BFing- struggling with sore, cracked nipples

[hmyh23]

Not really an AIBU but I'm desperate for some advice.

Day 8 of BFing here and really suffering with sore, dry, scabby nipples. I am following all the advice I've been given- using Lansinoh, dabbing with breastmilk, air drying where possible but they don't seem to be healing up and are constantly stinging and tingling. The initial let down when the baby latches is very painful and then the rest of the feed is better but still uncomfortable which means I dread every feed. The hospital midwives and community midwives have checked the latch and agree it's good, the baby is maintaining weight and is thriving so no problem with the amount she is getting. They seem to think the damage is from the first couple of days when the latch wasn't good but I dont know how to heal it when there's only 3hrs between each feed. I don't know whether to stop and express for a few days to see if this will help but I'm worried about getting her back on the breast afterwards. I don't want to throw the towel in now after trying so hard to get to this stage but I don't think I can just keep feeding through the pain and I am also recovering from a tear so quite uncomfortable In general. In all honesty I'm wishing I had just bottle fed from the outset as I feel this is adding an extra level of stress on top of recovery from labour and getting used to everything. NCT advice is that the latch mustn't be right or it wouldn't hurt any more and I should try and get an appointment at the local midwife unit for more help.

Any advice welcome from people who have been through similar, they are sticking to breast pads/bra/tops which is taking the top off the scabs and making it all worse.

It's so so sore isn't It, I remember it well. Great shields helped for a day or two, just to give a chajce to heal. Try feeding on one side and expressing on the other for a couple of feeds so the expressed side can heal a bit? The nipples will kind of 'toughen up' though so even if you're carrying on feeding they will grt better shortly.

Good luck, it's one of the hardest things I did. Hormones will be all over the place too. Be kind to yourself, you're doing great.

Maybe it’s a good idea to get the GP to check. The MultiMam compresses aren’t a medication or treatment for thrush or infection but they do help when sore. You can get them in Boots.

Silverette Nursing Cups - Soothing Sore Breasts or Cracked Nipples with Silver https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00D4MWKNQ/ref=cmswwrcppapi_kfHHAbR4CZGSE

Ok first of all you are doing an amazing job, don't beat yourself up about anything so far. You are bound to be very tired and emotional and that's 100% normal. Adding pain into that mix only makes life seem terrible.

NCT advice is that the latch mustn't be right or it wouldn't hurt any more
I believed this and tbh it's bullshit. Even the lactation consultant I saw told me it will hurt for a bit when you first start and it eases off over the coming weeks. If you've had the latch checked then perservence is all you have (that and chocolate, seriously, eat chocolate).

In my experience, expressing makes things worse. My DD is almost 4 months and I expressed last week to relieve some extra milk as she's dropped a feed and it took a good 5 days for my nipples to recover.

I could have written your post 3 months ago. It was agony to begin with, DD wasn't gaining weight and I was crying every day believing I was a failure and couldn't look after my own daughter. Things get easier.

If you need to top up with formula, do. If expressing works for you, do that. A lot of people talk about nipple confusion but a bottle or 2 a day shouldn't cause too many problems. A midwife in the hospital told me it's more laziness - baby doesn't have to work so hard for the bottle so they stop trying on the breast. No confusion just baby taking the path of least resistance.

Finally, in my darkest hours when I wanted to quit (usually at night when I was experiencing the most pain after a day of feeding) DH told me that he would 100% supprt my decision to put her on formula, but not to make that choice tired. Somehow after a little bit of sleep I felt I could carry on another day.

End of the day your baby needs to be fed but you have to be ok too. Do what is right for you both. Good luck!

I've been where you are it's horrible, I was recommended camilosane ( not sure if that's how it's spelt). Which I used loads. It gets better honest.
To encourage you once I got past the painful stage I feed for over 2 years until my 2nd was born who I feed for another 2 years. I'm currently feeding number 3 who I struggled with latch problems with but think that was due to tongue tie and I was out of practice 😉

I had exactly the same experience as you are going through. Lansinoh really was my saviour. Loads of it every time. I didn’t give a bottle at all and it was hell but it did get better. They healed in a couple of weeks and I was completely pain free in a month. I’m glad I persevered as I continued to successfully breastfeed for 18 months with no more issues.
If you really want to breastfeed then stick with it even though it’s agony. It’s worth it.
However, there is absolutely no shame in given your dd a bottle. You have already given her a great start and the best thing you can give her is a happy Mum, breast or bottle doesn’t matter. Good luck op.

This was me 13 months ago. Access as much help as possible - I saw minor improvements in the amount of pain by changing how I was holding the baby’s head. Using the nipple sandwich technique (google it) helped as the latch was a bit shallow. I had a tongue tie snipped at two weeks, but this didn’t have the miraculous immediate results I was hoping for. For me it was just time, and the wonderful multi-mam gel pads. Expensive but so soothing. 3 weeks old was a bit of a turning point (no longer crying through feeds). 6 weeks was much much better (often pain free, though still occasional bleeding). And then continued improvement from there (still breastfeeding at bedtime now). It did take a few months for the cracks to heal fully, but they stopped being painful when they were no longer bleeding. So if you can manage to get through this first awful bit, there is light at the end of the tunnel. No shame in giving up though if it’s too bad.

Shields! I was in agony with both my Lttle ones. Cracked and bleeding both times - nipples shields saved me. I found boots own brand ones the best. It didn't affect my supply and with both children eventually powered through and dropped the shields by three months.

Good luck op. You are doing all the right things, for some of us it is just hard! There really is nothing more miserable.

I had cracked nipples and the latch was fine. I used plenty of lansinoh and they did heal after a week or so. It's a hard time and you'll think its never going to get better then all of a sudden you'll do a feed and it wont hurt! Good luck!

It’s horrible, I remember the pain so well 18 years later! The first couple of weeks are the absolute worst, but all of a sudden it improves and you will be able to sit down, snuggle your little girl against you and be glad of that time together. No wonder you are feeling sad and sore, but a few more days and some support should get you through it if you can just (literally) grit your teeth and do it. And then enjoy the freedom of not having to make up bottles etc. Good luck,

Congratulations and well done for persevering, it's not easy particularly in the first few weeks!!!! Some great advice given already. I would ask you to stop air drying your nipples, it's going to prolong the healing process. For more information www.breastfeedingnetwork.org.uk/wp-content/pdfs/Cracked_Nipples_and_Moist_Wound_Healing_2002.pdf

I know how soul-destroying sore cracked nipples are, poor you!

Two things to ask about:

Has baby been checked for tongue tie?
Could you both have thrush? (Common after antibiotics)

My DDIL suffered for weeks and eventually discovered both a bad tongue tie and thrush.

Aw @hmyh23 this bit really sucks and I'm sorry you're going through it. In my experience of 3 bf kids for varying degrees of time and intensity... go with your gut.
Breastfeeding is wonderful when it works well. It's disheartening and (I personally found it soul destroying) when it didn't go well. The guilt, the anxiety every feed. It wears you down.

The good news... at twelve weeks everything usually settles down. Your hormones will be more in line and baby should establish a (hopefully) nice pattern. That should minimise the nipple pain and give you chance to heal,

In the mean time it sounds like you are doing everything you can. Maybe try some coconut oil?

But please don't beat yourself up if you move to formula; happy mummy makes a happy baby xx

NCT advice is that the latch mustn't be right or it wouldn't hurt any more

They say that. It’s cobblers.

It’s agony isn’t it. Lashings of lansinoh helped and DS had a bedtime bottle from about three weeks. The flipple helped me. And by about 10 weeks we were doin* ok.

Good luck.

I used anthisan cream 20 odd years ago and it really helped. GP is best to advise though.

I had this on both of my children. On both I didn't make it past 3 weeks bfing.

Jelonet 'sandwich' was most effective, thick layer of lansinoh, square of jelonet, more lansinoh over the top then a breast pad. Remove and use a breast shield then reapply. Do this for 24 hrs, they heal amazingly!

I was told by everyone 'latch was fine'. Even after they healed, I'd cry before and during every feed and began to dread the time coming until the next feed. My daughter never seemed satisfied when feeding and would nuzzle, cry, pull on my nipples with her mouth and cry after every few sucks. After a night of literally 7 hours of her and me crying, agony, bleeding and her feeding (few sucks, screaming, few sucks screaming like she was starving) we both past out and woke up 40 mins later with her crying AGAIN for another feed. I just couldn't do it and gave her a bottle with a carton of oremade formula a neighbour had given a few days earlier. She fed happily, downed the whole lot, didn't cry once and ten slept, the most soundly and content that she had in the whole time I'd had her!

In hindsight, and reading up after exactly the same happening with my second (I was devastated I'd 'failed' a second time!) I KNOW the latch can't have been right! Like the poor little thing was sucking through a bent straw!

Anyway, my tale isn't to put you off! I'm CONVINCED if I had seen an expert it could have been sorted. I rang breast feeding consultants in my area but couldn't get to see one until two weeks later. By then I'd reached my limit (and so had the baby!!!)

I also want you to know, it's not the end of the world and you're not a failure if you decide to formula feed. I can honestly say, making the decision to admit defeat and bottle feed was (devastating at the time) but a relief. I finally was able to bond with my baby rather than resenting every time she wanted feeding and finally began to enjoy being a mum.

Not saying this to be slammed for not encouraging you, just my experience!
Fed is best. Happy mum=happy baby, look after you're own wellbeing whichever form feeding takes from here on in! Definitely contact support, but, if you reach your fill, go for a bottle and don't spend weeks filled with guilt (I did on my 1st!!!)
Hugs x

Thank you everyone, she took the formula feed but it didnt seem to fill her because I've had to put her back on the breast just now because she has been screaming the house down and after changing, winding etc we didn't know what else to do. Will see how tonight goes, the formula and ebm is in the fridge if we need it. Tomorrow I'm going to calm the midwife unit first thing and see if I can go in tomorrow for some help. Thank you for all your suggestions and the range of views. I think it's really set me back having midwives saying different things about whether or not it should hurt.

feeding rota: left boob only, right boob only, bottle of formula. each boob gets 12 hours rest. and enough feeding to keep the supply in . it increased again once I fed more.

breast shields.

midwife said ds would give up feeding if he had abottle.
he did. just had to wait two and a half years for it to happen!

I agree that parafin gauze dressings like jelonet are good. Cut them out while still wrapped in the paper.

I found the initial latch painful but not during the feed.I also went to one breast per feed and in desperation used cling film to stop the scabs sticking.Some how the scabs suddenly healed,I did rub in the milk at the end of each feed don't know if it helped or just coincidence.
Congratulations,hope the midwife can help.