Newborns and feeding

[RumNoRaisinsPlease]

DS1 is 2 days old and since coming home on Sat has been feeding non stop. The longest break I've had has been 30 mins between feeds. He won't come off the breast to sleep and wakes up looking for the nipple when it falls out. He does have an obvious tongue tie and latch is poor but it's the best he can do, have had 3 different midwives look at it. Due to see lactation consultant in a few days for division referral. Nipples are beyond sore and I haven't slept more than 6 hours since labour started. Just looking for reassurance and advice really as everything hurts and I'm about to fall apart on my DH.

Hi, I am sorry I don't know anything about tongue tie, but just wanted to express sympathy! This is a really tough stage - hang in there, I am sure someone more qualified will come along with advice. I have had the cracked, bleeding nipples and it is excruciating. Can you try nipple shields? With a combo of paracetamol, glass of wine and lansinoh - might at least take the edge of the pain away. Good luck!

Oh, day two is fucking brutal. It's one of the cluster-feed days, I think the next one is day 7 (don't worry, the spaces between them grow longer very quickly, it's only a very few weeks).

I have no practical advice, except to tell you that it's utterly normal, although probably made worse because of the tongue-tie, you poor thing, and while it doesn't magically get super-easy tomorrow, Day Two is honestly a phenomenon in and of itself. You're doing brilliantly, please don't think there's anything wrong you're doing, and I really hope that once the sun's up you'll be able to snatch some sleep.

Good luck.

congratulations on your DS.. I bet he's a wee pot of newborn lovelyness. those first few days are shocking.. poor nipples, the pain I remember is toe curling, for every feed I made DH make me a cuppa and get me a biscuit/chocolate and then I would keep my eye on it... it was a strange comfort in the early hours of the morning!

when he does dain to let go of your nipples, express milk onto dry and plenty of lanisoh or if they sell Mustella products near you, I found their nipple cream much nicer, softer to use.

well done... keep going.. it should get easier esp once TT sorted, it's a massive learning curve for you and DS.

What Mrs Gubbins said. It's so hard but will get easier. Lansinoh slathered on will help (not heard of mustella though).

Congratulations on your new bubba :)

You can try feeding him whilst lying on your side. That should enable him to get more of your breast into his mouth and hopefully help him get more milk from your breast. If you can move your appointment up you might find that really beneficial.

I'm sorry it's so tough at the moment, but hopefully having the TT cut will bring you the relief you so clearly need.

Congratulations on your baby!

Are you seeing mw today? If not I'd phone (or get dh to if you have hands full of baby) and demand to see LC sooner. A few days is years when you have a hungry newborn and no sleep. Time to be a pain. MW are not always experts on bf anyway, you need proper specialist help.

Is he pooing? That is a good sign that he is getting milk and it is moving through him. Day 3 you should get 3 greenish poos, turning to mustard colour by day 4.

Some babies do feed a lot and this can be totally normal. Sometimes though it is because they are not getting milk effeciently enough. Does he never fall asleep while sucking and come off himself?

Keep trying with the latch in the meantime. This is the hardest part, let dh take care of you.

congratulations on your new baby!

I think you need to push to get the TT sorted now, as it will be causing so many problems; poor latch which means sore nipples and also probably mean your lo is not feeding effectively which will mean he needs to feed all the time, which in turn doesn't ever give your nipples a break.

My DD was EXACTLY like this on day 3. I wasn't helped by comments of 'she's feeding too much' from mum and my DD has no obvious tongue-tie either.

However, it does get better and I ended up co-sleeping whilst she fed to get some rest - it's amazing the positions you can sleep in when you've had so little sleep and yet NOT MOVE AN INCH!!

I also worried that she was not getting enough to eat, but she was pooing the brown stuff by then and weeing regularly and gained 1lb 1oz in the first 2 weeks and only lost 35g in the first 4 days. My MW thought she might be feeding so much in an effort to match her weight to her height as she was born fairly little (6lb 7oz) with not a lot of body fat but fairly long (if that makes sense?).

She's now coming up to 4 weeks and I came off the pain killers 2 days ago. Before then it was a fairly strict regime of taking them when allowed! Also I found putting lansinoh on before as well as after the feed helped soften and 'open' the cracks. For a while I was convinced I'd given birth to a vampire who wanted blood rather than a baby!

About week 2 I was very close to giving up as I thought the pain was too much - but I'm a stubborn bugger and very determined and now I'm glad I continued and didn't resort to expressed bottles/dummy as her latch is WAY better and it's lovely now. Dreading teeth though!

Wow, long, sorry all.

Thanks everyone! Things are looking a bit brighter. Milk came in this morning and I think he's staying satisfied for longer. I got a whole 90 mins between feeds today at one point and was giddy with happiness (or sleep deprivation). I can't tell you how much your encouragement and comments about the normality of this helps.

great news Rum... did you have a little giggle at the size of your boobs when the milk came in? that's certainly a sight I'll never forget!!

Congratulations!
For sore and ravaged nipples I swear by paraffin gauze (one brand is Jelonet). Your midwife might be able to get you some, if not get some from the chemist. The gauze stops your nips touching anything and gives them a chance to heal from the inside out.
Good luck!

Actually MrsGubbins because he has been feeding so constantly I haven't been hit by the infamous engorgement yet. The only thing amusing about my boobs at the moment is the assymetry!

Will try the Jelonet. Lansinoh has been a godsend. Worth every penny of the pretty shocking price tag. Have also been walking around topless in an effort to let my nipples heal. All visitors have been banned.

Days are getting better but he's still on the boob ALL THE TIME at night. Am seeing the lactation consultant tomorrow. Thanks for the encouragement everyone.

how are you and him getting on Rum? I can also remember walking around with my vest pulled up for oooh weeks!!

as for assymetric boobs.... 6 months on and I'm still lopsided due to DD's preference for one side over the other!

Tongue tie sorted at day 5. Paid for a lactation consultant to come round and do the procedure (NHS wait was 2 weeks) and the difference was immense. Within 24 hours the pain was gone, he was feeding better and lasting longer between feeds. Still not sleeping at night but at least he isn't permanently attached to my boobs!

great news that the TT's been sorted... crap that the NHS wait is so long.

good luck with him.