Painful breastfeeding

[Vmama]

hello ive been struggling to bfeed my 3 wk old son since day 1 things seemed to be getting better then have just had another day of excruciating pain when he latches on -am scared before every feed now. Really don't want to give up tho think thats just my fear of failure.

he is putting on plenty of weighht and seems fine but im often in tears during feeds

have hads lac cons round and she thought latch was fine but sometimes he just seems so aggressive and fussy partic on right breast

please tell me this will stop? also if i do decide to give up is there a time whem i will hav done him some good?
and what about mixed feeding to give my poor boobs a break? i already express enough 4 a bottle at night

thanks everyone i intend to keep going -when im ok it feels fine and i don't want to stop its just hard to keep perspective when it gets so painful

am going to express more off my right breast (the most painful one) as it feels really hard and lumpy at the mo and i think i missed two feeds off that one which explains that

im prepared to tolerate a certain amount of pain but can't cope when it brings tears to my eyes every time

fingers crossed it gets better

i'd recommend Lansinoh cream for your cracked nipples - works a treat and quickly (sorts cracked heels out a treat too).

Ooooh, hun, I sooo sympathise with you! I've been there - do try to keep going, because when you turn that corner it really is so easy.

And nappies of bf babies are much better that formula fed ones!

Hang on in there x

Hi Vmama

I have a 5 week old DS and am so glad I read your thread - I have v similar problem and am trying to decide whether to switch to formula. I really want to carry on bf but when DS latches on, it hurts like hell - feels like he's biting me. Really excrutiating pain, but then once he's on and feeding, the rest of the feed is painless, no trouble at all. Have had midwife & HV check latch & it looks OK, plus he's gaining weight like billy-o, so he's happy at least. Have read loads about this and have seen references to "barracuda babies" - ones with exceptionally hard bites/ sucking. It doesn't help that he flails his arms around - think he's trying to grab the breast & bring it closer, but his hand gets in the way & makes it difficult to see what his mouth is doing... Tried wrapping him but he goes nuts!
My nipples are also cracked & very sore, MW gave me Jelinoh which I'm using but not sure it's making any difference. Have bought Lansinoh based on recommendations here, haven't tried it yet but am looking forward to hoped-for effects!
My plan of action is to try to get BF counsellor to have a look just to make sure latch is OK, perservere to 6 weeks & see how I feel. Like you, was starting to be afraid of feeding because of how much it hurt, but funnily enough last 24 hours have been much more bearable. Am encouraged by everyone saying on here that it does get better, am hoping that if I can get to 6 weeks we can turn the corner & carry on.
Fingers crossed. Hardest thing I think is if I do switch, not feeling guilty.

Have you tried seeing a bf counsellor/LC more than once? Sounds obvious but I went back for several appointments - "it still isn't working" sort of thing - until I got my DD feeding better. Worked out that my let down was very fast and DD was 'clamping' onto the end of my nipple to control the flow. Once I understood this it made it easier to work with her to correct the attachment. It does take perseverance I've found!

Vmama - when I was having pain problems the bf counsellor suggested expressing for a couple of days or so just to give myself a break - I was so relieved when she said this! (unfortunately I could never get much milk expressing, but if you can it may be worth a try - if the alternative is stopping breastfeeding, and you want to carry on).

I second everyone else - try Lansinoh after every feed - it is amazing (boots, mothercare, etc) keeps your nipples moist - don't let they get too dry

I would also try to get to a local support group to boost your morale - it can get you really low when you have pain and no one around to check you physically, can't it ? Gosh I used to get so stressed and worried when things didn't go to plan.

I am a big advocate of Baby Cafes and La Leche League meetings. Would you like their details Vmama - they will encourage you and suport you and always check latch, etc.

Good luck, it DOES get better, you just need some support

Hi,

I'm bf 3 week old dd2 and have only been pain free for the past 2 or 3 days.

1st I had a cracked nipple, only a small crack though. I healed it by changing bf position from cuddle hold to rugby ball hold, applying Lansinoh after every feed and using a breast shell for 40 mins after every feed. This keeps the skin moist and allows it to heal.

I was still getting pain after that, it felt like dd was either chomping on my nipples or sort of letting go of the nipple and then slurping it back in - ouch. I have a fast let down which causes dd to recoil or bite down in an attempt to slow down the flow. We've overcome it by feeding with me in a reclining position so gravity works against the flow of milk.

i got all the above advice from kellymom, can't recommend it highly enough! Have a browse, even if the above doesn't work or isn't applicable to you then I'm sure you'll find lots of helpful advice on there.

Oh ProfYaffle - you are so right. Kellymom is a godsend.

Thanks everyone -have been doing every feed from left breast to give right nipple a break and expressing right breast when i was due to feed from that side. Am exhausted now and lft nipple starting to hurt too so am thinking of using some of the EBM to give a couple of feeds by bottle. He always has one bottle of EBM at night but am worried that I'll confuse him by giving more than one feed by bottle -any thoughts on this?

he's also been really fussy and wanting to be fed every 2 hours today instead of every 3 -could this be because only feeding off left? Or could it be a growth spurt he's 3 weeks 4 days?

Vmama - not sure re the fussier feeding - but they do go through phases anyway.

Also not sure re the confusion thing. But you do need to consider yourself as well as your baby. Have you tried contacting any counsellors again?

Vmama - I've had two boys who both were barracudas (one was born last week! ) and a girl who was much gentler...

I use ibuprofen for short periods when it gets very bad - take it 30 mins before feed is due (but obviously, don't overdose! ), also apply vaseline after each feed which really helps nips heal and stops the cracking. Agree with someone earlier who said don't be afraid to take baby off and relatch. I have to do this 4/5 times each time I feed my newborn DS.

Also, if the pain doesn't subside after about 30 seconds, it means the latch is wrong. Even on a sore nipple, the pain should subside. I sometimes manage to stuff a bit more areola in once he's latched, or sometimes have to gently take him off and start again.

Also, express when it gets bad - My newborn had a couple of days last week of expressed milk and occassional formula to give me some relief and at when I tried to put him back on the breast he refused to go on (my stress levels rise...) so the following day I turned the heating up, undressed him to his nappy and fed him topless. After a skin to skin cuddle for a few minutes he found the breast himself. TBH I found it mush more relaxing to feed skin to skin as I didn't have to juggle with his clothes, flailing arms,gasping mouth etc - just felt a lot more relaxed.

How are things now Vmama? Thankfully my problems seems to have sorted themselves out, so I wanted to leave a post to say there is light at the end of the tunnel!
I went to a bf support group and they said that my latch was definitely wrong - basically DS was chewing my nipples, even though he appeared to have all the areola in his mouth. They showed me the correct position, but I found it really hard to implement - he was 7 weeks old by then and a bit stuck in his ways! By that evening, when I was still in pain every time & couldn't get him to pause & latch on properly, I was in tears & determined to hang it all & switch to formula. We got Hipps Organic (small gesture towards doing the "right" thing) and started him on 2 bottles in every 24 hours, so I wouldn't get too engorged. As soon as we did that, the pain when he latched on seemed to subside - maybe I just relaxed a bit. I also tried hard every time to get him to latch on properly, knowing that even if I switched to formula completely it would take a few weeks. However it's worked so well since that I haven't increased the formula, we've just held it steady at 2 bottles a day and he's still having at least 6 feeds from me, on demand. The combination is working really well. He tends to have a bottle at lunchtime and another last thing at night, he's still waking twice in the night to be fed and I put him on the breast then to save fussing with formula in the dark. I think we'll carry on like this until weaning (which will have to be at 4-6 months because I'm going back to work full time and basically I don't want to leak!).
The other thing that has helped is that my cracked nipples have healed - they took ages but have got there.
Now that bf is comfortable, I'm really enjoying it and I'm so glad I stuck with it even when it was really painful.
The combination won't work for everyone but basically I'm glad I've found a solution that works for us.