nipple pain from newborn

[madmomma]

please excuse 1 handed typing. Baby 6 days old and has been feeding almost continually since birth. She's definitely getting enough milk as has already exceeded her birth weight and has loads of wet and dirty nappies. The problem is that feeding her is rarely painless. The latch looks ok but my nipples are still usually sore, which I know they shouldn't be. I don't know what I'm doing wrong. Several midwives have looked at the latch and said it's fine so I'm stumped. Any ideas appreciated.

Hi madmomm and congratulations on your little girl :)

Latch can't always be effectively evaluated by looking at it, so while your midwives might not have been able to help there is clearly something that needs tweaking. I'm glad you came and asked because many people get told that it looks ok - even though it hurts - and assume that this is just how it will always be. This leads to a lot of women stopping when they don't want to.

There are a number of explanations from tongue tie to simple positioning which could be improved and a number of things in between. As the midwives haven't been able to help is there anyone else in RL you can ask for in-person help from?

You might find a peer supporter is experienced enough to help if there's a breastfeeding group nearby run by peer supporters. Ideally a breastfeeding counsellor would be good to see, or an IBCLC lactation consultant (there may be a LC at your hospital). You can ask your midwives if they know anyone who can point you in the right direction. It's a tough time of year to get RL help of course :(

You might try phoning one of the helplines as talking in person about things in detail might give you some ideas to try.

Madmomma- has she been checked for tongue tie do you know?

It's something that can lead to sore nipples.

Maybe you could ask the mws to re check the latch. If they keep saying it looks fine then ask them why it still hurts.

Ah there you go, a much more eloquent reply from occ.

LOL crikey

OP, this might help: breastfeeding-questions.com/the-flipple/ as if you can get a deeper latch it might make it more comfortable. Sometimes if the baby has a TT this is enough to get the baby on ok.

Is she opening her mouth wide?

there's someone called a 'feeding co-ordinator' who has invited me to contact her. Not sure if that's as specialised a person as a lactation consultant. Hope she's not a pointless jobsworth. Had this problem with my son, but the difference is he lost 20% of his birthweight so clearly wasn't getting what he needed. He ended up just screaming whenever he was at the breast, so he went on bottles at 3 weeks. All the mw's & hv said was that he was 'thriving' and the latch was 'perfect'. The mw's in hospital this time hadn't even heard of posterior tongue tie. Doesn't fill me with hope . Will the nhs sort it if it is a tongue tie?

will try flipple. Yes wide mouth

hmm, feeding coordinator could mean a highly trained and experienced bfing specialist or someone who's been on a two day course.

Where in the country are you?

The NHS should sort out TT. Some areas are better than others but there are private options, too.

I'm in Salford, Manchester.

OK, well I would probably see what the "feeding coordinator" comes up with if you can see her urgently. It's also worth posting a new thread asking for anyone who can recommend someone in your area?

Yeah will ring her in the morning. Thanks for the advice & links.x

Congratulations
Hang on in there my latch was checked double and triple checked and said to be fine it just took about three weeks for my nipples to toughen up and for the scabs to heal. Hang on in there we're still feeding after 7 months and all is perfect now

Ah ok. that's encouraging scary Hopefully that'll be the case for us then.

That's brilliant, scary :) Sometimes it takes that time for baby and mum to get the hang of things. It's not so much about the nipples "toughening up" as things just falling into place. It's wonderful when it happens and fantastic to hear your story :)

I do hope this is the case for you, madmomma, but the risk of relying on it "just happening" is that 2 more weeks down the line you may well still be at the same place so actively looking for help is a good plan :)

v true. will do.

www.medela.com/UK/en/breastfeeding/research-at-medela/infant-sucking/infant-sucking-relevance-to-practice.html

This (sorry, slightly dull and technical) link might be useful in explaining why viewing the latch isn't always a way of telling a "good" latch.

Agree with scary - my DS had a perfect latch and had put on four pounds in his first three weeks breastfeeding after a rocky start (!) But he sat on the boob so so so much (the boy literally never wanted to come off it at first) that my nipples were very sore for the first few weeks. Lots of Lanisoh applications (often before, during and after feeding) and they soon eased up. So hopefully if it isn't a latch problem, it's just a case of time. Good luck.

Whoa Ruby! That is some weight gain!
To update; have started mixed feeding, which is working really well. Giving my nipples a break and allowing me to get some sleep, which I desperately need in order to heal from my C section.
Luckily she's equally happy with bottle or breast, so I'll either do the fenugreek thing & build up my supply to reduce bottles, or give her more bottles to reduce the load on my poor boobs.

Did you manage to see anyone about the possible tongue tie madmomma?Guess it must be a tricky time of the year to get to see someone in person.

Glad things are working well for you now. Are you expressing to keep up your supply? Obv the fenugreek will boost your supply, but unless milk is being frequently removed from your breasts then you may find your supply dwindles.

I'm sure you're aware of this and it seems like you've got a plan that you are happy with.

Argh now got mastitis. DH gone for antibiotics. I thought I had a plan, & now I've no bloody idea!

Poor you madmomma. I also had mastitis but the antibiotics cleared it up really quickly. I kept feeding through it on the advice of my midwife. That did hurt but really helped clear the blockage in a matter of days. Sorry this happened but hopefully you'll be on the mend soon.

You might find that your su

You might find that your supply drops temporarily with mastitis. I know mine did recently. But it came back, so don't lose heart. I used switch feeding, while starting on the affected breast each time, and pumping where I could, to up my supply.

As for the pain you've experienced elsewhere, I wonder if you feel this right through feeds or just at the start? It took me weeks to stop wincing at the start of every feed, so adding weight to the 'nipples need to toughen up' camp.

Good luck x

The pain is after feeds. For about an hour. Stabbing, itching, prickly pain
I thought it was thrush tbh, but the doc said mastitis. I also wince at the start of feeds, but that's just nipple trauma.

From what you've described madmomma, it does sound more like thrush tbh. (although I think it's rare to get it this early on) . Do you feel fluey? Red streaks on breasts?

Can you get to see a GP in person? If it's thrush, you'll need to treat both you and babe. If it is mastitis , the antibiotics will leave you more open to thrush anyway so it may be worth getting some probiotics in.

Hope you get things sorted soon.

It doesn't sound like the pain I had with mastitis. Time for a second opinion?