbul with a guide being shown around Topkapi Palace. It was,unusually,very cold and I suddenly had the most terrible searing pain through both nipples that I thought I was going to faint. SAs it was hardly the sort of thing I wished to share with an erudite elderly Turkish gentleman, I made my excuses and staggered off to the toilets. When I lifted my jumper,my nipples were indeed white!!

Very odd and excruciating.
(End of boring anecdote-come out now girls!)

[pupuce]

Bini - does not sound like a bad latch.... hmmm....
Tiktok???

[teeavee]

I had shooting pains too - but as these were combined with 2 cracked nipples, find it difficult now to pinpoint when they happened
Persevere - it gets much better after the first 2 or three months, so much so that you will really feel good about not having given up

[bini]

I reckon the pain is about 7 from 1-10. Sounds like I might have painful let down cos it sounds like what you describe NotQuiteCockney. You have given me some hope. The doc said some people are just unlucky and get pain throughout and have to give up. He's lucky I didn't thump him!!