help. advice needed please.

[cunners1982]

I have a 5 day old baby and over the passed 2 days he has breast fed ever hour or so, which is making my nipples so painful and nearly killing me in tiredness. I have started to express some milk just to give my nipples a rest cos they are really sore.
I am considering introducing some formula feeding too aswel as express and breast feeding cos hes just so hungry i dont feel i can keep up. has anyone got any advice on this?
Thanks

Lansinoh for your nipples - use after every feed, it really is worth the money! - and ride it out. This is how your baby tells your body how much milk he needs. Curl up somewhere comfortable and get your family to fetch tea and biscuits, you need to keep your fluids and dnergy up!

It does get better, honest. Still going at 7.5 months here but i well remember the latch pain and tiredness. I still get the tiredness if i don't eat enough, actually!

Congratulations

Thanks. ill try and get some of that cream today. Ive seen a few people recommend it. I really hope it does get easier,.want him to be breast fed, the pain is just a bit dishearting.

You can keep up - this constant suckling is your DS telling your body how much milk to produce. Almost all babies seem so hungry at first, I remember being glued to the sofa for the first few weeks. The only time he wasn't being fed was when he was asleep.

Get some Lansinoh now (it's pricey, but it really is the only nipple cream worth having). You don't need to wash it off before you feed. Slather it on as much as you can and let DS suck as much as he needs to.

The best thing you can do, IMO, is to get somewhere comfortable, with lots of cushions, and just wear your pyjama bottoms and a comfy feeding bra. Get people to bring you cake, pots of tea and pints of water. Make sure the remote is close to hand, and have a box set at the ready (or Wimbledon, of course!)

Very soon this stage will be a hazy memory, I promise. We're still going now after lots of problems at the beginning, and DS is 8 months old. Breastfeeding is so easy now and, in those early days, I never ever dreamt we'd get to this stage.

Best of luck and congratulations.

You're doing a great job - all totally normal for a newborn. Congratulations by the way Other than the cream, it may be worth checking baby's latch is correct. Is your HV still visiting? She could check for you or, otherwise, it is just checking that baby is taking your whole nipple and not just the end of it.
Keep going, it should settle down but, if it doesn't and you decide to stop, don't beat yourself up about it - mummy and baby both being happy is the most important thing.

Get rid of all notions of "achieving" stuff. The most important thing you can achieve today is to nourish your child - if you manage to get washed and dressed and make food your doing well, if the toilet and kitchen are clean you're supermum!

If it hurts for more than about the first minute, get checked - count to 100 after he first latches, that should get you through the bad bit. Your skin will toughen up over the next few weeks. Iirc, it got a bit easier at weeks 2, 6 and 12 :)

Hi op, congratulations

It's normal for a newborn to feed so frequently and good for your supply - I used lansinoh too and can recommend it.

Are your nipples sore because of the constant suckling or are they cracked? Has anyone been in to have a look at you Breastfeeding?

It's normal and it's hard - if your baby is gaining weight, pooing and peeing then this is good. It's really a case of sitting down, relaxing and giving into it. Don't worry about housework, nap in between feeds and make sure you are managing to eat and drink something. It will get easier.

I wouldn't advise expressing so early on. It's not necessary if your baby is gaining weight and getting milk from you. Combined feeding is much harder than Breastfeeding in the long term.

Thanks. It helps to hear other people had the same problems. Im off to get some of that cream now. I do literally feel that hes either asleep or hungry all of the time. Am i still ok to express a little? It helps relieve the pressure a bit from my breasts and at least hes still having breast milk

If your finding that you are getting engorged then, yes, it should be ok to express - hand expression is the most gentle way and will be less stressful on your boobs at the moment. Freeze any spare milk for the future. If you really want to bf then don't be tempted to feed him the expressed milk just now - it will mess up your supply.

Yeah it does help with the engorging, just gives me a bit relief. I have invested in some of that cream so hoping it helps make things a bit more comfortable.
My nipples arent cracked just very sore. I have some bruising on one too. the breast care nurse is due to visit tomorrow so will have a chat with her too

I promise this stage passes. If you want to breastfed, get through this bit, get to any breast feeding drop ins near you to get moral and practical support, and good luck.