another one with sore breasts!

[binn]

Having problems with breastfeeding. 3rd child so should know about such things!! H is 11 weeks and fine feeding it is my breast that are very sore - the bit around the nipple has red almost blister like abrasions and where the nipple joins the breast has split - OW!!! no other symptons, done the cream for thrush thing and also AB's no improvement! Would love to continue Breast feeding. Can anyone help suggest ways forawrd.

I had more probs feeding DS2 than DS1 and thought I should have been an old hand by then! The only thing that worked for me was to expsess some milk at the end of the feed (and whenever poss), rub onto the nipple and leave to air dry. I also left my nipples exposed to air as much as I could, although you have to be careful before you open the front door to anyone! H/V suggested changing position of baby (eg to "rugby ball" style" but just couldn't get it, although changing from sitting to lying while feeding did make just that litte bit of difference, taking the pressure off the sore spot. Hope you're not gritting your teeth for too long.

opps, managed to put smiley face in, not sure how, fairly new mumsnetter, sorry!

binn this sounds agony, mabe you could get in touch with nct and get b/f counsellor to suggest, I too think I had more problems with my second and felt quite down about it as I thought things would go smoothly 2nd time! Agree with nic here change of position sounds like a good thing to try. Is it both sides or only one? could you express from one side to give the other a chance to heal? Only other thing I can think of is shields but not sure if they would help, I didn't get on with them but know some women find them a godsend. Hope you are ok, you are doing great to get this far already, hope you can persevere and that it gets easier.
midden
xxx

nicmum2boys - I am also new to mumsnet, crazy really it is so useful and nice to hear you are not alone!! Thanks for all suggestions am going to try them all, what the day will bring I am not sure but will report back. I am in that dialemma of, if it will get better, would persevere, but if it isn't, then it is to the bottle!! I go a bit sad but realistic.

than-you for your advise - I never found a b/f councellor, I found that trying your suggestions helped ie baring all!! removing the breast pads rubbing in my milk and using lansinoh cream as often as I could has removed the soreness around the nipple and the splits well they are still there but only painfull for the first 10 secs of feeding and I think are slowly improving. Also I really concentrated on H's positioning and how long she was feeding, removing the breast being used as a dummy. Thank-you, you both kept me going.

Good news! It did sound very painful so congrats on keeping going through it all.

i had the same (split nipples! on the armpit side?). It all got better by about 8 weeks. although correct positioning must have helped, the pain disappeared overnight after 5 days of antibiotics (for breast lump) followed by a couple of days of using timodine cream twice a day (anti-fungal/antiseptic). What type of cream did you use? it healed up incredibly fast after this, to my immense joy. I'd tried 3 different types of nipple cream including lansinoh and I wonder if they just made it worse. Try the GP again?

binn
Also new to this and delighted to know I'm not the only one with bf problems.(though obviously it would be nicer if none of us had problems) My 3rd is 18 wks now and it's been problematic from the start having thought it would be easy like with ds1 and dd1(am assuming these abbreviations mean son and daugter!). Have just had mastitis which is better now but have had v sore nipples the whole time and yet the latch is ok. Not itchy but very sharp pain from tip to back of breast after feeds is driving me up the wall. Have only just heard of thrush being a possibility and have Timodene in house. Will it help(muminlondon?) - I really just want to enjoy feeding my lovely wee man but feel a bit robbed tho not ready to throw the towel in yet.

sorry it has taken so long to reply I am finding time to myself a non excisting novelty! Anyway, having thought it was getting better it all got worse over the week-end, I felt the whole medical profession were against me! It wasn't till H got white blisters in her mouth and wasn't feeding properly that anyone seem to take my plea for help properly. I think tiredness had something to do with this feeling. So, I shouted for help at the hospital - the midwife team - at last someone who listened and told me I wasn't alone here. TO cut along story short was seen last night (SUN!) am now back on cream (canesten hc for me and some Nysten suspension for H. It hasn't yet been 24 hours and it has already improved. No more toe curling feeding session tonight. I suppose you just need to keep shouting and not feel like you are being silly or making a fuss, it shouldn't hurt. Breast feeding if you can is brill, I fully understand where you are coming from Aero (love the nickname - especially with the state of my mind!)and if you choose to go down that route should be supported. Keep shouting, you never know when that right bit of help will come your way - Good luck.

Woke up to yet another blocked duct this am (aaaaarrrggghhh). Seven to date. ds2 has, however managed to unblock this one though. Am going to hijack ds1's GP appt in the am as he's not too bad (bug going round school)and I'm still uncomfortable. All this has made me utterly determined (can be a stubborn so and so) not to give up. Think I'm almost getting used to sore nipples and now have thrush elsewhere!(just what I need). I get the feeling this won't go away on it's own. No sign of thrush in ds2's mouth though - well not that I can see anyway though I'm no medic, but would be easier to diagnose if he had symptoms.
I'll just have to bite the bullet and tell the GP I'm neither mad nor paranoid even though I feel I practically live at the surgery! Do have three kids though!
BTW the nickname was one I picked up at school. It's a bubbles thing and I always held it in my affection! Thanks.

ps Forgot to say glad you're on the mend.

Sorry about the other blocked duct - it is so frustrating when it doesn't go smoothly for at least a bit of the time. I am sure you are but I always massage the breast they are feeding especially under he armpit. I was also getting used to sore breasts - just something I went through to feed H, but it is such a relief not to have to go through that, please keep shouting for help. Can you get to see someone different, I gave up on my GP, and went via NHS direct and got to see a different GP at the hospital. So far, he seems to have given me good advice. H is now completely better - 2 nights in a row where she has slept from 9ish to 5:30ish.

Lliving at the surgery, I know that one, we moved house 2 months before our second was born, so new surgery, no major prolems but I also seemed to live there, I was convinced that the surgery thought Oh no not the paranoid mother. I mentioned this to the Doc a couple of months ago, she said that all new mums have a rush to the surgery then it calms down. Please keep shouting at different avenues. BEtter sign off the kids have arrived!

Funny, we also moved two months before our second was born and made the mistake of signing on at the nearest surgery. Took months to sort it out and change but there was no way I was having my post-natal there. Ended up having it at a totally different surgery but they couldn't take us on at that time. All sorted now though and present Dr's v nice. Doesn't help with feelings of being paranoid though!!
So much for hijacking ds1's appt. He had a really bad night and is now on anti-biotics. Had a word though while I was there and she says I can use cream we already have in house and can buy thrush treatment but I need to be examined properly to have it prescribed. Can't bear the thought, of any further internal exams (after failed coil attempt), so will buy. Will see her next week if no improvement. She thinks I need time to heal properly after mastitis. I guess colicky baby, fragile daughter and poorly son and little sleep etc etc don't make for the easiest of times! Thanks for your support though.

It is amazing how much better I feel after a couple of nights sleep, I wish it was catching and I could send you some!! It is difficult to remember life when you weren't tired and stressed. I have found homeopathy good for feeling better, the problem is finding a good homeopath. I feel much more together after going to see mine, she gives me what she calls a constitutional remedy. I feel alot more positive, but also know of others that it made no difference. It sounds as though you are thoroughly exhausted.

Can you do something even if it for a short time just for you - a massage, get your hair done, go out for a lunch or supper without the kids, something where someone spends time on you, not because you are a mum, wife etc just for you as a person. A really good friend took me out only for 45 mins to supper (it was at her place!)and we just talked with no interruptions, I felt human again, brill, it filled me with just enough energy to get through the next few days. It sounds though you are like me - you are the last one in the pecking order. It is such hard work but really rewarding when it comes together. I don't really have any other advice or help so wishing you loads of luck, and hope you get better real quick!

Thanks Binn - cyber support much appreciated (Eastenders in background even annoying - too much shouting!). Dh just got in and is doing the bedtime thing with ds1. Ds2 asleep after big (not too bad) feed. Dd also in bed (she needs mummy lots just now) and settled, so think will send for takeaway and hope to settle down for a quiet evening. Hopefully ds1 will have a better night.
Incidently, am spending tomorrow evening with good friend, watching a film and catching up as her dh is away on business so will be a good tonic for both of us.
Have never been down the homeopathic route before (apart from having a tube of arnica in the house) but will surely keep it in mind. Am seeing osteopath next week in a bid to help ds2's tummy pains.
What area are you from? Just curious. I live in Kent.

Yes I do - I have just remembered!!!!!!!!!!! the brain cell is working!!! Live and it must be live yogurt, splashed liberally all over affected area and eaten. Yeo valley do a good variety. This sounds really mad but it worked for me!! Also I have heard that Boots do a casule with Lactobascillus - this is the 'friendly bacteria' that will kill off thrush. Hope it works for you.

just read your message - i'm based in Hampton Middlesex.

Thought I posted on this last night. Probably posted elsewhere in my extreme tiredness stupor! Meant to say I'm already taking the acidophilus capsules and they balance things up pretty well. Am feeling much better today. Ds2 slept for 6 full hours last night - hurrah!! Pizza was nice and no-one else woke during the night either. Also with ds1 being under the weather and off school we didn't have to rise at the crack of dawn!
Have things cleared up for you? - I realise your first post was ages ago nut hoping all the cracks etc are healed.
Am also trying to teach ds2 that boobs are not dummies (with little success as will do anything for peace sometimes)! He can shout longer and louder than me! (like he's doing right now - boobs at the ready!!!).

I am slowly improving but I am absolutely exhausted, I'm now on hols in the Isle of White, I never new getting 3 kids on hols means I need a holiday! Anyway settled in and abusing my husbands work computer - it has its uses! yes I am healing but just really slowly and like your one H also uses me as a dummy - and like you sometimes it is anything for a quiet house. I am sarting to wonder if my milk supply is enough to satisfy her, as I've got nothing to express thought I would try to supplementing with formula, this worked well for a couple of days but yesterday she decided that bottles were no more! have you ever mixed and matched or managed to bottle successfully. My other two also needed supplementing but all went fine. Glad that things are better for you, and hope it contiues.

Have just returned from nice evening with good friend. Watched a film and caught up. Good to feel human again. Am now getting nervous about our holiday with 3!! We're off to visit my folks in a couple of weeks. Will be interesting to see how they cope with the long journey in the car!
Regarding the formula thing.... ds1had a bottle or two at two months and we thought 'great - he's ok with that' - big mistake. We didn't keep up with it as it was probably easier not to, but tried again at four months and he was having none of it. He drank nothing but bm until I stopped feeding him at 15mths.
With dd, we gave her a bottle most nights from 8wks or so and that went well. She bf until 11mths but now hates milk in any form (can't blame her, so do I).
Thought we'd do the same with ds2, but have totally given up as I found it totally mucks up my system and supply and I just don't like upsetting things in that dept as have had so many blockages. When I thought my supply was low I just fed him more and that seems to work to make as much as he needs for now.
My friend, who actually delivered ds2 (she's a midwife) is always on hand for support and advice, so that helps. I also have another friend who was a midwife and now works to advise on bf (can't remember job title), so also v supportive. Actually, she was here too when ds2 was born.
Hope you're enjoying the 'break'(??!!). IOW is v nice. We have good friends there. Godstone is nice if your kids like model villages.

Feeling knackered but otherwise well. Have had three blocked ducts this week!! Was at the end of my tether yesterday and phoned a lactation consultant who also does voluntary work over the phone (good job as we couldn't afford her otherwise). She was sooooo nice and very helpful and full of v useful suggestions in the hour she spent with me. Was v grateful. It's very possible that my serious addiction to chocolate(amongst other things) could be making things worse for me. Will try (thought it will be hard) to eat less of it and other sweet rubbish. It's weird as I used to be strictly a savoury girl! The choc thing happened somewhere in pregnancy and has never left me!! Thankfully that wasn't her only suggestion and there are many other avenues to explore. Have been treated now for thrush too and hope that's the end of that. Hope your hol is fun.

really pleased that again you have managed to get helpfull help. We to have managed to get things sorted. After 3 days of H fidhting the bottle (and us both heading for a strong one!!)we decided to stop. However, last night after 3 hours of her sucking on me but not being satisfied I decded again enough, back to try the bottle. We did but this time I put an extra hole in the teat, brilliant. success, I really feel that the preassure is now off me, I don't plan to use it much but it does give me an escape route. She also slept last night twice as long as the past week. I'm just hoping it lasts.

The IOW is great fun, spent most of the time trying to fill the sea with rocks - my sons description!- eating icecreams and enjoying the weather. H is screaming now so look forward to the next installment.:0

Have had yet another duct blockage but has been sorted by N successfully after two days!! Am just not stressing about it now so much, as long as he can unblock it in reasonable time. Hate the soreness of it though. Am hoping we've turned a corner though. Took him y'day for a cranial osteopathy appointment. Think his colic and feeding problems and the general discomfort he feels is contributing to my problems a great deal, so having heard lots of people recommend it, we thought we'd give it a go. There's a school of osteo near us and they have a clinic where their students practice (supervised) on patients for half the price of a fully qualified osteopath. Anyway, in a nutshell, I thought I'd brought home the wrong child. It really made that much difference in one session. It's early days, I know, but he was sooooo relaxed afterwards and has been fine (though snuffly with a bit of a cold) since!!! Fed without wriggling. No pains during or after feeds. Comfortable in his seat (usually cries) and slept 8.30 - 1.30, then 2 - 7am last night and 4.5 hours solid this afternoon through lots of noise (other two had friends here). Wow - this sceptic might just become a convert! Another appt next Tues. Wish I'd known about this earlier!
Glad you had a good hol - makes me really look forward to ours. A week in Devon - can't wait. going in July. Heading to N Ireland in a few weeks to visit family though so that's not too far away and the kids are verrrrry excited about that. Hope they feel the same on the long journey to Scotland to catch the ferry! Usually we fly, but decided we'd give this a go and have the advantage of having the car while we're there! Trust petrol prices to leap up just in time for our longest journeys of the year!!
V glad to hear you're sorted.

You seem to be really suffering with blocked ducts. Do you know why / what are they caused by? I too gave my eldest now coming up to 5 craneo...... as he suffered from really bad acid reflux. He too responded brilliantly, where as my daughter - had reflux but not so badly - didn't respond at all. I think alot depends on the child, but in a way if it works who cares!!! Really pleased you had a good night, heres hoping that it wasn't a one off.

For your long journey. Have you seen the magnetic books - we found them brilliant as it gives them something more to do than look at books all the time but the bits don't easily get lost. Also sticker books, again they are great as they stick to things, unfortunately not always to what they are meant to!! Also a friend gave me an eye-spy book, we all spent the nours trying to find various vehicles, my 2 are still a bit too young for the game but the book gave that extra help as we were looking for things. Hope that helps a bit. Good-luck.

Thanks again Binn - have only just found your post! No, haven't come accorss the magnetic books, but they sound ideal. Do you know where you can get them? Will definately do the sticker book thing - they love those! Will also look out for eye spy books, that should keep them amused for a while anyway!!
Have been ill for a few days (nothing to do with boobs for a change), so haven't checked all threads I'd posted on! Feeling better today though and ds2 is sleeping better too at night which is great. Waking up 6ish now. Last feed 11.30ish. He has another appointment tomorrow with the co so will keep you posted. Seems to help him so that's a good enough reason to chuck money at them! Thanks for tips.