To ask when your nipples stopped hurting - breastfeeding

[Pip1402]

Sorry, posting here for traffic as I'm desperate.

I've been breastfeeding my newborn since she was born 17 days ago. Multiple midwives and a feeding support worker have checked the latch and said it's fine but my nipples are still very painful and I don't know what I'm doing wrong.

Is this normal? Do my nipples just need to toughen up a bit more? I've ended up supplementing with formula and using nipples shields at times because of the agonising pain. I'd been clinging on to this getting easier after 2 weeks but it hasn't yet. I really don't want to give up but don't know how much longer I can take the pain.

Any positive stories of people who just needed to persevere for a bit longer and their nipples started to cope? How long until it stopped being painful for you?

I did at one point have to use them as well 30 yrs ago . It does hurt for first few weeks so don't believe when the MW tells you if you are doing it right it shouldn't hurt . With my first I used to quietly weep at the start of a feed . But as the skin on the nipple roughs up the pain will gradually disappear .
I did at one point use the nipple shields to feed for a few days .
Keep going you are doing a stellar job

DC1 it never really stopped hurting, he never took to it and I gave up after 3 months. With DC2 I used nipple shields for what felt like ages but was probably only a couple of weeks in reality! After we got into the swing of things it was quite lovely, but breastfeeding a newborn is bloody relentless. I'd highly recommend speaking to a lactation consultant who can spend a bit of time with you and try different feeding positions, etc.

It took 8 weeks with my first and 6 weeks with my second to become pain-free
You are doing amazing!

about a month. They will heal op promise. And well done x

Went from agonising pain where I understood the true meaning of ‘toe-curling’, like shards of glass being shoved through my boobs, to gradually bearable, to absolutely pain free and blissfully comfortable.

yes to mam compresses and silicone shields for a bit.

Silver cups

I've breastfed both my babies exclusively and silver cups were the best things I bought

Mine never stopped hurting! Was checked multiple times for tongue tie, had lactation specialists etc, tried everything. I have small breasts though, so not if that was an issue too.

Wow, thank you so much for all of the lovely replies and encouragement, it really means a lot.

I’m 10 weeks in with my first baby and had loads of bother from day 1. Had lots of help with latch in the beginning and found it easier with different holds. I could only manage with rugby hold the first few weeks (I’m F/G cup so larger too). After persevering I can now hold in any position really and baby is bigger and stronger is more able to work with me. I’ve had toe curling pain but not all the time. Sometimes he will just have a bad latch so I will unlatch and relatch him. Some times he just can’t seem to manage to latch properly.

I use creams and shields but don’t really feel the need very often and pain is there but only mild. I think that’s normal and my nipples have toughened a bit so I think that helps. If it’s toe curling all the time then something needs to be fixed. I’ve had bother with reflux and having him seen for tongue tie. If it not tongue tie they will assess and advise. Baby isnt gaining very well and it seems like he’s not feeding efficiently so am now practising “switch feeding” which seems to be working. I’m temporarily topping after each daytime feed with 60ml of formula or breast milk (whichever’s easiest!) to make sure he’s getting enough.

All I’ve learned is that breastfeeding is so difficult for such a “natural” thing and it takes a hell of a lot of perseverance and problem solving along the way. Just wanted to let you know you’re not alone!

My midwife told me to use Kamillosan chamomile ointment on sore nipples. 40 years later, you can still get it, though not sure it's the same formulation. Anyway it worked for me.

With my first, it hurt like hell for 6 weeks. It only started getting better when I discovered breast shells (different to nipple shields)! I wore them all the time between feeds for a few weeks, they kept my nipples from touching the bra and omg how much that helped them to heal and eventually didn't hurt at all anymore. With my second I was prepared and wore the shells from the start and didn't have pain at all. Also lanolin cream. Anyway, try the shells if you already haven't! The ones I used were Avent comfort breast shells :) Good luck!

This is what worked for me (I know it sounds bizarre).

Hold your breast as if you were going to feed the baby a burger/ sandwich (flatten it horizontally). Then rub the underneath of your nipple on the baby’s nose. From there, slide it down into the baby’s mouth… it should go in at a good angle then. The baby should be kind of underneath the nipple.. so aim higher than you think.

But to answer your question, after the first few weeks it wasn’t sore when I was feeding.

I was exactly like you, felt like I’d read everything and it was still so painful. Also didn’t want to give up if I could get it to work.

I was in a lot of pain with feeding in hospital, they checked for a tongue tie but didn’t think he had one. I tried everything, different positions, nipple shields, silver cups. My health visitor referred me to an NHS feeding specialist who was amazing. I would go to see her (I think home visits are possible too) and feed in front of her and she helped so much with ideas and encouragement.

She also diagnosed him with a tongue tie. She said sometimes in hospital they see it’s a partial tongue tie and don’t get it cut because it might not be a problem - this could be the case for you if they checked in hospital, definitely worth a second opinion. As soon as it was cut at five weeks, breastfeeding didn’t hurt at all. The tongue tie meant that he wasn’t getting the nipple far enough back in his mouth so it was painful.

The other thing we did when I was struggling was doing a bottle of formula occasionally and pumping and feeding with the bottle. It gave my nipples a break and definitely took some of the pressure off. After his tongue tie was cut, we still continued mixed feeding which worked well for us.

@Gillyyy please try hydrogel breast pads. They're miracles and can be rinsed and reused. I give them to everyone I know having babies - I was ready to give up BF but my midwife gave me a pair and I was feeding pain free half a day later.

I think it was maybe around 4 weeks before I would latch her and not expect the toe curling pain. After ruling out tongue ties etc. the best advice I was given was that yes, my nipples just needed to toughen up a bit and once I knew that was a thing then I probably chilled out a bit. You're doing amazingly well. Keep using the shields and cream and try to hold onto the concept that each feed should be slightly easier than the preceding one and eventually you shouldn't need those things - and the faff of them.

I ended up using nipple shields for every feed for a full year. My supply was never effected and it worked for me and baby. The midwives and breastfeeding consultant were not happy about it but I could never get a comfortable latch! X

Mine were like that for about the first month. The latching on was really bad and like you I tried everything. I persevered and then it just got better and was fine after that. Surprisingly despite the 7 year age gap there was no pain at all with the second one.
It will get better x