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.

Oh and take painkillers regularly. Paracetamol and Nurofen are fine for BFing.

Lansinoh Therapearl 3-in-1 Breast Therapy Soothing https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01JRLTP9E/ref=cmswwrcppapiii_ZWTuCbWK400SE

Please stick with bf! It gets so so sore but I can promise you it gets so so so much better. It'll be the best thing you do. Smile through the pain.

What everyone else already said.

Just, yeah, it HURTS LIKE HELL to begin with, it really does, but amazingly in another week or so you'll be fine, they toughen up miraculously fast.

I'm feeding my 4th one at the moment, only stopped feeding the 3rd 8 months ago so I didn't think I'd have any issues this time, but it was still excruciating the first dozen or so times he latched on. 7 days later, it's fine now. Definitely worth it every time (although as PP said, nothing wrong with using a bottle either, the most important thing is making sure you feel OK).

Good luck. X

Hi OP I was in this exact position a few weeks ago. I tried lanisoh, nipple shields (which helped for a day or 2), my own milk, letting them air, I got a BF consultant out, I switched positions. It was agony and more than that, it really affected my mental health. I was anxious all the time. Even after a feed when my baby was happy, I couldn’t enjoy her because I was fixated on when the next feed would be, it hung over me. Between the stress, the pain and sleep deprivation, I felt sick all the time.

The best thing I ever did was change to formula. As soon as I made the decision with my DH, it was like a weight was lifted from my shoulders. I love being a mum now - I have a great time with my happy little girl. It’s also given me more freedom - I can feed wherever I am (not that anyone should feel like they can’t when they are BF however I never got to the stage where I was confident to it in front of people because I had such a struggle getting DD to latch on), my husband shares the feeds and gets to spend time with his DD and we have family members do it too so that she is comfortable with anyone feeding her. Moreover, my DD started putting on weight instead of losing it.

I am not trying to tell you to change to formula - everyone told me that BF gets easier (the first 6 weeks are the worst I was told) and that then it’s a much easier option: no carting bottles around, cleaning bottles, sterilising, making up nighttime feeds. We also use the TT Prep machine and are so reliant on it that we have to cart that around too if we’re staying at relatives etc. I agree that BF would be easier in that regard. I just couldn’t get to that stage- it was too much for me. I beat myself up at the time for “giving up” and I still feel a bit bad about it but I’m also so glad that I don’t look back on those precious first few weeks and regret not enjoying them and I love (maybe selfishly) that my DD enjoys feeds with her dad and other family members. BF might be the right thing for you and your family and it could all be worth it in the long run but please don’t torture yourself if you do decide to make the change

Lansinoh and I found that the rugby hold was better for the first month as he could get a deeper latch. Saved my life.

Another Lansinoh fan here! Apply loads and take pain relief. It WILL heal and get better, I promise.

Bless you. Breastfeeding is one of the hardest things I ever did and I quit at 8 weeks. One thing that helped me last that long was the medela nipple shields. You can get them on amazon or boots, use them to allow your nipples to heal.

OP my DS is almost 3 but I will never forget the agony of the first few weeks of breastfeeding. I only have one breast after a mastectomy, so that poor nipple never got a break. Every feed was misery.

First of all, if you need to switch to bottle, switch. When my nipple was bad I gave DS a couple of bottle feeds a day to give myself a break. Don't beat yourself up like I did . A calm and happy parent is more important than breast vs bottle.

Second, nipple cream did absolutely nothing for me. Multimam compresses worked miracles. I wore one pretty much all the time between feeds until my nipple healed and saw improvement within days. They are pricey at mothercare but DH found them on amazon for a fraction of the price.

I remember people saying the first six weeks were the worst, and me thinking there was no way I'd be able to make it that long with the agony I was feeling but I went on to breastfeed for two years. Good luck!

I feel your pain!! The exact thing happened to me. I cried every time I fed DD for about 2 weeks. I used Lansinoh after each feed and put a gauze between my nipple and breast pad. Literally cleared up in a weekend and been fine since. DD is a year and half now and still going fine. It does get easier.

If you have deep cracks then wet healing apparently helps. Get some Jelonet and cut patches, put over cracks (use breast pads as can stain clothes). And lasinoh. A dummy if needs be if comfort sucking. And a nipple shield perhaps, but I found them really hard to use.

You will get there.

I'm the op and I just want to say thank you to everyone in this thread, I am a young mum, (24) and had my heart set on breastfeeding my little one is now 4 months old are we are flying. He ebf. This thread really really helped me through it. So thank you to every single one of you. I couldn't of done it without your advice and support!

Well done

Aw that’s lovely to hear
Hopefully will also help others
I slathered in cream (long while ago and was recommended a chamomile cream which is sadly no longer available)
Saved my sanity
I carried on to EBF to 11 months with DD and 8 months with DS