Cracked and bleeding nipples please help

[Leftie624]

DS is 5 weeks old, been breastfeeding with no problems until the past couple of days. My nipple is cracked and bleeding on one side and it’s so painful when he latches onI’m seeing a peer supporter from our local breastfeeding support team on Monday morning but until then does anyone have any advice/hints to get me through the weekend?

I’m Starting to dread feeding him because of the pain. He was born at 36 weeks and spent 6 days on NICU and it took 3 days to get him feeding. I’m assuming that the pain and nipple damage is due to a problem with the latch. I’ve been alternating the holds we use and this has helped a bit.

I’m using Lanisoh cream& I’ve ordered some hydrotherapy gel things off Amazon. I’m reluctant to try a nipple shield as I had to use them with my older son and it killed off my supply.

I had an awful time trying to breastfeed my older son and he was bottle fed from 3 weeks...I really don’t want to give up now. But I’m struggling. I’ve read on here to not give up on a bad day. Any suggestions would be welcome!

Hi OP I had this. Do you have a breast pump? I would recommend using a pump on that side for a few days to allow nipple to heal. It’s time consuming I know but will really help. Go to GP if any sign of infection at all.
I found that Lansinoh didn’t help at all for me though I know some swear by it. I found that just giving the nipple fresh air helped a lot (plus antibiotics as it got infected for me).
Keep going - it does get easier I promise. X

Also if you can afford it go to a lactation consultant. Best money I spent with my ds.

Thank you :) we’ve made it to tonight still feeding and my nipple is a lot better. I’ve rested it as much as I can and expressed on the bad side which has helped a lot. Although it’s not completely healed I can still feed from that side & it’s a lot more bearable.

After a really rough night on Friday (DS cluster fed till about 3am) I managed to get hold of a Lactation consultant who checked my latch via pictures and a video - one side is good the other one isn’t which would fit with only one side being damaged.

The hydrogel pads arrived on Saturday and they have been amazing at helping the healing.

I’ve concentrated really really hard on latching him on I think I had got a bit complacent with it over the weeks.

DS picked a great weekend for a growth spurt!!! Thankfully I had one pain free side to get us through that.

Thank you for your help it’s good to hear that it does get easier x

@leftie624 so glad things are better, sounds like you're determined and that's half the battle imo.
Id also recommend the flipple technique.... It takes a bit of practice and you might hve to unlatch and keep trying but it helped me sooooo much and I'm on baby number three so experienced but all babies re different and we learn together.
Good luck!

Oh and mine is 8 weeks now and feeds like a dream, I had pain from to 5 weeks, not horrendous but uncomfortable. He did have a tongue tie snipped which helped but the biggest difference was with positioning and latch and the flipple helped alot.

@Tootyfrooty35 I haven’t heard of the flipple technique i’ll Google it. I’m willing to try anything that will help! The breastfeeding peer supporter is coming out to see us later this morning as well.

All my friends who have/are breastfeeding have also had this problem.

Fingers crossed it gets completely sorted soon and we can get back to enjoying feeding.

Thank you both for your advice it’s much appreciated x

If it doesn't heal then I recommend Breast Angels silver nipple cups. My baby is 11 weeks and from 3 till about 8 weeks I had a huge crack in one nipple that I thought would never heal. I saw an improvement within 24 hours of using the silver cup, and within a fortnight it had healed entirely. It was definitely the Breast Angels cup that did it - no other variables were changed!! They cost £39.99 for a pair but were so worth it. You wear them between feeds with a couple of drops of breast milk inside.