6 week old baby. When will the pain get better?

[heidipi]

6 weeks in and the thing that might stop me feeding her myself is the pain. I'm on antibiotics for mastitis which accounts for some of the pain on the left side but have been taking them since Xmas eve and the inflammation and redness has gone down so it's on the way out. I still have excruciating pain in/around both nipples which seems to be getting worse the more I feed, not better. Had my latch checked by a bf counsellor last week, looked for thrush - all fine, so I think it's just wear and tear of getting used to it. Everyone tells me it will stop hurting but when? and is there nothing else besides lansinoh and rubbing milk in after each feed that I can do for the cracks? As the baby gets bigger she's moving and adjusting herself more and any pulling is agony.

I'm really just ranting but I don't think I can bear it much longer, i'm crying too much and don't know if it's worth it but it took such a lot to get established in the first place that i'll be really pissed off with myself if I give up in case success is just around the corner.

Are there any creams I can use that will numb the area a bit, just to take the edge off?

Thanks for listening.

Also feeds take 80 - 90 mins at the moment and she always takes both sides at each feed - any less and she isn't satisfied and cries til I carry on. This makes unusual positions (eg ewe - as recommended on another thread) quite impractical. So even if I knew when feeds were likely to get quicker it would help - less time feeding = less pain, surely?

When does it hurt- when she latches on, or during the feed?

I was the same- in pain, crying when feeding, sore nipples etc but a breastfeeding counsellor sorted me out and everything changed overnight. I'm not saying you have the same problem that I did but is it worth seeing another one?

I hope it improves. Hang in there, whatever you decide- it is your decision.

Thanks for your reply. It's when she latches on and pops on and off during the feed. Just finished this feed so we're going back to bed now but thanks again.

I know nothing (1st time Mum, just a few weeks in) but I bought a machine and expressed some feeds. It gave the nipples a chance to heal and she still got breast milk. I also got a nipple shield. Of course, then you get the whole nipple confusion problems as well but DD is at least having 100% breast milk and now no pain for me. She is now addicted to the shield but would rather have breast than bottle and I can feed her now.

Were the cracks caused by a poor latch initially? If the latch is fixed then I think the cracks should start to heal.

Also, 80-90 minutes per feed seems like a really long time for a 6 week old! I'm not an expert but could it be a problem with your baby getting at the milk, tongue tie for example? Did the breastfeeding counsellor observe a feed/comment on the length of the feeds?

I think I'd look for a second opinion, or try to find a lactation consultant.

If your latch is right then I agree, the cracks should heal in a few days. Have you used lanolin on them?

My DD used to use me as a dummy and would suck for an hour plus. Eventually I could tell when she was swallowing and when I was being a dummy. She only really fed for 45/50 mins. You could try a dummy as well? MW told me she was just a very sucky baby.

Agree with a lactation consultant. I would have quit if I hadn't seen one the day I did. Luckily it was free in NZ but it would have been money well spent.

OP, what you describe sounds exactly like my early experience of bf. No-one could tell me why it still hurt so much. Everyone (including my hv) was encouraging me to stop at around the 6 week mark - my dd was absolutely fine and gaining weight etc, but I was in tears every time I fed her, and they were all concerned I was going to slip into depression. I remember my hv saying that maybe I was just unlucky and it was always going to be this painful - her words filled me with despair.

I did at 6 weeks see a bf consultant, who made a miniscule change to how she was latching on (making sure that the nipple was going deep into the mouth). It immediately made a noticeable difference to the level of discomfort and gave me hope.

But my first pain free feed happened at around 9 weeks. It was an epiphany. I'm guessing that after the latch had been tweaked 3 weeks before, It took the next 3 weeks for my nipples to fully recover.

Also around the 6 week mark, a friend gave me some cream in a yellow tube called Kamilosan - it's for nappy rash as well as sore nipples. I found it much easier to apply and more soothing than Lansinoh: it could be a coincidence due to time and an improved latch, but feeding was much less painful when I use the Kamilosan.

The problem with using a cream to numb the area is that it will have the same effect on baby's mouth, which will make it very difficult for baby to maintain latch.

(BTW I am so glad I persevered. My dd is now 2.4 years and I am still bf her. She had a virus this week and wouldn't eat any solid food but I know she's taking in some calories because no matter how ill she is, she still wants to bf.)

Hope that helps.

Hi Op - for me the pain got better around 8 weeks. The feeds started shorter around this time to. Stick with it - the pain WILL go and you'll be so glad you did it. best of luck xx

Hello Heidi, what a rotten time you're having! Well done for persevering this far.

I second those who suggested a second opinion. I think a different person needs to take a look at your latch, pronto, and check for tongue-tie if that hasn't already been done. Also, I don't see how someone can completely dismiss thrush just by looking (particularly since the pain is on both sides).

Hate to say it, but there is no cream that will take away that sort of pain. Nipple creams are there to aid healing once the cause of the soreness has been removed, but studies show they are ineffective pain relievers.

Do you know how/where you can find someone skilled to help you through this?

I'm 3 and a half weeks and in a similar position but everyone keeps telling me it gets better! My nipples are v sore too and my latch has been checked by several people and all fine but got a strong flow so he'll often come to the end of the nipple to try and slow it down or pull his head back with my nipple in his mouth which is a killer! I've been using lansinoh but also second Kamillisan which has been fab. You have to wash it off before you feed (I just wipe it with make up pad) but it's healing my cracks up a treat.

Good luck x

Hi and thank you for all the replies, i'm expressing a couple of extra times today (usually exress once or twice to replace one feed, give my nips a rest and keep her used to a bottle which can be handy). Saw the HV this morning and she mentioned thrush, I've got my 6 wk check with the doc tomorrow so i'll ask about it then.

I will try seeing a lactation consultant or BF counsellor but i've seen 2 different BFCs already and spoken to another couple on the phone, plus 4 different community midwives who came to the house, not to mention the MWs in hospital and all say something different. Last week one BF counsellor told me the feeds were too long and to cut them to 10 mins on each side, and another said 80-90 mins was normal and the more time on the breast the better. I know there's no definitive answer and all babies are different of course. I think I'll try to shorten feeds a bit and encourage her to be more business like, so less comfort sucking.

Thanks for the tip about Kamilosan, i'll look out for it. I'm a bit wary of shields as I used them in hospital and then really strugged with supply but maybe worth another go.

9 weeks sounds like a good target - 6 months feels too
far away to aim for at the moment, but another 3
weeks is more do-able and if still no improvement then maybe I rethink at that point.

Things don't seem quite as bad as they did at 4am and I've alternated expressing with direct feeding today. Also my Mum has gone home after Xmas so is no longer hovering in the background at every feed going "shall I make a bottle up just in case?" god I'm a bitch but aargh.

Thanks for the advice and understanding, it really does help.

I think tiny differences in hold/latch can make a big difference. Various midwives told me my latch was fine before my eureka moment!

A big difference for me was actually about getting my body posture right. I needed to sit back and bring the baby to my boob. Before that I'd been hunching over and trying to get my nipple into her mouth. I second a previous posters mention of a giant wide mouth from the baby. My BF counsellor also taught me this nipple flick trick. Basically you put your finger tip at the side on your nipple opposite the babies mouth and press down. When the baby gets a big open mouth you release your finger and your nipple flicks into their mouth.

Hang in there. I had a two week aim, then a two month aim. But then it all got so much easier and faster and I ended up feeding till 9 months.

Heidi I know exactly what you're going through. When DD was 3 weeks I bought formula as I just couldn't cope with the pain and I dreaded DD waking up to feed. I had a very badly cracked nipple. I fed formula for one day but cried the whole time so decided to try again. The things that got me through were:

Expressing - I had one side worse than the other so expressed off the sore side for 24 hrs, this gave the crack a chance to heal. Could you do one side then the other?

I also found Kamilosan soothing, but lansinoh healed them better. Don'( let your nipples dry out as the cracks will split again when you LO feeds, keep them lathered in the ointment.

I also took one feed at a time, I didn't even think as far ahead as a week. Each time I got through one feed I gave myself a pat on the back.

However, one of the main things were when the crack had healed and I knew our latch was ok but I was still in agony, I knew that something was still wrong and asked my HV about thrush, she said the thing to look for is if your nipple / aereola look pink and shiny (like cheap ham) then that is thrush (I also had a burning sensation after DD had finished feeding). I went to the docs and got treatment for DD and myself and within a couple of days feeding was a whole other story. So I would definitely get checked out for that.

Good luck, you're doing brilliantly.