Day 3 breastfeeding failure

[Moorelewis]

I feel so distraught just writing this. I had a breast reduction many years ago and with my first child who never latched, I had to express milk and never managed a full supply. Baby was born Thursday and latched immediately. However pretty much fed constantly and didn't settle. I perservered on the advice of midwives who all said latch was great etc. Now my nipples are in agony, I feel like I'm being stabbed with knives and the skin has come off the tips of my nipples. I simply cannot tolerate her feeding at the breast at all. I've tried lanisoh before and after but it's not helping. I'm in agony. Baby was so sleepy and unsettled that I had to introduce formula. So midwives told me to breast feed, Express then feed the expressed milk and top up with formula. However I just cannot breast feed. It is unbearable. I'm just expressing and topping up. I feel gutted as I wanted to breastfeed more than anything. I said I'd never do the whole expressing thing again after dc1 as it was exhausting. I'm at a loss what to do.

OP could you have nipple thrush? I've had it and it feels like someone is pulling shards of glass out of your breasts through your nipples. Wouldn't wish it on anyone.

I remember breast feeding being really painful with DD2, not sure why. I did manage to carry on and it eased up but I was on the verge of stopping. If it's that bad then maybe be kind to yourself and accept that you tried but it didn't work. I know that's easier said than done though.

Could be thrush? It’s absolutely agony and exactly as you describe. You need tablets to clear it up.
Have you tried nipple shields? There’s also some silver stuff or pads you can get that are apparently great.
I had feeding issues with both mine. With DS I just didn’t have enough milk so I topped up but supply did increase and we were fine after a few weeks.

Thanks everyone I'll ask midwife tomorrow about thrush. I'm tolerating her on the breast now so trying to build it back up. I've got some nipple shields coming today too! She just seems to fall asleep on the breast. I'm not sure she's getting anything from me, except comfort.

@Moorelewis just a word of warning...a lot of people dismiss breast/nipple thrush if there's no visible thrush in baby's mouth so you may have to be a bit firm. From what you're saying, it does sound like thrush (believe me it's the most painful thing I've ever experienced). My GP was pretty useless and I had to ask a private doctor specialising in BFing for the meds. The meds cleared it up in a couple of days. Good luck whatever it is, hope you get to the bottom of it.

I say this on a lot of threads, but it's because so many people haven't heard of them and I've had a lot of women tell me they wished they had when they were struggling.

Have you heard of an SNS? You're able to feed your baby the expressed milk or formula at the same time as breastfeeding. That will help stop her falling asleep on the breast if she's getting too tired sucking, it will help provide your breasts with extra stimulation to increase your supply, avoids bottle preference and decreases the time that you're breastfeeding-pumping-bottle feeding. It's a bit fiddly to start with, but it can be incredibly helpful. You can make one yourself with a feeding tube and any bottle, or medela sell one on Amazon. That's what I use, and DS is nearly 6 months now (I have low supply that isn't able to be increased so we've used it since a week old)

You could ask the infant feeding team or an IBCLC near you for help with it.

Congratulations!!

I had this - I used nipple shields for a month which were a godsend, totally pain free though they can restrict how much milk baby gets so feeds can be longer.

It was again painful when I stopped using them but after 5 days or they seemed to toughen up and it stopped and we BF to 18 months

Our BF start was hard, I persevered because 1. neither of us was overly upset, it was just painful for me, 2. I wanted the long term convenience.

However, if feeding became a full battle, if tears for me became a thing I would have moved to formula in an instant because fed is best and I do not believe an unhappy breastfeeding mum is the way to go.

What I’m saying is if you are happy to continue trying then do so. But if it has become too much it is ok to stop.

Ask to be referred to your local infant feeding team so they can check the latch properly - if that isn't right it'll cause damage and be really painful. Normal midwives/HVs might think it looks ok but aren't generally as knowledgeable.

Oh OP

Please look up an IBCLC (certified lactation consultant) near you - they are SO knowledgeable and helpful! They are in a completely different league to hospital feeding advisors and midwives ime. Good luck, I really hope you can get help.