My poor nipple (don't read if squeamish. Seriously).

[EarnestDullard]

Ok, 8 day old baby, problems BFing, cracked and bleeding nipples, and so on.

But a big scab on one side got stuck to my bra yesterday and has torn away a small bit of the surface of my nipple, and that bit is now only attached at one side. I'm sorry, I did warn you it was gross, but I really felt the need to share the burden of my discomfort.

It's not healing either, as the scab gets wet every time I express (feeding currently too painful).

Wahh! :(

Have you tried to wear some breast shells to let your skin breath between feeds? www.preciouslittleone.com/product-information/74/18404/avent-comfort-breast-shell-set/?gclid=CNKUlvGK-bICFYXMtAod-FEAMw

Ooh, that's a good idea. I think I even have some from last time, assuming they're still usable after 2.5y. I've been sleeping topless to air them a bit, but MIL is visiting so clothing is not so optional during the day. Breast shells could work though, thanks :)

You need some of that miracle silver stuff

Argh can't remember. I heard it was amazing stuff though [unhelpful].

Have you had a good read of this?

ooooo, I sympathise, I had scabby issues too!

Have you considered expressing & letting it heal? I ended up expressing, walking round all day with boobs out to the air, then had mastitis so watch for that. My GP gave me a saline spray to clean my nipples after feeding which was a massive releif in itself.
At night I put lansinoh on my nipples followed by a vaseline impregnated gauze called jellonet (which my doctor perscribed me) then a disposable breast pad then my bra, this way although my nip's were moist they didn't stick to anything then during daytime I was basically topless in a dressing gown letting the air heal them.

It also turned out my DD was tongue tied & a quick snip at the tongue tie clinic & an hour with a lactation expert got my latch perfect & she fed fab.

A GP or health visitor can refer for tongue tie clinic.

I'm really glad I kept at it, I still go to my local breastfeeding group as ocasionally need advice plus its nice to meet other mums & get out for a giggle.

Good luck & keep at it if thats what you decide... I'm 10wks on & I'm not sorry I kept struggling as it's fab now! :-)

Poor you. Same thing happened to me. It healed within a week. Just by airing it and simply expressing, not feeding for a bit.

It is bllody hard work bfing at times!

Thanks all; I saw the midwife today who gave me a bit of positioning advice and I tried BFing for the first time in a couple of days. It was better, although I'm not sure how much of that is down to the fact that I've had a two-day 'break'. Was too scared to feed from the really cracked side, too. I guess I'll try that later. If I can get the latch sorted I think BFing will actually be less traumatic to the nipple than expressing.

I have been using Lansinoh and letting them air where possible, but MIL's been staying with us so I couldn't really wander round topless all day!

BFing DD2 again was lovely though :) Determined to persevere now.

I hand expressed when I had a mashed nipple.

Has your baby been checked for tongue tie by somebody who knows what they are doing? Normally the GP/HV/MW will not be an expert.

have a look here and here

As other have said- express on that side and air as much as possible. I used breastmilk as didn't find any creams helped. Had a big milk blister and after peeling it off I used this method and nipple healed quickly. Good luck. Did make me boke a bit...

Not bad today, thanks, it does seem to be healing. I'm alternating expressing and BFing; BFing isn't quite pain-free but is much better. I'll get to a drop-in/support group this week (although DH is going back to work so not sure how I'll manage with a 2.7yo in tow as well).

Sorry, had to pick up crying baby: mawbroon will the BFing people at a drop-in know about tongue ties, or do I need to see a tongue tie specialist? Two MWs have said she looks fine, but I do know that a posterior tie can be harder to spot, so I'd like to get it checked by someone who really knows.

They might do Earnest, but you can't be sure. Best bet is to contact Milk matters who I linked to earlier. They can point you in the direction of your nearest knowledgeable tt person.

Do you have a lactation consultant nearby?
Coukd you try nipple shields just until they heal, that way you czn keep putting baby to the breast too.
Hand expression is much kinder than mechanical
Try putting cold savoy cabbage leaves in your bra to soothe your nipples and breasts

I wasn't told the very basics about BF which resulted in me having similar and then baby having black poo's because he had swallowed my blood (I started with a crack the size of the grand canyon on one of mine - not pleasant at all) - grim I know - but you started it! Ha Ha! I realise I might be teaching you to suck eggs, but have you seen the free Dvd about how to breastfeed? It goes back to complete basics and I found this advice to be the most helpful - brush your nipple on baby's top lip and this way baby opens their mouth wide enough for you to quickly get your whole nipple in and at the back of their throat! I also read "what to do if you're breastfeeding and what to do if you can't.." by Clare Byram Cooke - highly recommended - taught me much much more than any health visitor / midwife did!! In fact, unfortunately, my midwives told me my son was being lazy whilst he was losing 12.5% of his birth weight so that's how much use they were! :/ (he's doing fantastically well now - in fact on 91st percentile! I'm very proud to say that this was through my own determination and through reading the book I mentioned to you) Good luck and it will get better once you sort the latch out for sure :)

Thanks whimsy :) I'm still doing some bottle feeds with expressed milk (seems a shame to waste the milk I've already expressed, but every time she has a bottle I need to express again to stop my boobs from exploding) but the BFing is definitely less painful and my nipples are looking so much better.

Dandileeno a little positioning advice as standard before discharging new mums from hospital would go such a long way. With both my DDs the MWs were keen to get you feeding ASAP but didn't seem to worry about exactly how the baby was latched on, as long as he/she was on the boob. I haven't seen that DVD, but I did see a really great info sheet linked to on here that detailed exactly how to hold the baby, how to latch them on, which part of the nipple/areola should be in their mouth, etc. Just a little basic information, but invaluable in avoiding pain later on.

Urgh, I had the same problem. Basically a chunk of my nipple fell off. I now have a small freckle like scar there. Sorry, that's not helpful for you but I just wanted to empathise.