Extreme pain whilst bf, thrush?

[mumofthreeboysS]

My baby is 3 weeks old and whilst Bf has been painful (tongue tie and bad latch) it was getting better. But now it seems to be getting worse again but a different pain- a burning searing pain. There are no classic white patches in babies mouth re thrush but my nipples are pinker and sore after feeding too. The pain doesn't really abate after initial latching so anyone think this could be thrush? If not I don't know what to do as the pain is unbearable in my right boob.

I had thrush and it does sound similar to your description. At times there was a real "electric shock" feeling. My nipples were also very pink all the time and I couldnt bear anything (clothes) touching them. Try and get to a doctor quick to get a diagnosis and treatment for you and baby. You can get through it if you act quick.

Have you had antibiotics? You are very susceptible to it right after a course. If you happen to have any "good bacteria" supplements (acidophilus) in the house, then take them, they help. Doc can advise on treatment, but I did find talcum powder helped loads - thrush likes moist environments, so keeping everything dry will combat it. Be careful not to waft talc near baby as its bad for their lungs. Also watch out for baby getting diarrhea or a bum rash - caused by thrush in the gut - if they get it, then ordinary nappy creams will make it worse as it traps in moisture. gently pat talc on , instead of cream. I hope you feel better soon, I still remember how rough it was!

Thanks- I'm sat here crying whilst ds feeds as it's excruciating. I don't know if he has thrush as his poos are runny anyway- tho they sounded explosive so not sure if that's normal. One side of my boob is really sore too. Will go to the docs today- how long does it take for the trEatment to work? I don't think I can feed in this side again...

Ive been using Lansinoh religiously- so you think it's probably making it worse if it's keeping my nipples moist?

And no I haven't had any antibiotics recently. I used to buy probiotics and i know the brand I bought does probiotics for breastfeeding so I'm going to order some ASAP!

Well the doc has actually diagnosed mastitis so I've got antibiotics.she also said the sore nipples are probably due to a bad latch so it guess I need to work in that...

Aw, sorry to hear you have mastitis - I had that too, its awful. Take the acidophilus all through the ab course and after! The abs will put you at greater risk of thrush, so if you dont have it now you might after.

Its very hard for anyone, you or doc to tell the difference between sore nipples from thrush or a bad latch. Bad latch pain should clear up very quickly though and not be ongoing if latch corrected. Thrush pain can come at any time in the feed and after, and you will feel like you dont want any clothes touching you at all, you may get shooting pains right through your boob if you have thrush bacteria in the ducts.

Have you tried cold cabbage leaves yet? They are really soothing! Keep some in the fridge and some in your bra and rotate often.

yes, lansinoh is very bad for thrush, as it keeps everything moist, but it does clear up sore nipples from bad latch very fast, so that in itself can help you see what the problem is. Was doc able to identify anything by looking at baby's mouth/bum?

There is lots of good thrush info on www.kellymom.com, great breastfeeding website if you havent discovered it yet. There are medications in tablet form for thrush - its the same as the type you use if you have a vaginal infection but at much higher dose, check out kellymom for the details. Washing your bra/bedclothes with a bit of vinegar in the wash helps kill of the thrush bacteria.

I breastfed two DS's - first one, i got sore nipples, mastisis followed by thrush in ducts, it took ages to get treated, and I didnt get treated properly (lot of creams that didnt work) it all was so painful that after 6 weeks I gave up breastfeeding. With my second son I ALSO got sore nipples, mastisis and thrush in ducts, BUT I got the right treatment and we got over it, he is two and I am still breastfeeding, and I am so glad we managed to do it. Hope you are feeling better very soon.

I had mastitis then thrush then bad latch. It is absolute hell. The thrush is particularly awful. It felt like red hot lead in my breasts. Just terrible. The bad latch thing is horrible too though cos you feel like there must be a medical solution. Biological nurturing really helped me with that if you Google it you'll find a video. ,much better way to feed.

Good luck!

oooh yes, biological nurturing helped me to sort out the latch too! and to learn to feed lying down which was bliss!!!

Excruciating pain during feeding is more likely going to be due to latch, as the doctor has said. Are there any BF groups near you?

mummyabroad I've ordered some probiotics so hopefully they'll stop me getting thrush as a result of the antibiotics! Well the swelling and redness has gone down so think I caught it in time before it got worse thank goodness. Think it may have been a blocked duct that hadn't resolved itself as I had a hot red patch a week ago that went away initially.

I have been going to a bf clinic most weeks which has helped a lot with the latch but I think I just find it hard to reproduce the good latch when at home alone and also he's not always great at getting his tongue out due to the tongue tie despite it being snipped- it's like he doesn't realise his tongue can go out further now! Have made more of an effort to take him off and re latch if it's not good (rather than putting up with the pain) which has helped- I guess it'll take a few weeks for my nipples to stop being sore depending on how often I get the latch right!

Have heard of biological nursing however not sure how practical it is- with two other kids to look after I can't really go and lie down to feed...

Glad to hear the clinic is helping and that you are feeling better.

I just thought of something else that really helped... if you have a small plastic comb you can gently "brush" your boobs while feeding (or in the shower) and it helps push through any blockages (brush towards nipple) sounds crazy but really helped me, especially at times when a bit engorged (and its something to occupy yourself with during long feeds ) .

I only did the biological nurturing thing a couple of times, not every feed. I think once they learn to open really wide and do a good latch, they get much more milk which is like a great reward for them, so from then on after they keep doing it right.

So the biological nursing gets them to open their mouth wider? He isn't very good at doing that so maybt I'll try it (on a day when other DC's are at school/preschool)

LO gets a bottle from DH in the evening and I don't think that helps with his latch- there's always a few minutes in the middle of the night feed when he forgets to open his mouth wide enough but I'm reluctant to stop the one bottle as it gives me a much needed break!

Biological nurturing isn't any more tying than ordinary bf and you generally have both hands free. If you watch the video online you'll see what I mean. Ff allowed me to carry on bf and eventually I was able to ebf.

Keep at it!

Thanks joskar will have a look at the video.

Thing is, re bottle feeding, I don't really want to ebf. Is that awful? It suits me to mostly bf and allow DH to help in the evening. I just don't want my supply to be compromised by doing this- and hopefully it won't!

Yes, biological nurturing definitely helped mine open wide, and resolved the latch problems.

No feeding choice is awful! Do whatever works for you and your family and banish any guilty feelings about it!. Having said that I would try to fix the latch issues first before introducing the bottle. It could have a detrimental effect if your supply is not well established and he is not an "expert" at feeding yet - and if things go wrong it is very hard to turn the clock back, whereas you can introduce a bottle at any time.

I think bfing was well established for me at about 5 weeks (and I had problems too) but it can take longer, I guess it depends on how quick you fix any issues. Just a few more days/weeks and you will be over the hump, you wont regret the effort you put in now, even if you do use bottles later. Good luck!

Have just read this thread and hopefully this may help me too. I have an 11 week old and have always had pain when bf (durin and after) from about week 2-3 , which I had put down to a bad latch but we have never been able to fix it. I'm thinking now I may have thrush although there are no signs of it in baby.
Think I'll make an appointment...
Thanks for your comments....