Pumping is making my nipple bleed, any advice?

[JE1982]

We haven't worked out latching (I have flat nipples and DS has a tongue tie) so I'm pumping with the agent pump then feeding him from bottles.

One nipple is cracked, bleeding and really sore. I'm desperate to maintain my supply - is there anything I can do to heal the cracks/reduce the pain while still pumping?

Sorry your having such a hard time

I wound air dry your nipples as much as possible and just have your boobs out for the next few days to allow them to heal. It honestly is the best thing for cracked nipples and beats creams hands down for speediness. Sleep with towels to soak up leakages and make sure you have the right size shield for expressing.

Don't be afraid to take paracetamol for pain relief and express as often as you can.

As above, air drying is the best thing possible. If you do need to be covered up, put some lansinoh on your nipple, then cover that with a layer of cling film, then put your bra on. It'll prevent chafing or sticking and let your nipple keep healing until you can let it 'breathe' again.

And you're doing a stellar job!

how long are you pumping for? you've almost certainly got the setting up too high and possibly the wrong size cup thingie.

turn down the pump and use breast compressions to help the milk out.

I did a lot of pumping with my first son- well done for keeping going, I know it can be hard going. Nipples can take a while to recover after any injury. Can you lower the strength of suck on the pump? Maybe hand expressing would be a good idea for a while until your nipple has had a chance to heal- I know volume might not be as high but it will keep your supply going, be gentle & you can keeping pumping from your other breast. A hand pump may also be gentler than an electric one. Maybe someone else will have a wonder nipple crack cure but I would just keep applying Lansinoh. Do you have a date to get the tongue tie snipped?

Moist healing has very mixed results research wise. Dry healing is far quicker generally but is not always possible or practical. Moist healing also increases the risk of developing thrush due to the damp environment, (same with breast pads etc) and it can also increases the probability of introducing other bacteria into the wound.

Airing nipples is a bit undignified but if your at home who cares, it's definitely quicker.

If your putting a tongue tied baby to the breast, I find they can slip off much more easily if lots of cream has been applied to the nipples. They tend to mostly nipple feed as it is and the extra lubrication can be a but too much for their little mouths.

I used lansinoh and then breast shells to keep my bra off my nipples. So moist healing but with a bit of air to the nips AND I could leave the house! My cracks were around the base and I came to the conclusion that my nips were being squished by bra and then starting to heal in that position - then DD would feed and the nipple would be elongated and the cracks would open again. The shell stopped them healing in the squished position and they started to get better.
Another reason for the moist healing is that it stops a scab forming. This happened once when I forgot to put lansinoh on after a feed and the next feed the scab was pulled off by DD and was even more agony!

Thanks so much for all the advice, I have spent today airing my nipples and it does look Ike it's healing. Also have reduced the suction on my pump and ordered a larger attachment for the pump, so fingers crossed!