VERY painful nipples!

[AllieM]

My DS is now 13.5 weeks old and I have been breastfeeding since day one. Am loving doing it, but as time goes on am encountering more problems. I'm on my third lot of antibiotics for mastitis, and have had to resort to feeding through nipples shields at every feed for a few weeks now. I only used to use them occasionally at times of extreme pain! They work fine, but having read some of the previous threads I think that using them may be affecting my supply but I really don't know what to do. Both nipples require shields currently and even with them after 15 mins or so I'm in squirming pain. My mastitis nipple also suffers from being bruised, as DS sometimes gives it one hell of a nip with his gums when he's drowsy and forgets where he is.

I'm going to buy a nice big Savoy cabbage today and will try a leaf in my bra! But does anyone have any other tips? I'm going to have to express for the next few feeds and that's not ideal as a permanent thing. By the way what does thrush look like on the breast?

I have no advice except sympathy and have you tried speaking to a bfc?

Allie, seriously, this is not a problem that can be dealt with on a website - this is something you need someone to look at, someone who has clinical experience in breastfeeding, that is probably not your average health visitor, and I would say, not necessarily a breastfeeding counsellor, even an experienced one, as there may be issues about medication which she cannot of course prescribe. You really need a lactation consultant (a good one - they vary) or someone who runs a breastfeeding clinic. If you say where you live, I might be able to help with some ideas of where to go.

The questions in my mind would be

• is this really mastitis? Or is it thrush? or could it be thrush and mastitis?
• why would a cabbage help? It's normally used for engorgement - is that an issue for you?
• supply may not be affected by the shields - is your baby gaining weight ok?
• has anyone at any time looked at how you are positioning and attaching your baby - and by that I mean someone who knows what they are looking for?

You deserve soom good help after all this time

When I had thrush the only obvious sign ( appart from th pain) was a small lump on one nipple which looked a bit like a blocked duct. I used Daktarin Oral gel available over the counter. The advice i got from nm was all consistent in saying that GP's seem to be slow to diagnose (sp)Thrush. I found the Breast feeding network very helpful. There is lots of info on there website www.breastfeedingnetwork.org.uk and they have a support line which is very helpful.

Thanks so much for your replies, girls. Tiktok, you're right, the average health visitor often isn't much help at the best of times. I'd certainly like to try to find a lactation consultant/breastfeeding clinic - I live in Southfields, London (SW18 postcode).

The baby's gaining weight fine after a few initial difficulties with feeding. I have been thinking about your comments on positioning and I think that could be part of the problem; using the shields for a while has probably encouraged the baby to suck more lazily and nearer the end of the nipple, and I have probably not concentrated on positioning as much whilst using them. I'll try to get the nose/nipple alignment back and ensure he gets the whole of the aureole in his mouth. I have been expressing all day today to give the poor things a rest but will resume tomorrow! Engorgement isn't a problem at all at the moment, quite the opposite in fact as the supply is a little lacking right now, so I'm drinking lots of milk, lots of water, and eating protein and sweet things to try and get it up again!

Many thanks again, I do appreciate everyone's input; I really want to sort this as I want to feed for several months to come and don't want to give up now.

Have you had any luck finding a BF clinic yet? I know on netmums.com they have info on local clinics.

Hi, sorry I've been away and haven't been able to get to a computer. Yes, there's a breastfeeding councillor who runs a clinic nearby who I'm going to see, and also someone has suggested the La Leche league. Have any of you guys dealt with them?
It's actually got a lot better - I have been trying to feed without the shields but at the same time making sure that the positioning is right - I think that was where I was partly going wrong before. Since then it's much improved and the milk supply has got stronger too, so I think the shields were suppressing the stimulation of the milk. But will still be talking to the councillors to find out why I keep getting mastitis!

Thanks v. much everyone for their support, it was really helpful

A
xx

The LLL website is very helpful, I found anyway! Nipple shields made everything worse for me.Wot ones have u been using?

Avent ones, I think - they were really comfy but just didn't help with positioning at all!