Sore, bleeding nipple even with nipple shield. Help!

[Needsomewine]

Dd is 14 days old. Had terrible trouble trying to get her to latch on from the beginning so have been using nipple shields with her and she seems to be getting plenty of milk. I also used nipple shields with ds for 9 months and they had no effect on my milk supply. Trouble is, one of my nipples is now very sore at the start of feeds and dd gets a nipple shield full of blood. It is getting worse:(. I'm scared I won't be able to carry on much longer. I can put up with the pain ut am scared the nipple will get infected or something? She obviously isn't positioned quite right but has such a small mouth that it's really tricky. She is pulling the underneath half of my nipple much further out than the top half if that makes sense. I wondered if she is positioned too low on my boob but have tried correcting it and but still bleeding:(. My nipple shields are quite tight around my nipples particularly the problem side. Do you think the shield might not be big enough? Got the medela large size being delivered but not coming til tomorrow. Has anyone got any ideas, please help? I really don't want to give up:(.

Hum, nipple shilds can be a tricky thing which is why we're tought not to recomend them. The problem could be caused by the nipple rubbing inside the nipple shild.

Have you had help with feeding? I would see someone to get your latch checked. A well latched baby woun't course nipple's to crack and once the latch is sorted the nipple will heal without having to use nipple shilds.

If the midwifes or HV can't help then try one of the helplines' www.nhs.uk/Planners/breastfeeding/Pages/help-and-support.aspx

I've had this - I'm also using shields. I found the medela ones were too small and really rubbed, the Avent ones work better for me even though they seem massive, they allow the nipple to be stretched to the junction of the hard and soft palate which is where it needs to be.

I found taking regular painkillers (paracetamol and ibuprofen), lots of lansinoh and getting air to my nipples as much as possible helped and it was healed within a couple of days. I don't know if you've got a pump but if it's really bad could you try just pumping from that side instead of feeding from it for a day to let it heal a bit?

Hope you feel better soon!

MigGril- if it hadn't been for nipple shields I wouldn't have been able to feed my dc1. They were a lifesaver for me. Think you must be right about the nipple rubbing inside the shield. I'm hoping the larger size might improve things when they arrive tomorrow.

Spanner pants- I preferred medela ones to avent ones last time but might buy some avent ones tomorrow... Yes I've stopped feeding on that side for now and will express regularly instead.

Am reluctant to bother getting latch checked etc etc as I know there is a problem but dd's mouth is so small, I don't think it'll improve much til she grows a bit. With ds I found no one really improved things apart from the LLL lady who after wrangling with my boobs and ds for a while reluctantly suggested nipple shields. It was obvious she hated them but did work last time for me.

Does anyone know what would happen if I did keep feeding with bleeding nipples? Will they get infected?

I fed DD with nipple shields for the first 3 months (I know they aren't recommended but wouldn't have been able to feed her without them). There were times when my nipples bled despite the shields, which I didn't understand as the packaging stated they were designed for sore, cracked nipples. I am sure that in our case the bleeding was because she was latching on wrong, but it didn't mean that my nipples got infected. I did end up with thrush at a later point but don't think that was related. I don't know what to suggest to help your nipples though as I don't think I did anything specific except get some help with positioning and latching her on. It got to the point where she was vomiting blood so we had to do something. Hope you find a solution.

Lipstick-shaped nipples can be a sign of tongue-tie (which would also explain the latch issues, and there's a genetic element so your first child might have had it too). Posterior ties are often missed, so get someone experienced to check for it.

Sc2987- interesting! Dd was tongue tied but it was snipped at 5 days old so I thought that issue was behind us. Hmm. I don't think I like lansinoh cream. Big glob of White stuff has just come off that boob ( build up of me applying it) has just come off revealing the red raw bit of nipple:(. Not sure the cream has helped?!

Sometimes they need another cut?