Breastfeeding. Please help!!

[ftm90]

Long time lurker, first time posting.
Not sure if this is in the right place but there's a lot of traffic here soooo

I'm a first time mum, my baby is 6 days old, I had my heart set on breastfeeding and have been doing so exclusively, the latch is fine, but damage happened to my nipples in the first day and just hasn't healed. My nipples are so cracked and sore, that at every feed I'm in tears through the initial latch. I feel so guilty about this and then when I consider switching to bottles I'm also racked with guilt. Please please please help, anyone own experiences or how to feel less guilty about potentially switching to bottles?! TIA.

Hang in there. It gets better!

Someone will pop along in a sec with some great advice shortly. There is no shame in changing to bottles, but if you do want to continue try nipple shields and the silver nipple covers for in between feeds. It’s saved me!

Good luck and don’t be too hard on yourself

Lansinoh nipple cream

Tonnes and tonnes of nipple cream 👍🏼

Nipple cream lansinoh is great
Nipple shields? Get them from mothercare
Have you got a breastfeeding group near you? Go there, great fauve and support.

Ok I have read recently been here!
Deep breaths and just deal with tonight.
Do you have lanisoh or something like that? I put it on before a feed, counted down from ten as DD latched on (to get over the pain!) and consciously relaxed, if that makes sense. Un-hunch shoulders and untense everything. It should help a little.

The breastfeeding will get easier- so, so much easier! - in a very short space of time. Make sure you are drinking plenty and taking painkillers.

However! If you want to bottle feed, then bottle feed. It will be fine. Just don't feel like you have no other option! The decision is entirely yours and you don't need to feel bad either way. Just know that these are the tough few weeks in establishing breastfeeding and that if you can/want to get through them, there is help and it will be easier soon. But if you want to bottle feed, do it and feel no need to justify yourself.

You've got this, OP. It mightn't feel like that, but you do! Congratulations on your baby X

I see that everyone else got there before me with the the nipple cream advice!

Lansinoh nipple cream and give your boobs an airing at every opportunity.

Have baby checked for tongue tie by an experienced tongue tie practitioner.

Google the flipple technique to get baby to open mouth wide to latch.

(I’ve breastfed 2 tongue tied babies)

I’m a bit rusty but will try and help (ex midwife)

Have you tried changing your position when feeding to take the pressure off the sore bit? So if you were sitting when damage done try rugby ball hold (under arm) or lying down.

Also used your own milk on the nipples to help the healing and take some pain relief if you can.

Nipple shields can make things worse so get advice from a midwife / MSW if you can and ask them to watch a whole feed to check the latch throughout the feed.

Hang on in there - it will pass but it is agony and you are being unbelievably brave x

I had this problem with very hungry twins there was just no time for them to heal! How about substituting seveal feeds with a bottle to give your nipples a rest.
Hopefully it will work but if it doesn't theres no shame in formula feeding and you should not feel guilty if you have to.

Avent nipple shields
Boots multimam compresses are soothing
Lansinoh cream and their breast pads are good.

Don't panic if baby brings up pink milk! It's fine (for them anyway).

There is absolutely no shame in switching to formula. In a few years you won’t give a damn.

Having said that, breast feeding can be hard to establish, but usually gets better. I really struggled for first few weeks, but eventually it did click and become very easy and convenient.

Try nipple shields for a while? I tried them for a few feeds. Some help with latch? Expressing and feeding from bottle to give your body a rest? I’m no expert, but there is support out there. Ask for support!

I second putting Lansinoh on after every feed (dab nipples dry first) and make sure you take painkillers.

Lansinoh is good but quite sticky. I liked mothercare own brand cream and would put it on before and after every feed. Watch a couple of YouTube videos on breastfeeding just to make sure you’ve got positioning right. Breastfeed lying down if you can.

The first 2 weeks are the hardest, I nearly gave up but I’m so glad I didn’t. It didn’t hurt after that and it’s the best thing I’ve ever done.

Do you have a BF group nearby at your local children’s centre?

Second the poster above, it does honestly get better. If it doesn’t please see if a lactation consultant can check for tongue tie - latch can look fine and indeed baby be getting plenty of milk, but causing excruciating pain while doing so because the tongue position is off! That said, unfortunately pain is normal for a lot of mums in the first week or so. My DS2 did me some spectacular damage, and I ended up alternating feeding from source with expressing and giving bottles for a few days to let them heal up a bit. He took the bottles fine and wasn’t bothered when they stopped either. Also massively recommend these gel pad things. They’re amazingly soothing and helped me much more than lanolin ever did.

Have some and and congratulations on your gorgeous little nipple destroyer squish.

Loads of nipple cream! You just have to get over the painful bit. It happened with both of my babies in the first few days. But if it gets too hard you know youve given it a go! Fed is best. Congratulations on your baby 💐

Another vote for Lansinoh!

Not sure it is an approved technique, but I found that the quicker I applied my baby’s head to my boob, the less it hurt. Hard to describe without it sounding brutal (it wasn’t!), but when they gape to latch, one very quick push to back of head so that as much as possible goes inside the baby’s mouth. It seemed to reduce the hideous sharp pain of the initial latch.

And if you decide to switch to bottles, that’s fine too. Whatever works.

Lansinoh is sooooo much better than any other nipple cream, I had a crappy boots one and it did literally nothing. If baby has a good latch that it is really helpful so if you get the lansinoh it will hell loads, good luck.

This is totally normal, I’m breastfeeding my third right now and the first few weeks are painful and involve a lot of clenched teeth for me. Nipple shields though, they work like magic to protect sore nipples and let them heal. Tons of nipple cream and my midwives always say that breast milk itself also helps heal cracked nipples. I also got good advice from a midwife to not be all hunched up when feeding, my body anticipating the pain, but to move your shoulders down and relax your posture - it helps. Having done this before I knew that it would take 5 weeks and then, for me, the pain suddenly and entirely goes and it’s not an issue at all. Honestly, it will. I totally understand women not making it that far, it’s hard, I know. But if you can just break that barrier, then it’s honestly such a great experience.

Lansinoh hpa lanolin after every feed. About £10 a tube but it lasts ages and you don't need to wash it off before next feed. Magic stuff x

Another Lansinoh recommendation here. You don't even need to wash it off before a feed. I wouldn't have thought about painkillers, but that is a great idea until your nips calm down. Good luck and congratulations.

Lansinoh and nipple shields... once they heal and you get over this hurdle it's totally pain free.

If you have pain like that the latch isn't fine. A bit of initial discomfort is normal but trauma to your nipple means something isn't right. Try biological nurturing. If you Google it you'll see videos of how to do it. Basically you lie back with the baby near you nipple and let the baby find its own latch. No messing about with holds and such. Alternatively the flipple is a good way of getting a deeper latch. Again YouTube will have videos.

Get properly checked for tongue tie. They actually have to put a finger in the baby's mouth and feel. Ideally you get a proper lactation consultant to do this as midwives and health visitors are very often not properly trained.

Let go of the guilt and having your worth as a parent tied up in breastfeeding. You are feeding your baby. That might be boob or bottle or expressed or formula. Or a mixture of all of those things. The baby getting fed is the important thing. In the long run boobs are usually more straight forward and definitely cheaper but sometimes it can take a while to get it going so there's no shame in doing a bit of this and that til you get the hang of it. Give the La Leche and kellymom websites and look and there's maybe a breastfeeding group nearby you can go to for some RL support. Ask your health visitor.

Keep the faith, op. You're doing a good job. Good luck.

Lansinoh is your friend. And some strong paracetamol. Hang in there

After feed squeeze some of your milk, rub it gently onto your nipple and leave it to dry, repeat a few times if very sore. This will help as milk has natural healing components and antibodies. I also found it cooled burning soreness as milk dried. Get yourself nipple cream (lansinoh is the best) and put it on after every feed. Nipple shields suppose to be good too may be worth trying. Hang in there it will get better

Nipple cream and your own milk as others have said. I found the initial latch painful for the first week or so, I used to clench my toes and count to 10 (sounds stupid, but by the time I got to 10 the pain had passed. I think it just kind of distracted me).

Find your local breastfeeding group, there’ll be loads of good advice there. Tomorrow contact your hv & ask her to put you in touch with a breastfeeding counseller- I think they’re actually health visitors with more specialist, in depth knowledge. The lady in my area was fantastic, she kept in touch with me for a week or so after I’d initially seen her, her advice was invaluable.

Good luck, you’re doing amazing