Experienced Breast Feeders ADVICE really needed!

[abitwobbly]

I have a friend who has been feeding her 15week old since birth. Since day 1 she had cracked nipples and infections.

She has had support to get the latch correct however the crackled nipples have not heald dispite all the cream, leaving them to dry, expressing, countless GP, feeding advisors etc. they just won't heal.

Any advice as she is so so so upset!

Many thanks

I don't think the people supporting her would advise it but I know a couple of people who have had success with nipple shields just while the nipples heal. She's doing well to still be feeding and lucky to have you to support her too.

By leaving to dry, does she mean rubbing a few drops of breastmilk in after each feed and leaving them to dry? That seemed to help me.

She's doing really well to keep going under the circumstances. Hope it settles soon :)

Has the baby been checked for tongue tie?

Thanks so far ladies, I am just going to email her these questions now, x

Back again!

Has been using breastmilk rubbed around nipple and have tried nipple shields but the pain was still there, and yes been checked for tounge tie and seed tie? (at the very back or his tongue) xx

Yes tried it :(

With cracked nipples moist healing is the way to go as they heal quickest this way. A thick layer of lansinoh with a breastpad over the top then wipe most of it off leaving a thin layer before a feed. Another thing to use is jelonet - normally for burns- if she puts on layer of jelonet then a breastpad, with jelonet the breast needs to be wiped totally clean before feeding as it is not BF friendly. She may also need to get someone to check his latch again - not a GP or HV but BF counsellor who is experienced and qualified to watch her feed and offer any position/latch changes which might help.

Was just going to say moist healing (not leaving to air dry) but I've been beaten to it

They should start to heal within a few days.

Has she tried nipple SHELLS I got some from Boots when I had cracked nipples, they allow you to wear clothes but let the air at your nipples (and u don't have the pain of clothes rubbing against them). Bless her it's such an awful thing to have u dread every feed.

Thank you all! She has seen so many GP's, a good feeding advisor, tried most of the above, just not healing! I have emailed her all your tips! xxxx

Who has been helping her and what are their qualifications? If a HV or suchlike she needs to see a bf counsellor or lactation consultant (IBCLC) trained by LLLI, NCT, BfN or ABM. You need to be trained properly to spot a tongue tie and if her nipples are still cracked I'd hazard a guess that there is something wrong with the latch or inside the baby's mouth.

Possibly thrush? That can stop nipple injuries from healing well. The BFN leaflet on thrush is useful, maybe worth checking out? here

Sorry, also can ask GP to swab for infection if they haven't already. That'll mean they can prescribe for the specific infection if that's what it turned out to be. Really hope your friend can get this sorted.

Disc.aimer I am not an expert of any kind, just a bf mum.

I agree with Bert. Lots of gps don't know much about bf ( sadly)

Also another vote for lansinoh cream

Are her nipples bruised as well as cracked?

Is the pain just om latching or does it stay for the whole feed?

Sorry about all the questions

Oh and just to add to what char car says, if the gp then says " you really need x antibiotic but it's not compatible with bf so I'll give you amoyicillin" , ask him /her to check with theBFN for a suitable alternative anti b

Do you have a La Leche League group near you? Look Here for the list. They can be a bit lentil-weavery but they really are fantastic for advice and often if they can't help they will know someone who can. I kow you say she has seen loads of GPs and a feeding advisor but GPs don't get any training in breastfeeding at all so any knowledge they have will be either things they have read themselves or courses they have elected to go on, and in some cases this is good, sound knowledge - but in some cases complete rubbish which is really unhelpful and can actually make things worse! A breastfeeding advisor sounds like a better bet but if that one hasn't helped she should push for more support. Which is probably the last thing she wants to do by now to go and speak to another person, but it sounds as though there is a specific problem preventing her nipples from healing up which perhaps needs more specialist advice. If her baby was 5 weeks I'd be saying wait and see but at 15 weeks if she's still having this kind of pain something else might be wrong. Other places she can look are her local surestart centre, her local NCT branch might have a breastfeeding specialist, or if she has the money she could hire a lactation consultant (but I'd try the free options first). She could also try phoning the various helplines - the numbers are listed here.

It's good that baby has been checked for both types of tongue tie. Often there is a lot of ignorance about tongue tie and the feeding problems it can cause.

x-posted with lots of people!

Good luck to your friend :)

Also a friend sound lansinoh unhelpful but kamillosan good - that's another one you don't have to wipe off.

I'm getting thrush warning bells reading this - it can make cracks not heal and I found that while nipple shields helped with pain at other times, they didn't make a blind bit of difference when we had thrush.

The BfN has a great leaflet on treating it.

Totally agree with BertieBotts. I'm just gagging to look in that baby's mouth :-( Posterior tie? High palette?

Are you a tongue tie expert then Bert2e? Do you know much about upper lip ties? Can start a new thread as don't want to hijack this one.

Yes, I have to say that lanisoh is fantastic, but when my nipples were really sore, it was a tad too thick to spread comfortably - kamillosan worked better for me in this circumstance. When it was really difficult I also would express (using an electric pump - often rentable from NHS or maybe NCT?) and then myself or dh would feed that to the baby. It gave my nipples enough of a rest because it somehow wasn't as intensive as direct bf. Poor thing, hope it gets better!

I had a similar experience with thrush. I had it on and off for the first 20ish weeks. I was eventually given a two week course of Fluconazole which appears to have completely cleared it up (6 weeks later).
If she has stabbing pains in her breasts it is likely she has thrush. If not, other people's advice on here is probably better.