Day 4 BF, can't stop crying and ready to quit.

[CageBird]

Please help, I'm in such a state. I'm trying to BF my 4 day old DS. It has been going so well, I have had the support of a wonderful lactation consultant. I'm sure I've figured out latching at long last.

But since my milk has come in, my nipples and areolas are SO rock hard that my nipple just doesn't stretch far into the baby's mouth and consequentially they have both cracked really badly. I express at the start of every feed to soften them, but they don't soften enough to make them nice and stretchy. The hand pump pools with blood, which makes me shaky too.

DS is a hungry boy and is on the boob most of the time. I'm exhausted. I'm in complete agony, to the point where I'm shaking. I miss DC 1 & 2 who I hardly get to see because DH has to entertain them so I can feed.

I feel so lonely and alone being the only one to be able to feed my baby. I have had a long night and I know I'm tired. I'm sending DH out for nipple shields and formula. I know I shouldn't get the formula in, but I'm on my knees and I can feel the plot slipping.

My lactation consultant is working as a midwife today and is not able to come for a visit. Murphy's Law it's on my hardest day yet...

Any support greatly appreciated....

Another really soothing thing to do if breasts feel mega engorged is to lay face down in a warm bath (obviously not with your face in the water!!).

Keep going honey it will get better.

I had a very difficult start as well. On day 3, my DD's sick was brown from my blood through cracked nipples which shocked me. Use lots of nipple cream and try resting one breast by skipping 1-2 feeds so that it has a chance to recover and do the same for the other side. It'll be painful feeding on a already sore nipple but I promise that it will get better (in a couple of weeks!) and you'll start to love the quality BF time in the coming months! Good luck!

How are you doing cagebird? I remember feeling like you. Lying face down in a warm bath really helped with engorgement. Just take it onefeed at a time. I found sucking a toffee really helped with latch on pain. At 4 days I thought I would never get through it. Still breast feeding at 6 months. Good luck and lots of hugs.

Sounds like you are doing all the right things, nipple shields, lansinoh. Try fresh air on your nipples to to aid healing.

Only other thing I'd suggest is trying different positions (oh er mrs). I had a similar problem with my DC3 and adopted the rugby hold on midwife's suggestion and it got me through a lot of the pain. I wonder if you can get deminstrations on you tube? If you stick to the same position baby is making the most contact with the sorest bits.

And don't beat yourself up if you give a bottle of formula to miss a feed and give your sore breasts a break. Sometimes the pain, the hormones and everything else is all a bit much. I've always given the odd bottle of formula generally from 3 weeks but mine all preferred breast. I'm still going with DC3 and he's nearly 2. Or if you don't want to introduce the bottle you could try giving formula from cup or syringe so that the nourishment goes in but the baby doesn't get the comforting suckling when having the formula. I've seen it done and it seemed to work.

Good luck. The pain should die down if you give your nipples a bit of tlc and rest. And reassure yourself that the baby had got the hang of it as it was going well until the sore nipples got in the way.

re painkillers - no problem with paracetomol. I don't know about anything else.

re painkillers, I've taken both paracetemol and Ibuprofen while breastfeeding. I checked that this is still OK with the mw when i had dc3 8 weeks ago. She said regular paracetemol is best for after pains, ibufrofen is better for the pain of engorged breasts, this seemed to be right for me.

Why not ask you LC about cupfeeding? My dc1 was cup fed in the scbu and it did not interfere with bf. I can't tell you how to do it as the nurses did it when I wasn't there.

I don'tthink the odd bootle of formula to give yourself a break is going to cause a problem. Myself and DD were combination feeding up until 5 days ago (for various reasons) and she is now EBF at 3 weeks.This nipple confusion stuff is over egged by certain orgainisationins my view - many babies will swap between nipple and breast without a problem, especially if it's just the odd bootle! Maybe use it at a night feed when your baby is sleepy and breast feeding is hardest? Your supply will recover - it's very adaptable!

how you doing today Cagebird?