Sore nipples

[icecuube]

My dd is 4 days old. We have got off to a good start with feeding and I've no concerns with her latch. Midwives have confirmed that she is feeding well.

But my nipples are SO SORE. Every feed is painful since her very first go. I'm using lansinoh constantly which does help a little.

Any suggestions about how I can get some relief from the pain? I have tried nipple guards but they didn't help much and dd struggled to get milk from me with this.

Im starting to think about expressing but wasn't sure if it was to early for this.

Poor you, I remember the soreness from DS1. Turned out after a few days he had thrush, and later found he had a tongue tie.

Lansinoh worked OK for me, as well as breast milk on the nipples after feed and letting boobs hang out lol, I literally couldn't stand having any fabric on some days due to the soreness and would walk around the house with boobs out.

It WILL get better, you're doing great! Keep checking that latch though and if it persists has baby been checked for tongue tie?

I also tried nipple shields but they didn't work for us either, I did use a pump quite early on to give the really sore boob "a rest", it's never too early to express but having baby on the boob is much better for building up your supply as pumps aren't very efficient compared to babies.

Have you talked to breastfeeding support?

@MoHunter thanks for replying. I've spoken to a breastfeeding helpline this afternoon and talked through the positions I'm using etc. Feeling a bit better after talking it through and getting reassurance that I'm doing ok. She suggested that I get dd checked for tongue tie, I've left a message for lactation consultant so hoping I can get that looked into quite quickly.

Can I ask how early you began expressing? Thinking about buying a pump tomorrow but worried it's to early. I'm not sure how much longer I can keep putting up with this pain though.

I can't remember the exact timing, it may have been at around 2 weeks (after thrush had cleared and things still weren't improving). But technically you can start any day - I did find in those early days I got very little milk out of the boob via pump so it felt frustrating to pump for 20-30 minutes and getting barely 1 ounce of milk out...
I do believe most of the soreness was due to DS1 having a posterior tongue tie / bad latch, DS2 has been breastfed with no soreness whatsoever...
That said most mums I know have had soreness to varying degrees in the early days, they always say breastfeeding isn't supposed to hurt but tell that to the newborns!!

I started expressing at a week because of the pain.

Are you using breast pads? I use the lansinoh ones which are fine, but I used the Tesco ones for a short while and they made my nipples so sore. Collection shells are quite good for popping on in between feeds as well just to stop anything rubbing on your nipple.

@Spam88 did you then exclusively express or combi feed?

I'm going to get a pump tomorrow, I really can't bare it. I'm so disappointed with myself only 5 days in

The plan was to switch to expressing only, but I found that by giving a few bottle feeds it gave my nipples a bit of fine to recover and at 8 weeks I'm still breastfeeding and just giving the occasional bottle. It's been hard going though and I couldn't have done it without all the support from the hospital.

Please please don't be disappointed if you're not able to continue with breastfeeding though OP. Your baby needs a happy mummy, there's no sense in making yourself suffer

I'm so sorry you have the pain, my baby daughter had a severe tongue tie and it was agony. I started to combination feed due to this (it's not fixed) and continue to combi feed as its very liberating (I can have the odd drink and go out without her yay!).

In addition to Lansinoh I also used MultiMam compresses, I actually cut each one in half as that's enough for each nipple. These saved my sanity pre tongue tie! Utterly amazing....

www.boots.com/multi-mam-compresses-1-x-12-pack-10078094

We also introduced one bottle feed per day with formula to give my nips a rest too (which doing so early on meant she easily switched between boob and bottle). I didn't do expressed milk for the bottle feed as it takes bloody ages to get enough anyway and thats just soul destroying.

I was a bit anti formula (which I feel terrible for now) pre-baby but I'm a convert. Combination feeding works amazing for me and I'm so much happier for it.

Best of luck but do get the check for tongue tie as suggested above!

*its NOW fixed

Kamillosan is good, I found, also nipple shields when it was agony, and really shoving them onto latch so that that it;s as far back as possible - wait for them to open their mouth and then shove!. Some positioning of the baby advice helped too, but I can't remember the details now. It can be agony for a couple of weeks but gets easier x

Lansinoh, good quality coconut oil and nipple shields...a combo of the 3 helped me.

Good luck
xxx

Thanks to everyone who has replied. I've seen a infant feeding specialist this afternoon who found a small tongue tie in dd.

She observed me feed and identified a couple of issues with the latching. She couldn't say whether the tongue tie would be contributing to my discomfort as I was in pain even with an improved latch.

Been advised to use a breast pump for the next few days to give my nipples chance to recover and to give me a break as have been very teary about this. I'm feeling like a weight has been lifted for now at least x

This may no longer be advised but years ago when I bf we used big cabbage leaves - the darker the better - put them on in between feeds - cabbage leaves are shaped to fit boobs weirdly enough - I found it worked.

[could've eaten the cabbage after - it was almost cooked]

Silver nipple shields!
They are amazing.
I had terrible cracked nipple with my first two dc, bleeding, scabs, agony for weeks.
Third time around I discovered these - healing, soothing, brilliant things. Can be passed on too...
I know that they are quite pricey, but worth every penny imo

Silverette Nursing Cups - Soothing Sore Breasts or Cracked Nipples with Silver https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00D4MWKNQ/ref=cmswwrcppapi_O1GCzbRME03KS

Icecube Just wanted to say that I felt exactly like you on days 4 and 5; tearful, in pain, ready to give up! All I can say is, it did get better. People kept saying it shouldn't hurt but in my experience even when there were no issues it was painful at first but by week 2/3 we'd got the hang of it. Keep asking for advice, go to baby groups with lactation consultants, use the helplines etc like you are. Expressing so you can heal is a good idea - it can be hard work though to express enough and look after a newborn! You might need someone else to do everything else so you can express enough.
I'm still feeding DS at 5 months old even though I felt like giving up any number of times in the early days. It's easy now (apart from when he gets distracted and tries to look around while feeding! ) Good luck! And Congratulations!