Cranial Osteopathy for BF issues - anyone any experience? Think I am about to give up BF and very sad :(

[Wholelottalove]

I've had a horrible week again with DS (6 weeks). He had posterior tongue tie divided 2 1/2 weeks ago and for a bit his latch seemed to improve and my nipple pain was getting better. Then suddenly we're back to square one with chompy latch, painful compressed lipstick nipples with white stripe and now this week another bout of mastitis :( :( On antibiotics and with cracked nipples now worried about thrush as he's already on nystatin for white tongue.

I'm at the end of my tether. Since the mastitis cleared the pain is a little less but I have seriously cracked and now bleeding nipples which are permanently misshapen. No matter how I try to relatch him he pulls himself back to chew on nipples. He is gaining very well and plenty we/dirty nappies but I am so sore. I just don't know what to do now.

With DD after her TT snip it took about 2 weeks for things to improve but they never got better then went downhill again like this.

As a last resoirt as DS has so many issues opening his mouth widely and seems quite stiff at times I wondered about cranial osteopathy to see if that 'releases' anything to help him use his tongue better. Any experience would be gratefully received as I am really at the point of giving up now.

I see a cranial osteopath with my children and I think they may well be able to help. Be sure to see one that is paedriatrically qualified. They do not have a medical degree in the same way that doctors do but spend 4 years for the basic qualification and an additional 2 years (I think) for the paediatric qualification which includes detailed and extensive anatomy study.

Cranial treatment can help with any residual birth strains and can also be amazing with nasal congestion. I have many examples of when my children have responded very positively to cranial treatment and use it as a first port of call for nasty coughs, persistent colds, earache and on one occassion a stiff shoulder with fever that cleared up instantly on treatment.

I had thrush with my third child and had repeated nystatin treatments (at least three back to back) and treatments for me which did not work. Homeopathy worked in the end.

I can sympathise with the pain - nipple shields really helped me though I was worried about nipple confusion but was fine and I would not have been able to carry on without them. Also, LilyPadz were fantastic to use instead of regular breastpads which rubbed as LilyPadz keep your nipple inverted and not full of blood which not feeding. Worth a look.

Good luck - I hope it all comes together soon as it is very stressful. Count each day you continure to feed as a success rather than thinking about what you would do in the ideal world. Well done for getting through to 6 weeks!!

wholelottalove - where are you based? Those sound like London prices - if you can go out of London a bit, or ring round a bit, you should certainly be able to find a better quote than that!

Mine was a friend as well and only charged what people could afford - she works from home so she can manage to do that. So I think I was paying about £20 per sesh but I know that was "mates rates". I think her normal charge was about £30 or £35 per sesh though (but that was in 2008 - so they might have gone up a bit by now)

Also - you might find that one or two sessions is enough - they can't know how many sessions will be required until they see how the first one goes.