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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Original poster

Looking for positive stories - injured nip recovery with continued breastfeeding?

31 replies

TheBlonde · 08/05/2007 19:24

I'm looking for positive stories

Has anyone survived badly injured nipple and managed to continue breastfeeding?

How long did nipple recovery take?

OP posts:
LoobyLo · 08/05/2007 19:32

My little one bit my nipple on a few occasions, but it seemed to be a phase she was going through when she began getting teeth. After the reaction she got from me (I pushed towards my breast and then said no) she hasn't bit me again. That was around three months ago. Hope this helps a bit!
Loobylou

lyndyloo · 08/05/2007 20:16

Due to a bad latch ended up with a hole in my nip which oozed white pus! Had to stop feeding for a week and only express. It scabbed over (nice) after a few days and I was back feeding (this time with a better latch!) after a week.

HTH

shonaspurtle · 08/05/2007 20:22

I had revolting nips due to latch problems and they did heal and I'm still bf almost 6 months on.

At their worst I was expressing but was feeding directly with damaged nipples for most of the first six weeks.

I've heard very good things about the silver healing products so might be worth a try to speed things up. The usual suspects, Lansinoh etc, did the job for me eventually. As long as the reason for the damage is corrected then it doesn't take too long (a week or so). Even if like me, the problem is ongoing your nips do toughen up.

I had an infection on one side which slowed healing down so if things are a bit oozy/crusty and just not getting better it would be worth getting a swab done.

Hang in there!

Lizzer · 08/05/2007 20:41

I had really bad ones for 6 weeks and had to express on one side it was hell, carried on for 12 months though and v proud of it that was 7 yrs ago. Recently my cousin began to exerience the same and I got her the silver pads from here and they worked a treat. Now planning on bf no.2, due in dec and going to buy the silverettes for definite. Good luck TheBlonde (btw, I'm naturally blonde too and v pale nipples, think this makes it worse)

Original poster
TheBlonde · 08/05/2007 21:29

Thanks
I can't express as that just makes the gash worse

OP posts:
danceswithbaby · 08/05/2007 21:42

I had cracked, bleeding nips from about the 2nd day of feeding. DD latched fine, trouble was, she wouldn't unlatch. Little bugger was on for an hour or more sometimes. Then again. 20 minutes later. I think the highlight was when she posseted up all the blood she'd swallowed. I couldn't express enough for a feed, god, I'll never forget the pain of her latching on. I used to say to myself "I'll give it one more week...." Then the next week I'd say the same thing. It started getting better about 8 weeks.

Even now, 15 months in, the left side isn't too comfortable sometimes. I'll be going a while yet though, she still feeds like most people's newborns going 3 hours between feeds, max. Nights included

danceswithbaby · 08/05/2007 21:49

Oops! Just noticed you wanted positive stories!

It was all worth it (honest!). I was someone who didn't want to b/f at all and only tried it because I knew it was best for baby. 15 months now and I'm passionate about it

Hang in there, it'll get better x

auntyspan · 08/05/2007 22:04

I had extremely bad nipple injuries with DD, she had a very powerful suck and I was in agony. I knew it was bad when she broke off and all this blood came out of her mouth. I was panicking she'd hurt herself!

I used nipple shields for a week. My HV was most dismissive of them but they saved me, otherwise I would've gone onto FF as it was so very painful.

I then continued to BF until I went back to work. It was painful even through the shields, and took a couple of goes to get the hang of using them, but totally worth it.

Keep at it. It gets better x

morocco · 08/05/2007 22:10

hiya theblonde
I know you've been suffering for a while now - have you had the latch checked out/sure it's not thrush etc?
with dd this time I had awful cracked nips for 3 weeks, scabs, raw bits etc, real mess. did all the usual stuff with lanisoh etc which did work wonders but I had to get very tough on the latch. it hurt every time she latched on but if it kept hurting afterwards I had to take her off and reattach - repeatedly - until it didn't hurt during the feed itself
after that, they did heal very quickly

shonaspurtle · 08/05/2007 22:49

Have you had a go at hand expressing? I never got on with it as well as a pump but I know people who have exclusively expressed that way. You can get quite clear instructions if you Google. I found it helped to use a large container like a pint glass (not that I was getting that much milk!) and watch what I was doing in a mirror to start with.

The huge advantage of hand expressing to someone in your position is that it doesn't pull on your nipples like a pump.

They really will heal even if the crack keeps opening. It just doesn't feel like that at the time. God knows I was in despair! I actually have quite a strange bit on my right side where a crack healed over open...

Adorabelle · 08/05/2007 23:07

Couldn't agree more with shonaspurple.

My dd is now 3 yrs old & we are still having morning & afternoon b.feeds but the first 6 weeks were HELL.

To keep going with the feeding is hard & I felt like giving up so many times but the benefits of continuing are countless.

Hand expressing was what worked for my bleeding cracked nipples, also lots of 'No Bra' time too.

Keep going it does get easier, your LO will learn how to latch on properly just as you will learn to latch him on in the right position. Good Luck x

Twiga · 08/05/2007 23:16

Not my own experience, but a very close pal had horrendous damage to both nipples due to bad latch, lack of help etc - also infection on top of this for which she needed a-bs. She ended up expressing for the best part of the first three months or so, then found a mw who offered to visit her at home and sit with her until latch sorted. Was very nervous about going back to directly feeding given the pain she's had previously but it worked and she stopped feeding about a month ago due to pg reducing her milk supply and her dd rejecting due to the change in taste - her dd was 14 months when she stopped bf. I think the key to her sucess apart from the lovely mw was pure stubborness and determination that no matter what she'd bf even if she had to express for the fore-seeable. Really hope that things improve for you and that bf becomes a happier experience very soon. One other thought - if you end up treating for thrush, if indeed that's part of the trouble, make sure that baby is treated too as otherwise you'll end up passing it back and forth mouth to nipple and so on. All the very best with this x

vesela · 09/05/2007 14:42

I had a gash on the side of my nipple - I breastfed through it (there seemed no other option, since pumping wasn't any better) and it healed in about 2-3 weeks. That sounds a long time, but the pain decreased over that time so although I was in agony at first, it gradually got less. I used Avent nipple cream, which has lanolin in it.

Now I can't tell the difference (in terms of feeling) between the left and the right sides. (You can still see the gash, but it's kind of healed under it.) I'm finding I really enjoy breastfeeding. It's fantastic to be able to look forward to it, even, rather than getting that sinking feeling when it's time to feed.

Original poster
TheBlonde · 09/05/2007 15:58

Thanks folks
I am seeing the BFC again tomorrow to try and improve the latch

OP posts:
Original poster
TheBlonde · 11/05/2007 18:15

bump

OP posts:
lyndyloo · 11/05/2007 20:23

Did you see the BFC again? Hows it going now?

Original poster
TheBlonde · 11/05/2007 20:32

BFC reckons the latch is not too bad
Told me to stop using the daktarin and use kamillosan or similar instead
She referred me to the skin clinic who I saw today. The nurse practicioner simply said it won't heal unless I stop feeding

OP posts:
sazzybee · 11/05/2007 21:04

How useless of the skin clinic!

I had (well still have in that you can still see where it was - scarred for life!) a really badly cracked nipple because of a poor latch in the early days. I wore a nipple shield during feeding (I can go and find what make they were - as I also got some avent ones and they were useless as not soft enough) and put lansinoh on religiously before and after every feed. I also allowed it to air between feeds and I think it was the airing that really healed it.

It did take a while though - it's only in the last week or so that it feels properly healed and DS is 8 weeks old.

Original poster
TheBlonde · 11/05/2007 21:22

Thanks Sazzy, I tried some shields but couldn't work out how to latch the baby on with it on

OP posts:
whomovedmychocolate · 11/05/2007 21:23

I lost a big chunk of my right nipple thanks to crappy latch during the first two weeks. But once I fixed the latch, it repaired (with lots of Kamilosan) in about a week.

ILoveDolly · 11/05/2007 21:30

yeah my nip nearly sheared off after biting/cracks/baby pullling on it. and i had mastitis. that was a nice week. but i got over it and went on to bf for a very happy 12 months after that.

ILoveDolly · 11/05/2007 21:32

ho hum forgot to add - did not stop feeding from it, even when it was bleeding (well i stopped WHILE it was bleeding ) just used lots of lansinoh and wept a little. i suppose it took a few weeks at least to stop hurting.

morocco · 11/05/2007 21:40

hmmm. doesnt sound like nurse was too helpful. the leaflet with the lanisoh says that it is for 'wet wound healing' or something like that ie allowing wounds to heal without scabbing, so i guess that means it can heal while feeding? did the lll woman make any suggestions about not feeding/expressing from that breast? or maybe offering it as the second breast so baby sucks less hard or something> (that's what I would do but I'm not a trained bf counsellor so who knows if it's the 'right' thing to do). I'm really sorry it's taking so long for this to heal.

sazzybee · 11/05/2007 21:40

What brand of nipple shield did you use? The ones that I found were good were really thin silicone. Having said that, you can't really get the latch right with them. But they stopped me crying (and having to bite really hard on the dummy and shout f**k every time he latched on)

fishie · 11/05/2007 21:42

poor theblonde, it is an absolute nightmare and can really take over your whole life. can't remember whether i linked this on one of your earlier threads useful info

i had terrible atrocious nipple trauma, there is still a bit missing. in my case the latch wasn't really the problem, but ds just didn't have a big enough mouth and i had flat nips, so it got much better as he grew and i am still feeding two years on. i do remember that the last scab came off the day he was 6 months, but feeding had been fine for at least six weeks before that.

not sure of the nature of your injury, but i don't think it matters too much if your baby gets some blood in with the milk, at the time i did obsess about that which was silly.