advice needed

[rabzz]

Hello.. my baby is now 5 weeks old.. I am breastfeeding but it is agony as my nipples have been cracked since day 3 of nursing and show no sign of healing. The feeding hurts throughout but i have had her latch and positioning checked many times and have been told that she latches on beautifully. I just want to know has this happened to anyone else and should the feeding hurt throughout?? and how long does it take to heal normally??

Also, she likes to feed very frequently and for an hour or so.. even sometimes when she isn't hungry..

I would find another lactation consultant, a specialist one. Do you have the money for a private one? If not I would ask around your local area / your local NCT group / contact la leche etc. Your nipples should not be cracked! You could try a nipple shield too. Good luck.

could you try expressing for a couple of days and give your nipples a chance to heal? worked for me

Hi, wanted to post as I was in your position 6 weeks ago so it's very clear in my mind how painful it is and how disheartening it can be with everyone telling you the latch is 'beautiful'! This is clearly not the case if you're in pain with damaged nipples!

My baby is now 11 weeks and has always had a shallow latch, hence the nipple pain and damage. Tried lots of different positions and various techniques to try and improve latch to no avail. After feeling I was getting nowhere with mw and hv (think they thought I was just being a wimp!) at 6 weeks went to see a private lc who diagnosed posterior tongue tie. We got this snipped but unfortunately didn't lead to any feeding improvement.

We kept going switching between some bf, some with nipple shields and some expressed bm in a bottle. Think I was quite lucky that baby would switch between these without too much problem. I was worried that shields and bottle would make original latching problem worse but tbh it was the only way I could continue with bf at that point!

Felt v upset after tt snip made no difference and thought bf might be doomed for us. However over the past 3 weeks there has been a gradual improvement and now we have been feeding over a week without shields or bottles and my nipples are almost healed!

The things I think helped are: going back to biological nurturing and letting him latch himself - took a lot to let him do this bc of fear of the pain (with help from hospital bf specialist who I only found out existed a few weeks ago!) some cranial osteopathy to release some of tension in his jaw; and that he just got bigger and a bit better at feeding, it just took a few more weeks than most babies.

These are what worked for us and there will prob be different things that work for you but there will be Something that does! Keep asking for support wherever you can (hv, lll, bf cafés etc) although this can get frustrating you will find someone who can help.

I think also I was hoping for one magic thing to make it all better and actually it's been a case of things gradually improving and sometimes a sense of going backwards again. Bf is by no means perfect now, it's still initially often painful and latch still shallow but bc he's latching on himself think he's more relaxed and therefore less bitey. However it's so much better than it was and I'm so glad I managed to persist with it.

You've done such an amazing job to get this far when it's been so hard and I really hope you can access some good support soon and keep going!

Good luck!
Xxx

Agree with others about getting specialist help. If you have cracked nipples, then something is definitely not right however perfect the latch looks.

My initial thought was tongue tie so please see if you can get hold of someone who knows about these things, You could see if your hospital has an infant feeding specialist as they should be able to do a breastfeeding observation and check for tt.

Echo what the above posters have said. I had weeks of experts saying he had a perfect latch and looked to be feeding really well but the pain was a sign that it was wrong - it just didn't look that way from the outside. And I don't believe as one gp unhelpfully told me - that breastfeeding sometimes just hurts.
I've found improvement after a tongue tie snip, exercises to stretch his tongue and working on his latch with help at the local support group. Again, it's a combination of things that seem to be required.
Although painful, my nipples were only briefly cracked and I think putting up with 5 weeks is incredible. Wost case scenario is expressing or ff - either way you still get a healthy baby. I struggle to keep this is mind but I think it's important to keep it in perspective.
Good luck

You poor thing.
Usually heal/toughen up by two weeks
If cracked/bleeding by three
Five is rough

Go heavy on the Lansinoh
Squeeze your own breast milk onto the nips for natural healing
Cabbage leaves in bra never did it for me but..

Had nipples like redcurrants when latch was off and babe cluster-feeding
make sure you are putting as much of the areola in as poss
Big big hugs xxx

nipple shields did not work for me personally and can lead to nipple confusion they say but for others in the same torn up way as you they have been a lifesaver... i would get a pair anyway so you feel you have something in reserve and do not give up

Could you also be suffering with breastfeeding thrush? That hurts like hell. Definitely talk to a breastfeeding expert about it as well as tongue tie.
I hope it gets easier for you. X