Help my boobs please! - breastfeeding

[fairgame84]

I've got stinging and stabbing pains in both breasts which are getting worse throughout the day.
I had blocked ducts in the left one on Saturday and I think it's returned as I've got another hard area.
No idea what's up with the right one but both feel bruised like they've been stamped on.
I can barely lift DD and can't feed her because of the pain. I've managed to pump 3 hourly so far.

For background, DD is 6 weeks old and had a posterior tongue tie snipped 9 days ago. Her latch hasn't really improved since, we've only had a handful of decent latched feeds. Feeds have always been painful. We're due to see an osteopath next week at midwife's recommendation so see if they can resolve some 'tension' in DDs jaw.

I honestly feel like I'm done breastfeeding now. I've tried everything they've suggested. I'm tired, I'm in agony and I can barely cuddle my baby. It shouldn't be like this.

I'm currently sat with hot water bottles on my breasts to try and reduce the pain. Any other suggestions please?

Mastitis? Try “combing” the lumpy bits to get your milk flowing. But, ultimately, you probably need antibiotics. It’s grim, you have my sympathy.

Yeah I'd guess mastitis too. Pump in the bath or shower the hot water helps with let down. Cold Cabbage leafs help but some say can dry up supply.

If it’s mastitis you need antibiotics and as quickly as possible. You would likely also benefit from upping feeds/ expressing to as frequently as possible. Hand expressing if you can’t feed may provide more relief than pumping. Or pump and then hand express after to really try and drain the breasts. Massage, warm shower etc in between to try and keep things moving. Have you tried shields? The Medela ones are fab and I fed for three years on them as I have flat nipples. They saved the day for me. Sorry you’re suffering.

This sounds a lot like mastitis. You might need antibiotics.

I will say that I detested breastfeeding until my baby was 9 weeks old. It was awful. His latch was poor too, it hurt, my nipples got shredded, and then I got mastitis in week 7 and had to feed him under two duvets. The constant wake ups, the milk leaks… honestly, I dreaded every feed.

Then somehow we nailed it at 9 weeks. It stopped hurting, and never has since. He’s 11 months now and is starting to wean himself off; we do two or three feeds a day and he eats solids like a champ, but I miss it a bit! It’s lovely.

Its absolutely fine if you don’t want to wait and see if that happens for you too, but just in case it helps - I was distraught by how painful I found it and why it just wasn’t working; and gutted when I passed 8 weeks and it didn’t help, but then it did just flip like a switch. And he’s never bitten me; either. Hopefully he got that out of the way early 😅

Thanks everyone.
I'm getting in the bath in a bit.
@toppity I've tried the medela shields a few times but she hates them and refuses to feed off them.

I fed through the blocked duct on Saturday and it helped but yesterday and overnight she was just messing about with feeds so I can't see it helping when she's not emptying my breast.

If it's mastitis, you absolutely need antibiotics, call your gp asap.

This is my 4th day of antibiotics. The left breast is better but still a bit tender but the right is still really painful with shooting pains and burning sensation.

I stopped feeding DD since early hours yesterday because it made it worse to the point of being unbearable. It doesn't help that she clamps down and makes my nipple go white. I've been pumping but hardly getting anything off.

Is this normal with mastitis or should I contact the gp again tomorrow?

DD is seeing an osteopath tomorrow to try and resolve the clamping so I'm hoping I can try and feed her again after that.

Four days of antibiotics without significant improvement isn’t right. I think they usually say three days, but I find one or two days makes things almost fixed. Definitely see the GP again.

I’d get in touch with GP tomorrow as it could be you need different antibiotics or it could be something else completely - DD’s latch may be a sign the tongue tie is reattaching or you could have thrush as well as mastitis. I’d also see if you can speak to an IBCLC for advice x

Hmmm, bf can be painful, but only you know if it feels like there's more to it than that.

Do you feel feverish? Have you taken your temperature? Are you drinking plenty of fluids? Are you getting any rest (ha! I know, I know!)?

Have you had a look at the Kelly mom website. Absolutely brilliant resource.

My advice is no matter what you decide about how you feed your baby, you need to express milk or feed your baby as often as possible while there's something going on.And you're absolutely right about draining the breast. So if she doesn't seem to do that, express after she's fed.

Have you tried the various different holds for bf? Sometimes they're useful for getting particular ducts drained properly.

If you decide to stop bf, it can be difficult. And I don't think there's enough stuff out there about how you stop. So it might be worth starting a new thread if that's the way you want to go.

Congratulations on your baby. Nobody really told me that bf would be difficult and painful and pretty soul destroying. But if you keep on with bf it does get loads better.

Just went through painful breastfeeding/mastitis with my newborn too. The protocol for treatment has changed which I found while researching tips. They are now saying to use you ice over heat and to not pump extra as that can increase problems and antibiotics are not always needed. I will link the new guidelines below.

I ended up switching to almost exclusively pumping for a month which helped everything heal up and now that the baby is a bit older breastfeeding is much easier and I switch between breastfeeding, pumping and giving the occasional bottle of formula.

Perhaps try pumping a bit more and giving the baby breastmilk in a bottle and also reach out to a lactation consultant.

www.mother.ly/health-wellness/womens-health/abm-protocol-mastitis/

I found in a hot shower directed on a boob to make a fist with you hand, use the flat area of your fist massage over the breast toward your nipple sort of rolling your hand

Also if you have any blockage have a look to see if you have any milk blebs

Came on to advise similar to @rosewater20

www.carolsmyth.co.uk/breastfeeding-resources/posts/2020/april/mastitis-blocked-ducts-how-do-i-clear-a-blockage/

Olivia Hinge lactation consultant on insta also has highlights showing how to do breast gymnastics and gentle massage etc

I had a horrible time bf my first. Ended up with an abscess doing all the heat, combing, pumping etc. This time around the new methods sorted me out almost immediately. Still can't believe I did that to myself first time around 🤦🏼‍♀️

Thanks for those links. I'm currently sat with a hot water bottle on my boob so I'll swap it for a bag of peas!

I have pumped but barely got 20mls off where I used to get 60+mls.
I can't bare the thought of putting dd to the breast, especially the right one but I might try with a nipple shield after a bath.

I don't want to bottle feed but I can't go through this again. Unless the latch improves, I don't see how I can carry on because this will keep happening.

Six weeks is a massive growth spurt. Your baby is feeding much more - which means your ducts are growing again to allow them to make more. This can be really uncomfortable but is totally normal!

You might well go up another cup size though. If you can be braless at home that should help. And get bigger nursing bras.

Mine were massive btw. 32E before pregnancy, 34F in the first few weeks, 34GG by the end (though I gained a lot of wright too so don't panic!) She fed constantly!

Are the shooting and stabbing pains normal @VikingLady ?
The pain has been excruciating.

If it's in both it's usually a bra that's too tight, possibly combined with a lot more feeding. Plus her mouth is growing too, so her latch might has suffered. How is her latch? Is it definitely deep enough? The nipple bit of your nipple (iyswim) should be where her soft palate is (the squishy it on the roof of your mouth, if you feel for your own with your tongue), with areolas getting compressed by the bony part when she suckles.

Mastitis can happen in both breasts at the same time but is uncommon. If you aren't feeling I'll with it, unusually lumpy even after a feed, no red patches on the sides, then it's unlikely.

Basically, it's going to be something that affects both sides the same. Either how you're handling/storing your boobs, or how she's feeding.

I'm so sorry it sucks. It genuinely gets a LOT easier.

Btw, 6 weeks is the most common time for mums to give up breastfeeding because of this growth spurt/increased feeds/discomfort. Honestly, the most common.

(I ran breastfeeding support groups for a few years)

If you start feeling like you have flu though - go straight to the doctor, out of hours if necessary. That IS mastitis which requires antibiotics. Easily treated, but nasty.

White nipple sounds like vasospasm due to poor latch. I had it with mine and it was excruciating and was the reason I stopped.

Can you find a breastfeeding support group locally and head down to check the latch?

@VikingLady I've got a breastfeeding lady from the health visiting service coming out to check latch but not until Wednesday. She is a shallow latcher and I re-latch as much as she needs to. Her latch has looked a lot better since her tongue tie snip but I can feel a definite pain where her lower jaw sits.
It feels like razor blades when she first starts feeding then it gets a bit more tolerable on the left side after a minute.
The right side is worse than razor blades throughout the whole feed and the last time I fed her i ended the feed early because the pain was unbearable. I can't remember if my nipple was white that time or not.

@buckingmad She definitely clamps down and has a stiff jaw but if the pain was from that I thought it would have eased by now as I've not fed her for over 24hours. How long did it take for the pain to go once you stopped?
I'm definitely not carrying on if she doesn't stop clamping, like you said it's excruciating.

Yup, that's a shallow latch. My eldest was like that. Agony. I used to cry.

If you look up the "flipple" technique on YouTube that might help? It's a bit weird to get used to and it takes a few goes, but oh god the relief!!

You sort of fold your nipple upwards so you can place the outside edge of your areola on her lip, then when she opens her mouth you let your nipple flip deep into her mouth in one go. Weird as anything and feels like it'll be too deep, but it's not. It's meant to be really deep!

Good luck xx

The pain is partly bruising, so it won't all go immediately, but a better latch will stop her pressing on the bruise each time.

Wow this has brought it all back. Really bloody difficult. I don't have any advice. I did carry on bf but I can't remember what worked. Its OK to give up though. It really is.

I was at this stage with my first son. A friend visited me and saw how upset, unhappy and in pain I was. She went and bought a bottle and some ready made formula. It was the best decision anyone could have made. I was starting to dislike my child because of the pain they were causing me. My friend, in a way, gave me permission to bottle feed, such was the pressure in my own head to breastfeed.