Crack around base of nipple - ye GODS it's painful! Considering giving up :-(

[Snowboarder]

DS is not quite 3 weeks old. We'd been doing really well with BF and I was convinced my latch was fine as I had no pain except for a strong letdown. DS even put a whole pound on in just 5 days!

The day before yesterday I experienced a horrible stabbing/ grinding glass feeling when latching him on to the right side. Awful, tears in eyes pain. I looked closely and I have a U shaped crack around the base of the nipple.

The pain has been so bad that overnight I have been expressing and giving DS that. I have been putting BM on my nipples and letting them dry, I have been using Jelonet and lots of Lansinoh before and after feeds and I have ordered some Silverettes which have yet to arrive. the crack is still there and I'm not sure it's mending.

It hurts even to express and I'm feeling very low. Added to this I have a 15 mo old who I feel I'm neglecting whilst I'm trying to get this sorted out, although DH is helping so its probably just my perception.

Is there anything else I can do? When will it heal? Shall I just throw the towel in?

Feeling very discouraged since we'd got off to such a good start.

I think I feel worse as DS1 was prem and I struggled and struggled to BF him for 14 weeks. He NEVER got the hang of it since he'd spent so long being fed via NG tube and cup and seemed confused as to how to feed directly from the breast.

I really wish I'd given up sooner as I suffered in agony with cracked/ bleeding nipples for months with him and only gave up when I was worried it would lead to PND. I was so pigheaded about it and was convinced we'd 'get it' or i'd 'toughen up' but it didn't happen and I spent a lot of that time in tears/ anxious. Both he and I seemed happier when we moved to bottles, although of course I wanted him to have the benefit of as much BM as possible.

Poor you

Try 0300 100 0210 for info/support.

Ouch, poor you!

Moist wound healing is considered best for cracked nipples now - that means keeping the wound smothered in Jelonet and not letting it dry out. It could still take a few days to heal fully, but is much much quicker than traditional methods of drying the nipples.

In the meantime, can you still feed normally on the other side? It's absolutely OK and possible to BF just on one side, and some women do this for months or even years.

I am guessing that the painful side will probably be getting engorged too. It would be a good idea to try to express even if just a little, so that you don't end up with a blocked duct making the pain even worse and also to keep the milk supply up on that side. Perhaps by hand in a nice warm bath?

Happened to me on both DS and DD. just feed off one side and pump just enough so you don't get engorged until that nipple heels. You could try a nipple shield too to see if that helps. The pain is horrific you poor thing!

snowboarder!! i had a crack in my nipple for 11 weeks it was like a crater. i bled into my dds mouth every feed. i found using nipple shields quite good just at the start and once we were in the swing of it took them off. pure vitamin e oil is fantastic for cracked nips. and as the girls say above lansinoh moist healing is v good. honestly, dont give up, you are doing brilliant stuff for your baby. you ll look back at this moment one day and be glad you carried on.
if your crack doesnt heal fairly quickly, make sure you havent got thrush which can cause a crack not to heal xxx you can do it, it will get better xxxx

It's a killer pain isn't it? If you've started hurting after 3 wks of pain free feeding, I wouldn't just shrug it off as necessarily a positioning issue and that it'll heal by itself. I've had cracks that wouldn't heal with both DD1 and DD2 and needed to be treated by my GP in both cases. The first time it was thrush and it got sorted within days of using the dr's treatment (after I'd been howling in pain for a good month thinking the pain would go away by itself!). The second time, GP diagnosed thrush (without inspecting my nipple). It didn't clear with the treatment and on a second visit to dr when he did actually take a look at me, it turned out to be a bacterial infection in the crack in my nipple so that's why it wasn't healing. With antibiotics and expressing only on that nipple I was right as rain in a few days. Get yourself to the doctor Monday morning and see what they say and insist on them taking a look at both you and your baby's mouth (to check for oral thrush). All the best. Don't give up just yet! I fed my DD1 for 18 mths and am happily feeding my DD2 at 5mths and will continue for many more! Xx

Hello ladies, I just wanted to let you know that my crack has healed - i cant believe it!! I received my Silverette healing cups through the post yesterday and have been wearing them since then. In less than 24 hours I am now feeding DS2 on my LHS with absolutely no pain whatsoever.

I'm so impressed in fact that I've posted about them on AIBU.

Wow! Really pleased to hear that. OP. That sounds like magic!