I have a week old breast fed baby. My nipples are a mess! Cracked, bleeding and sore. I've tried lansinoh, air drying, expressing milk onto nipple, but they are still sore. I now have to use medela shields for most feeds to help with the pain. I have seen 3 midwives who say my latch is fine, I'm doing fine, here's a few more samples of lansinoh, more unhelpful platitudes. I found a couple of hydrogel pads and put them on this morning. However, with the last feed there was fresh red blood coming out on latching, so I'm worried they are doing more harm than good.
Has anyone used the hydrogel pads? Are they worth persevering with? Any other suggestions? I should be enjoying my beautiful baby, but this is miserable!