breast pain after one week of bf

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DS2 is one week today. He's generally an enthusiastic feeder but we're still working on the latch - he very rarely throws his head back far enough and I keep on mis-timing his 'gape'. As a result (and because of all the suckling after a 9 month break from bf?) my nipples have been quite sting-y, but nothing too bad.

Now though, one breast is very painful on initial latch - enough to make me swear - and more worrying, there is now intermittent breast and nipple pain when he isn't even suckling. It starts at the nipple and sort of radiates down either side - feels like a v sore bruise deep in breast. I did have a scan on that nipple for several days - kept it moist and lanolin'd and it's now fallen off. Could I possibly have got a thrush infection while the skin was broken?
This same boob gets slightly more engorged than the other and is more tender, btw.

Does this pain 'just' sound like a latch problem, or something else? What can I do about it, as it's getting worse?

SCAB not scan! one=handed typing...

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ow. still here, still painful.

typing left handed while comfort feeding.

look in your baby's mouth for signs of thrush. it could be mastitus. i had very sensitive breasts once couldn't bear them to be touched. one application of chilled spring greens...all i had.. did the trick.

Hi RWD sorry you've got a sore boob. Is the painful bit red and hot? If so mastitis could be the culprit although you will probably be feeling a bit shocking too with it - fluey, temperature etc (although not always with mastitis).

If not, maybe could be thrush? Have you tried looking at the kellymom website? They have lots of briliant info there. Try here:
www.kellymom.com/bf/concerns/mom/mastitis.html for info on mastitis and plugged ducts.

Hope it resolves for you soon.

Tenderness, engorgement, initial pain at the start of a feed and at other times all suggest a blocked duct to me.

BTW, a blocked duct is the pre-cursor to mastitis - ie if not treated promptly it can progress to mastitis (which is often accompanied by the infamous flu-like symptoms). A dodgy latch can lead to blocked ducts so that might be a cause. If I'm right, here are a few things to think about!

• Feed, feed, feed! - you need to keep that milk flowing so the blockage can clear itself. Don't restrict feeds on that boob at all. I know it's tempting to if it's sore, but that will just make things worse.

• Try feeding in some different positions. He'll be latching onto different parts of the breast and giving those areas a chance to drain. Many women swear by the "ewe position" - baby lying on back with you hovering on all fours above him!

• Breast massage. With the heel of your hand, make firm sweeping movements towards the centre (nipple) of your breast concentrating on and around the tender area (not so hard that it really hurts though!). Do it as often as you can. That can also help to break up the lumps and get the milk moving.

Good luck!

I bf all 3 of my DC and every time found the first 10 days agony! I get very painful raw/cracked nipples but they then heal and bf gets a lot easier, just one of those things!