Thrush and expressing

[Scottyshirley]

(Not sure it's the right section)
Hi, my boy Conor is doing great. Three weeks tomorrow, breast feeding has been exhausting, every three hours since the start, last few days I've had burning pain at the start of feeds, less so during and sometimes in between.
I've been given clotrimazole cream (thrush diagnosed over the phone) Nystatin for Conor, I'm so tired feel like giving up. My partner has suggested we express and he does a feed in the middle of the night, rather than just help with nappies, it might give me a 6 hour run for sleep
My concern is I will get engorged, or the bottle will upset conor, he thinks it worth a try because the morning tiredness is when I feel like giving up, can it work at 3 weeks , thanks for any advice

Congratulations on your ds firstly.

My dd is 11 weeks old and I'm still managing to ebf - and like you I/we currently have thrush so you have my sympathies, it is grim. On advice from some old hands on MN, I went and bought some daktarin oral gel (about £5) and within 2 days things were dramatically improved. At this early stage it is well worth getting your latch checked as well - is there a breastfeeding group near you? Or you could try le leche league - haven't used them myself but are apparently v helpful.

With regards to expressing, you could start trying but you'd be unlikely to get enough for a whole feed for a few days at least. If bf is going reasonably well then introducing the occasional bottle shouldn't upset ds. You might find you get engorged but if you were to fall into a regular pattern of expressing and giving a nocturnal bottle it should settle.

Finally, don't despair! Everyone has had horrid moments, usually sat in the dark in the wee small hours, feeling like they can't carry on. If you can stick it out it does get better. You're doing a great job

Definitely get the oral gel, nystatin is useless. If it doesn't shift, you can get flucanazole tablets prescribed