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.

The thing is I don't know if they will stop hurting?! If I have small nipples and my baby has a high palate making it difficult for me to get my nipple in far enough to avoid it being aggravate, then surely it will just always hurt? I'm sorry, I don't mean to sound argumentative but I'm just worried it won't stop.

I feel like I could carry on if I knew for definite it was going to stop at some point but if it's not I don't know how much longer I can go through it. I know it's a catch 22 because nobody can really tell me.

Babies get better at bf as they get bigger, their mouths get bigger and your nipples may also change with more bf.

Hi, we combo feed, it came about because my ds was cluster feeding and I was exhausted and in agony, and had a bit of a breakdown after my ds got really agitated on the breast and chomped down really hard on my poor nipple, it was agony. Dp took him off me, put me to bed and left me there for eight hours, fed ds all the ebm we had and then gave him a bottle of formula too. He now goes between bottle and breast pretty happily and those bottle feeds give me a bit of a break. It works really well for us, and baby is thriving, so don't feel bad if this is something you want to do. For us it made the difference between carrying on or not.

I also use nipple shields sometimes. I have a medela set and an ardo set, (found on amazon) both are quite effective, I find popping them on for the initial latch and letdown and then taking them off after about five minutes and carrying on the feed works for us. And shed loads of lansinoh and breast pads all the time. I stick the lansinoh on the nipple and then put a blob on the pad as well. No soap on my nipples when I shower and no towels on them either (it's too painful!)

My ds is 4 weeks old now, and the pain seems to go up and down, the last couple of days have been quite sore but we had a bit of a cluster feeding day earlier in the week so I think that's why. On the whole though I'm getting more feeds that are comfortable or manageable and less that are toe curlingly painful. It's getting better, very slowly.

It does hurt, and it's tough, and any woman who does this for even one feed is a hero in my eyes. I really hope it gets better for you both and you find a way to feed baby that works for you.

I second kaytee87, babies do generally get better with time and it does become less painful and just easier. They begin to latch on themselves, their mouths are bigger so it's easier to get a comfortable latch and it becomes more of a partnership with less burden on you. I am breastfeeding DC2 at the moment and sadly it's painful again, for a variety of reasons, but I'm reassured by the memory that it did get better with DC1 and that's enough to keep me going this time round. But it's so hard when you're sleep deprived and in pain, still recovering from birth and I know that even a few days feels like a lifetime away.

Please don't feel obliged or guilty about any of this it is not 'wrong' to use nipple shields, combination feed, or stop breastfeeding altogether. Try to remember that and take some time out to relax and take the pressure off (easier said than done I know). You know that baby will be well fed whatever happens and that's all that matters

I found breastfeeding incredibly painful at first - I used to cry every time my baby latched on (even though his latch was checked multiple times and was fine). Let down was a nasty sting rather than the warm glow that I had read about, and that stinging lasted for at least the first month. However, it did get better - so much so that I went on to feed DS until he was 19 months old (by the end, it was so comfortable that I barely even felt it when he latched).

You are still in the very early (and painful) days - but it will almost certainly get better! The fact that it is hurting may mean that something is wrong (latch, thrush etc as mentioned by PP) but it is not necessarily so. Keep on going to breastfeeding support if you can, and be confident that it will improve.

It took about two weeks for it to stop being painful for me. The best advice I was given was to change the position that you fed regularly, I started to do laid back breastfeeding and I think the different position just meant my nipples weren’t being pulled in the same way which allowed the cracks to heal. It was a game changer for me and once they’d healed I fed her till she was 18months with no issues.

I have not RTFT but I would say:

At a population level the evidence for the benefits of breast feeding being significantly better than formula feeding are not that compelling. Formula feeding is perfectly fine for your baby. A happy mum is more important.

If you do want to carry on breastfeeding get a lactation consultant. Mine latched the baby in for me and the difference was amazing (even though others had checked my latch and said it was fine).

I expressed like a maniac for a few days to let my nipples heal. I used a Medela Swing hospital grade pump so my supply wasn’t affected. PM me if you’re close I’ll lend you mine.

Cabbage leaves are soothing.

I combo feed (2 formula feeds a day) to my Ds who is 6 months as I did with my Dd. Both were csections.
I never did a cluster feed, I gave a top formula feed and then just fed as normal 2 hours later. I alway did 2 hours in the day and then when they woke overnight. People can guess what might happen to your baby and your body- but no one can tell you for sure.

Hi there,
I would suggest to get you DC checked for tongue tie. My DD was feeding but was looking ok from outside but in 24h after birth she shredded my nipples to bits. All the midwifes were telling that is ok until they have seen the blood. After DD was checked and they found her with 30%TT. One nice midwife in the hospital had showed me how to feed her with a cup( not a bottle, I didn’t want to have nipple confusion) to give my nipples a break.
Home, one of the midwife that had visited us refered us to a lactation consultant. She came home and help us a lot.
I was starting to hate the feeding time but I have came with a solution: DISTRACTION- after the baby had latched I had a bottle of Lucozade near me and I was drinking from it straight a way or water. Anything just to take your mind from pain.
And use Lansinoh( I tought that was supposed to give you relieve but is just keeping the nipple moist).
If is to much just give formula for a feed( is not poison) and hand express a little to give yourself relief.
Overall the pain and healing took around 3 weeks to go .
Is so nice to BF without pain and hassle free when you go out🙂

Oo and warm showers or baths really helped or warm patches www.lansinoh.co.uk/products/therapearl-3-in-1-breast-therapy

Try nipple shields. I know lactation consultants and midwives hate them but they worked for me. I have very thin, easily bruised skin and my first DC had a bad latch and I was in agony. I tried combination feeding but eventually gave up bf after 6 weeks and always regretted it.

With DC2, I had more confidence to go with what felt right for me and used nipple shields and it kept me feeding through the early months until I had no pain anymore (around 12 weeks) and then bf was a breeze. I fed my DD for 13 months. And I credit that to nipple shields getting me through the early stages when I gave up with my first DC.

Midwives will scaremonger and try to shame you for not being a bf purist and will tell you that shields will reduce supply or cause mastitis etc but that was not my experience. Try them and see if they help!

Oops, just saw you tried the shields That’ll teach me not to RTFT!

My midwife recommended jelonet.... Its like a gauze soaked in a jelly substance. They're for burns... it promotes wet healing. Worked a treat for me

You'd get it in the chemists

Breastfed all 3.

I'll be honest, first 8 weeks were hell for all 3.

Eventually your nipples get used to the feeding abuse

I did feed through cracked sore nipples. It was very very hard.

My latch was always perfect. Anyone who says BF hurts is either lying or bloody lucky.

I meant saying breastfeeding doesn't hurt!

It does.

the insistence from NCT/some midwives that it shouldn't hurt at all is making things worse.

Thing is, it CAN hurt at the start even if everything is done right. It’s a myth that it’s painless if the latch etc is perfect. I wish someone had told me that with my first.

Op I had the same - 10 weeks of utter misery then suddenly it was OK.

I think the wisest thing would be to get some LLL or similarchelp to check latch and for structural issues like tongue tie. Also check for thrush - I found flucanozole systemic treatment helped when I was feeling like someone was forcing glass into my nipples.,

IF all that is fine then it will likely get better but it hurts like a mofo in the meantime. I also gave a bottle a day in the evening just to get some rest and I found that really helpful. Formula isn't poison although you will undoubtedly be judged six ways to Sunday by some people for it (tell them to feck off..) giving that one bottle a day saved breastfeeding for me as I was about to give up but it just gave me that hour or two to rest and recover a bit.

My next baby will be combi fed - you do whatever works for YOU.

For what it's worth it suddenly got a lot better for me aboitcten weeks and I managed to bf to 18m, so even after a rocky start it can work well. Just go easy on yourself and if you want to combi feed do.

Wow you are all so tough! No way could I cope with this for much longer! Thanks for all the helpful comments, I think I do need to get checked for thrush and going to start my husband giving a formula feed in the evening so I can get to bed early and get some decent rest before night feeds start. It all just seems so much worse after a bad nights sleep doesn't it?!

God yes lack of sleep makes everything a million times worse. I was told i didn’t have thrush by a doc who just said ‘baby has no white patches in mouth’ but it doesn’t always manifest like that. I just treated myself with flucanoxole (oral) and there was a dramatic improvement. Obviously you shouldn’t dose yourself without seeing a doc blah blah disclaimer, but I found hcps pretty dismissive of bf issues.

I’m pregnant again just now and this one is getting a bottle in the evening from the get go!

Hope it works out for you.

I could have written all your posts last time. Uugh the agony! I found nipple shields and combo feeding (one bottle at night) worked for us and I successfully fed until 7.5 months when DS decided solid food was much more interesting! I used shields until 12w and DS came off them no probs.

If you can stick with it through the hell it becomes great, so easy and quick and pain free. It's just so, so hard at the start. I don't know what kept me going, just sheer bloody mindedness! Good luck!

OP I was you three years ago. Every feed made me cry. The latch was checked and was fine. I expressed too as my nipples were bleeding and scabbed. I had conflicting stories of 'it hurts at the benining' and 'it shouldn't hurt if the latch is good'

Turns out DD has a 80% posterior tongue tie and lip tie. The shallow latch also gave me two bouts of thrush and mastitis and pumping saved me.

I know you said your baby was checked for tongue tie, but was it by a TT specialist not just a feeding specialist? Posterior tongue tie is very hard to treat but easy to correct.

I'm sure my feeding issues caused me to have PND, and I stopped BF quite early on and instead exclusively pumped. It's hard work but I did it for 7 months.

I'm now Bf DD2 and it's been a breeze. A tiny bit of discomfort at the beginning but nothing like DD1. You cannot carry on enduring the pain you're feeling. Don't worry about others stories of feeding through the pain- you need to look after yourself. I would find a nearby TT specialist (google it) and you can have the TT corrected for a hundred quid or approx. If that doesn't work you could combi feed or exclusively pumped. Happy to send you some tips for the latter to make your life easier. X

It's so tough. With all 3 of mine, I had various problems which meant that feeding was excruciating for many weeks. Using my hindsight - go and get a swab test with GP asap on any persevering cracks on nips to determine if you have thrush or a bacterial infection. Both are easily treatable. I have had both before and understand your pain if you have this.

You are still quite early days. It is more likely that your breasts are getting to grips with all this mutiny and will recover with cautious feeding, alternating breasts and using buckets of lansinoh.

This too will pass. As time goes on, breastfeeding will be completely pain free. Until when teeth come. That's more fun babies have up their sleeves.

@hmyh23 get yourself some hydrogel breast pads - I had exactly this issue and know the pain you're feeling
The hydrogel pads worked almost straight away and the pain disappeared by the next day. They completely saved my breastfeeding experience!