help please! can I express yet?

[Emma7]

My DD is 10 days old and I'm still breastfeeding despite a painful start. I saw a bf cousellor to sort out positioning but I have a blister which has taken the skin off my nipple and it is getting too painful to feed - what do I do? Midwife said I can't express this early.

Someone will be along more experienced but i have cared for mums and baby's as a maternity nanny and have had several mums who started expressing after day 10, they expressed and fed, have you tried a nipple sheild.

Could the gp prescribe a pain relieving cream for you to apply before feeding?

All the best

Bumping in the hope that someone more knowledgable than me picks this up. I thought you could express straight away ( don't some mums of premature babies do this?)

Just take it one day at a time, and hopefuly you will get more help here soon.

I think it's not recommended until your supply is established. It's not that you can't.

Try a nipple shield for a couple of days. From experience, once you sort the positioning out nipples heal relatively quicky. Also try feeding in a different position (eg lying down) so a different bit of your nipple is in the vulnerable position.

I think your latch must still be wrong, I'm afraid; it sounds bad, shouldn't be happening. Can you see the counsellor again for the latch?

WRT expressing: if this is your first time of breastfeeding, it's probably not a good time to start expressing as your body will start over-supplying perpetually - you need to 'get used' to b/feeding, which is obviously not easy if you're in that much pain. I think Lanisoh is supposed to be very good for painful nipples although I've never used it. Bump!

lansinoh or kamillosan creams are soothing.

X posted!

:)

BTW It will still hurt for a short while whilst your nipple heals even if the latch is right.

loses that toe-curling edge though.

Thanks for your help everyone. I am using the purple 'magic' cream and will try to feed lying down to see if that helps. The other nipple is fine - don't know why this has happened. Will try to see the breastfeeding counsellor again next week.

I had a similar problem around the 10 day time. I used a nipple shield and expressed milk for ds for 24 hours. It made a huge difference, and although was probably not the 'right' thing to do, it meant I didn't give up, and I could cope with the pain. 24 hours was all I needed to give my breasts a break. BF going well now.

I had extremely sore/cracked nipple at about the same time, midwife recommened Lansinoh cream and I have to say it worked wonders almost overnight. Pricey, (about £10.00) but worth every penny.

I have been expressing since dd was a fortnight old, though not every day, just a few times a week so dh can give her a bottle at night or if I need to leave the house. From what I can gather it isn't generally recommended to express that early, but it has worked for me. Also, I had mastitis soon around the same time and expressing actually helped to relieve the pain, strange as it sounds.

Hope you feel better soon, and congrats on the arrival of your daughter!

Def Lansinoh cream - pile it on before and after every feed.

Also any different positions you can find - just don't put the pressure on in the same place. Have you tried rugby ball (under your arm)?

Hi
I expressed before 10 days. I had no problem with my supply or with ds breast feeding, once he'd got the hang it it. It took him a couple of weeks to get used to breast feeding and basically if I hadn't expressed he would've starved.

Yes! You can, as long as you express regularly (as often as you'd feed) and keep going, even if you think you're not getting much. It can take 30 mins or so to get enough to fill a small bottle and it takes a while until to get used to it. I did this from day 2 with ds2 and carried on for the first few months (and to reassure you have gone on to bf him successfully for 8 mths)
I did this against the advice of a couple of mws, regular literature/NCT advice but it did work for me exactly for hte reasons you describe - it was hurting like hell and gave me a chance to recover. I think the official advice to wait 6 weeks is because expressing can be a drag so some I'm sure might not do it regularly enough to get and keep a decent supply. Hope it works out for you, good luck. BTW, I used the Avent hand pump.

there is a gauze thing that is used for burns that I have seen recommended on another thread that is said to be excellent for damaged nipples.

i don't know it's name so hopefully someone else knows what I am talking about. or ask a pharmacist for it.

Thanks everyone. Tried expressing with Avent hand pump but only managed to get 1 oz though and took about 30 mins!! It let me rest that nipple last night and it feels slightly better today. I do actually enjoying feeding her on the other side and I just hope that it gets easier soon so that the experience is more pleasant. I'm using Lansinoh and trying different positions - rugby ball, lying down etc.

1 oz sounds about right at the beginning, honestly does get easier every time you try.

I expressed from as soon as my milk came in because I was determined to get my son taking a bottle so that I could get some rest. It didn't do any harm and actually meant that I carried on b/feeding when I may have stopped. Think you might need an electric pump though!

agree witth piglett - it takes a while to get going, but from memory by a couple of weeks I was able to get about 6oz at a time. I used the medala mini electric pump, which i found good, if a little noisy!
They are about forty quid, but are often on ebay if you don't want to pay that much

Agree with Piglett and Mabel - couldn't get anuything off with manual pump but the Medela mini electric was fab. Also this was at about 3 weeks so I left it until 6 weeks and managed to pump off loads and build up a bottle bank.