Help! Breastfeeding so painful...

[timefortea79]

I have a 6 day old baby and my nipples are already sore and feeding is becoming very painful. I have sought advice from breastfeeding clinics and it looks like the latch is wrong but I just can't get him to latch on properly. I'm hoping things will improve in the next few days and weeks but very tempted to start introducing formula. Has anyone else had similar issues and managed to get through to a less painful time? If so how did you manage to persevere?

This is my second baby and I had similar troubles with my first. I promised myself I would not beat myself up about it if it happened again, and yet here I am, really struggling with feeding but not wanting to switch to formula.

Any advice much appreciated!

I'm not an expert at all, but have you had your baby checked for a tongue tie? Just wondering as you mention you had similar problems with your first, my DS had it and apparently they can run in the family. My DH and I both have a slight one but we'd never heard of it until a lactation consultant diagnosed DS.

Otherwise, have you tried the exaggerated latch position or nipple shields?

Has your LO been checked for a tongue tie - a posterior one is often missed. Have you tried nipple shields? I used the Medela ones with DD1. Do you have a pump - express and cup feed a couple of feeds to give your nipples a break. Do you have any hydrogel pads? They are very soothing from the fridge. Ditto Multi-Mam compresses. Do you have breast shells? They would avoid chafing your tender nipples on clothes.

To rectify the situation - maybe a lactation consultant? Check they are board certified. Local LLL meeting? Have you phoned any of the helplines?

Are you aware of Dr Jack Newman's website? There are latching videos there. Maybe the exaggerated latch would help? There's great advice on kellymom.com too.

Totally agree about getting checked for tongue tie especially if you also struggled with your first (it runs in families).

Be careful who you get to check though - HVs and GPs don't usually know what to look for (especially posterior ties) - ideally you want a lactation consultant or breastfeeding counsellor who is trained to spot tongue ties. Local BF cafés may have counsellors dropping in, or try la leche league or your local mumsnet for a recommendation?

From personal experience nipples can get sore before they toughen up a bit - just the first week.

Are you using nipple cream? Are you making sure not to pull baby off the nipple? If you need to unlatch to get a better one insert your clean little finger in the corner of baby's mouth to break the suction.

Don't be afraid to unlatch and relatch to get a better one.

Make sure you initially hold the baby a little lower and to the side if where you nipple actually is when it hangs unsupported - nose to nipple - and wait for a big mouth. Tuck baby's chin into the boob

-and get baby checked for tongue tie and lip tie ! Especially if it feels like your nipple is being gripped by pliers...

Try some different positions, lying down breastfeeding was great for me. It does hurt. Mine were sore for 3 weeks but then they toughen up & I then found it quite soothing for both of us! But don't feel pressured. Try nipple balm etc ....

I have an appointment with a breastfeeding counsellor on Tues who is going to check for tongue-tie. If this is the case and it gets snipped will it suddenly make all the difference?

I am using lansinhoh cream, used nipple shields last time so getting ready to use them again.

It feels exactly like my nipple is clamped between pliers! Not just sore but almost unbearable pain. I am very tense when feeding, and my neck is starting to hurt.

I just need to get through to Tuesday at the moment....

As others have said, check for TT. Also try doing an exaggerated latch (sometimes called the flipple). There are videos on YouTube that show it much better than I can explain it but it basically helps get more of your nipple into baby's mouth.

I had huge issues with the latch. What helped me was to put my nipple on baby's nose & drag it downwards. That way, it got into the mouth correctly. Good luck!

Ah great, make sure they check for posterior as well as anterior. Can she do the snip if she finds a tie or will you need to go elsewhere?

Most people find latch improves within a few days, if not immediately. there is a bit of a "relearning" period for the baby to learn how to use their freed up tongue, however at 6 days old the relearning period should be pretty short.

Use only a tiny amount of lansinoh - it can make the area around the nipple too slippery for the baby to latch if you overdo it.

Also looking for exaggerated attachment, as magpie said.

My dd1 had an un diagnosed posterior tongue tie - I asked and got a second opinion and was td it was fine. Finally got it diagnosed and snipped at 5 months - instant small improvement, then further gradual improvement over the next couple of weeks. It was the pliers feel that gave it away!

Anyway - we got through 5 months EBF by using the exaggerated latch "flipple" technique suggested above.

Good luck

Agree with pp's that it could be a tongue tie, but it could just be a case of getting used to breastfeeding! I assume You're not used to having someone latched onto your nipples for upto 18 hours a day! Try lanisoh!! And perhaps prepare yourself for a week of pain, not helpful I know but that was my experience!

By all means get checked for tt and work on the latch. But there's a certain amount of pain built into the early days because your nipples haven't toughened up yet. Keep treating with lansinoh and I found multi mam compresses really helpful. In my case the pain disappeared by 6/7 weeks.

16 weeks ago I was exactly where you are! Now I'm 100% BF my 17 week old daughter and my nipples are all healed. In the intervening weeks she's had tongue tie divided twice, we both got thrush and I contracted severe mastitis resulting in abscess and minor surgery. We have expressed occasionally all the way through initially to give my shredded nipples a break, then so partner could do late feed and now (less so) out of convenience. She had formula top ups between 2-10weeks due to slow weight gain. You've not mentioned if this is a problem or not - can be indicative of tongue tie.

To answer your question about nipples healing... They are amazingly heal-able. 5 days after second (more successful) tongue tie division there was no pain on a good latch (we had to work at latching), there's a really helpful video I'll find and post.

Don't despair. You can recover from this. Give yourself a break though and please remember that formula is not evil or the end of the world, and it's also not necessarily the end of breast feeding - it wasn't for us!

Ow, feel for you: I can remember almost hitting the ceiling with the pain.

The things which really helped me (and I'm assuming no tongue-tie here) were a good latch, getting the baby's belly flat to mine, and getting my own back completely upright (for example, I'd sit up in bed with my back like a ramrod against the wall). After a week or so of this, my nipples were like leather (TMI) and it was all much easier.

Oh my goodness! I've just watched a couple of YouTube clips on the exaggerated latch and tried it - I hardly felt it! This could be the miracle I was looking for! He does gradually pull away so having to re-latch a few times but can't believe it makes such a difference. I don't have particularly large boobs so 'flipping' is quite tricky but something seemed to work.

Not that I wish this pain on anyone, but it's also really reassuring to hear that some of you have also been in pain and got through it. It's not helpful when midwives tell you there should be no pain/soreness at all.

The baby is putting weight on and I have been successfully expressing, which is much better than with my first baby so I am more hopeful that I can get through it this time.

Formula was a godsend with my first baby but I'd like to try and get away with all the sterilising, making up bottles etc that goes with it. When you've got to grips with it breastfeeding seems to be the easiest way to feed your baby!

I didn't believe the "no pain" thing until I had dd2 though.... Literally no pain from day one. No tongue tie either, and came out just knowing how to feed. I also knew how to feed by then as well so that really helped. But the no pain thing can be true.

I think breastfeeding is a skill - first you both have to have the physical capability (95% of women have sufficient glandular tissue I believe, then there is breast reduction, inverted nipples etc, and babies can have ties, clefts etc)
Then you both have to have the skill and some babies learn quicker than others, and some mothers get it quicker than others... I was a slow learner, dd1 had a posterior tongue tie - but that exaggerated latch made it work. Didn't bother at night but just getting a good latch during the day was enough to stop it getting too sore :)

It appears I may have spoken too soon, I haven't managed to replicate the good latch in any feeds through the night, Still, as you say DoYouThink, I'll work on it during daytime feeds and see if it helps. Hopefully my trip to the counsellor on Tuesday will be the miracle cure!