Help: inverted nipple problems... getting me down

[Jambonfrites]

I have a 11 day old DC3. Am v keen to establish BF. BF going absolutely fine from right breast. But I have an inverted nipple on left side which is causing major problems. I tried feeding normally on left side for the first week but it is so painful I am now just expressing on that side and giving EBM in bottles to top up right side.

For background, I BF DC1 till 1 year but it took about 6 weeks to establish properly due to 2 bouts of mastitis. I BF DC 2 to 1 year too but that took 8 weeks to establish due to problems with this inverted nipple and thrush (joy!)

This time I have tried nipple shields but given up cos it still hurts and the shields are making the latch wrong. I've also tried feeding on left in rugby ball position rather than cross chest which is just marginally less painful but still bad. I am seeing a feeding adviser who said to express to see if it allows nipple to heal, and
then retry breastfeeding. Expressing is comfortable.

Worst of all there is a kind of wound in the left nipple
which is why it's so very painful I think. It's not just a
skin crack, it's like a 2mm raw flesh wound. I had this
with DC2 and it eventually healed.

What do I do now? I can't continue with this expressing regime for long: it's too time consuming and faffy, and I have 3 kids to look after!

• give up BF and move on to formula?
• try mix feeding right breast and some formula?
• persevere (but am starting to feel down about the situation)
• any miracle solutions?!

Pls help - any suggestions/advice welcome. Am feeling a bit of a failure, but at a loss as to what to do now.

Hello, I don't have vast amounts of advice but I suffered the same. I think it took my dc extra suction on the inverted nipple which led to more pain and soreness. I also had big cracks on the side which I just thought would never heal, expressing and shields made it worse and I could see the blood coming through which was just awful. I did a couple of things, jelonet and lanolin after every feed. Lanolin first then wrap in jelonet with a breast pad in my bra. Then only let dc feed from this boob quickly and no sucking, faffing with it. I offered this boob a bit less frequently so started on the good boob each time and then offered pained boob. This meant sometimes it skipped a feed which gave it a greater chance to heal. It still took a while to heal and even now I can feel the pull on the inverted nipple when dc feeds, 13 weeks. But no soreness after 4 weeks and I only found jelonet after week 3. What I am finding though is that my inverted nipple is becoming better as if the sucking is helping correct it... Not sure if that will last though.

Good luck and I HTH. And congrats on the new arrival x

Good advice above, but do bear in mind it's completely possible to feed entirely from one side. You might be a little bit lopsided for a while but it will even up.

It's worth getting someone qualified to check for tongue tie too, as this can sometimes cause one-sided pain.

Thank you both. It's very good to hear that you worked things out Chelly - provides some hope to me! I know I've managed to get through this once before, but it's easy to lose faith that things can improve over time!

I have 2 inverted nipples with first couldn't feed at all, complete nightmare, just had second and breast shells are flipping amazing, can't recommend enough, never thought I could do this! Hope things improve for you.

OP I have exactly the same as you.

I exclusively bf DC1 for 14 months, but stopped feeding from the left at around 10mo, when she was only having a couple of feeds a day anyway. I had mastitis, lumps (deposits of milk) and all kinds of hassle on my left side. It hurt so much.

With DC2, he is now 10mo. I fed from the left side a few times, remembered the pain, and stopped. And since then I've fed only from the right, and supplemented with formula when my supply (occasionally) lets me down. I've done this since about day five with no problems. He doesn't have a bottle every day, probably every 2-3 days.

And there are great benefits to mixed feeding, it gives you ultimate flexibility. No need to take bottles when going out (unless you want to do so) and you can leave the baby with someone else when needed.

Knowing how excruciating the pain is, give yourself a break and stop feeding/pumping from the left.

Good advice, thank you. Am off to search for some jelonet tomorrow - been finding out more info online and sounds promising.

Poppywearer - thanks for your advice, good to hear mixed feeding is quite doable. Hope you don't mind the question: i've been warned about one boob being much bigger than the other if I just feed from one side. Was that a (noticeable) problem for you?

Yes, it's true that I do look a bit lopsided. I'm still feeding so not sure if it will go back to normal afterwards. I try to wear neck scarves to distract from it!

OP - I also share a very similar experience. My dd is 10 weeks old and I still get some pain on left side. Have found lansinoh and hydrogel pads (medela and tommee tippee make these -tt cheaper and you can get in asda\online) to be really helpful. I have to wear the hydrogel pads all the time as even my nipple rubbing against bra causes scabbing!

Intrigued by jelonet-CHelly71 what is it?