Breastfeeding help needed - sorry lots of issues

[Clydesdaleclopper]

Sorry for the long post but I need lots of help.

My baby is 4 weeks old now. I gave up breastfeeding after 2 1/2 weeks for a number of reasons - excruciating pain, baby contining to lose weight, and total exhaustion. I continued to express 3 times a day and after a week reintroduced baby to the breast once my nipples had recovered but I'm not sure how to progress.

I'm still suffering from cracked and very tender nipples. My mw just said it was because I'm blonde and have sensitive nipples which wasn't exactly contstructive. I've tried Lansinoh but it doesn't seem to help. I've seen 2 bfc's before I gave up but I find it difficult to get him latched on correctly on my own. When he comes off the breast I have small white blisters on the end of my nipple.

I have gradually increased the number of times he goes on the breast each day and he is now going on at each feed before he gets his bottle of formula. My health visitor has said I won't be able to get a full supply to feed him. Is there anything I can do to increase the supply - bearing in mind the v. sore nipples?

Clydesdaleclopper, you poor thing it's horrible when you have sore nipples isn't it? It's really impressive that you want to start again though even with the pain, wow, what determination!

Just so you know, cracked and tender nipples have nothing to do with your hair colour, that's just a myth that your mw is perpetuating. Afaik, very sore nipples after the first few days are always a sign of poor attachment.

Have you tried letting your baby self-attach? Here is a video of how it can be done. Human babies like other mammal young can find the breast and self-attach - your baby may well know better than you how to attach himself.

It's still early days and you might well still be in time to be able to get a full supply to feed him. I certainly wouldn't take your HV's word for it, someone like a proper BFC would be much better placed to help you.

Fenugreek tablets are supposed to help build supply, afaik you take quite a large dose for about 24-48 hours and it increases your supply. Of course with supply and demand, once you get your baby's latch sorted, putting your baby to the breast as often as possible will ensure a full supply. Are you able to take a day or two to put absolutely everything else on hold and just go to bed with your baby and have a feed-a-thon?

Also have you considered cup feeding your baby's supplemental feeds, so he doesn't get addicted to the faster flow from the bottle and refuse the breast, or even investing in one of those tube things that comes down to your breast, don't know what it's called but someone on here will do, so that baby gets all his food at the breast?

Just a few ideas, good luck to you and I am sure someone who knows much more than me will be able to give you some good advice... I would deffo recommend calling a BFC from the LL League or NCT or an organisation like that!

You really need to ditch the bottles and feed feed feed as much as possible. Loads of skin to skin. Eat porridge to help increase supply. With regards to sore nipples. Get yourself a pair of silverette they will have you healed In no time. Also contact the supporter lines for furthes help. I will add some links later for you as i am mobile at moment. You have done fantastic to get this far. Well done

Another thing to try re: letting baby self-attach is co-bathing like the Mum in the video you just take your baby into a warm bath with you, put him on your chest and let him find his own way and attach himself.

Anyway have to go as my own ds now six months is waking up!!

The one thing no-one ever tells you before you have a baby is that breastfeeding hurts like hell for the first two weeks at least, whether they're improperly or properly latched. Cracks you also, in my experience, can get whether or not. If you can get past the first toe-curling few weeks, breast feeding becomes a lot easier and enjoyable than bottle-feeding. I speak as one who has fed for a total of 5 years over 3 years.

Do you have a La Leche League or NCT branch counsellor nearby? From my possibly outdated experience they are very willing to do housecalls.

If your baby is normal weight and is not yet too confused, it should be relatively straightforward to bring him back to bfeeding, but you may have a rough few days. I second what the others have said. Some adoptive mothers have been known to lactate without having given birth, even after the baby has been bottle fed for months. The milk supply increases the more you feed. It may well not be easy, but you sound determined.

Good luck. It is possible. You may suffer a little in the short term, but it won't always be like this.

"over three babies * dammit.

Well done for carrying on. It's wretched when your nipples are so sore - I remember it well. I would like to echo Psychobabble, in that after 5 weeks of hideously painful feeding it was the teeniest change to my latch that made all the difference. Every health visitor, BFC, midwife, Tom, Dick and Harry who I saw told me my latch was fine and then just as I was dispairing, one midwife spotted something amiss and helped me to fix it. Keep on asking for help until you can feed pain free!

I was so glad I got there in the end though, and ony reluctantly gave up when dd self weaned at 13 months. Breast feeding can be gentle and warm and snuggly and lovely - I hope you get there soon.

duchesse - it is absolutely not true that bf always hurts. Please ditch that myth. We don't know everything there is to know about soreness, but we do know that poor attachment can damage the nipples and that is what can cause pain. I know people will say the baby was latched on ok and it still hurt.....but the only way skin will break is if there is some sort of damage to it.

Chopper, it's shocking your midwife is perpetuating the stupidity that hair colour has anything to do with it

Has anyone checked for tongue tie?

Mossy's suggestions are good.

You can bring back your milk (boo to your gloomy HV) but you will need to work at it day and night....the good news is you never really stopped bf ('cos you expressed) and it was only about 10 days ago

tiktok- I do not know of ANYBODY, and I speak as one whose thee babies were born into a particularly crunchy, virtually 100% breastfeeding NCT area who did not feel at least discomfort for the first few weeks. I would like to issue with people who say that if you are in pain then obviously the baby is latched on wrongly, or something is not right. I believe that many feeding problems are merely learning curve problems, as the baby tries to work the best way to feed efficiently. I do not think it useful to tell other women that it never hurts, as it is more likely to make them feel like a bloody failure and hence to give up.

I fed my first child for 14 months, second for 17 months, and third for 23 months, and with each one, but especially for the first, it was sore for the first few weeks, at times very sore. I would love to meet these women who are not in the slightest bit sore at least for the first few days of having a human vacuum pump attached to the same bit of skin for 14 hours a day, I really would. I've never met any.

The point is, it doesn't last. You get through the first few weeks/ days and it gets better. A lot better.

Hair colour ????????????? omg!!

Mossy those videos are wonderful

I'm currently breastfeeding my 6th baby. I have always found it an easy thing to do, luckily.

EVERYTIME I have started to feed my newborns, and I mean EVERYTIME, I have had sore and cracked nipples for about a week or two.

There is nothing wrong with my latch

I have a theory that it just takes time for the nipples to 'toughen up' and once they've got used to being sucked on things are usually fine,

For me, the first 2-4wks (a bit longer for one baby) has consisted of getting through the toe-curling stage and varying degrees of cracked/bleeding/blistered nipples. It does ease off as long as you persevere and rest a side if it's particularly bad. So I have to agree with duchesse that regardless of latch it can still be a painful experience. I do agree with tiktok, though, that that's not the case for everyone.
The more you put your baby to the breast the more experienced they get at feeding. So, I think that it's something you have to persevere at. As others have said get an experienced bf counsellor to check the latch and at least rule that out. After that I think it's a case of giving it time to settle.

Agree with your theory, Kittywitch. Definitely true for me.

I have never said it 'never' hurts, and I have never said if it hurts it 'always' means the baby is not attached properly.

I have experience of hundreds and hundreds of bf women with problems (I am a breastfeeding counsellor) - many of them were sore, true, and that's why they contacted me. But many were not - they had other issues. I have also come across many women who breastfed and who didn't contact me with problems. Many of them were sore, too, and many of them were not.

I have come across many women who have been told the baby is well attached, and he only looks as though he is.

Please don't generalise out of your own experience, or that of your friends to say it 'always' hurts. Poppycock.

Soreness is common, but it is not compulsory

I was sore feeding my first, but that was due to learning what was a good latch and knowing when to stop when it was a bad one. I was not sore for long though, days not weeks. With dd2 it was a bit uncomfortable on the first feed, but fine after that. Sorry, not constructive for the OP but proof that it does not hurt for every one.

Thanks for the replies. The soreness often continues even after he has come off the breast - even having my clothes touching my nipples can be pretty sore.

The other thing I forgot to mention in my first post that I could do with help about is a blocked duct. I had a bout of mastitis last week which has cleared up with antibiotics but I still have a hard lump in my breast. I've tried heat and massage but this hasn't made any difference.

I read on this one site that white blisters can be a sign of blocked ducts and that if they are 'popped' it releases the milk, let me see if I can find it.

Clydesdale the one thing that boosted my milk supply was to drink more. The bfc said I had to drink at least 2 litres a day and it really did make a huge difference. Feeding was seriously sore for me - much more sore than the C-Section. But I hung in and eventually the pain did go. But I never could express - am full of admiration for what you've done.

There are many different sites on this, some parenting forums, but this one gives you some idea here
Soreness could also be thrush, get you and baby checked out as if he's got oral thrush he'll pass it to you and you to him and it will be uncomfortable for him to feed as his mouth will be sore.

I kept a breast shell in my bra which stopped my clothes touching, also helped the air circulate. Made things more comfortable.
The solution to a blocked duct is to feed,feed,feed. Get the baby's chin in line with where the blockage is. This helps to drain that part of the breast.

Hi. Has anybody suggested nipple shields? I know some people think they are a bad idea but I used them when I was very cracked and bloody with my baby. One midwife was pro, one was anti. I used them every feed to start with until I healed a bit then I gradually cut down on the number of feeds that I used them for. I used them altogether for a month or so then didn't need them anymore. Might be worth a try?

Duchesse. Breastfeeding didn't hurt at all with either of my children.
Knackering, yes. Worring (at times), tick. But not painful, not one bit. And that's even with being a little worried that ds's latch was not ideal as was slightly tongue tied.
Obviously have nipples of steel!
Had sore boobs when was engorged, when milk came in. But that wasn't because of feeding - rahter the inability to get the stuff out quickly enough.

I have never found bf painful, beyond mild soreness after bouts of almost literally constant feeding with ds1. And I had terrible trouble (breast refusal etc.) with him at first.