PLEASE HELP ME WITH BF 3 DAY OLD - FEEL SO SORE AND TIRED

[Amani]

Merry Xmas everyone!

Am finding BF so much of a challenge and really would appreciate any advice and support...

I'm finding BF really tiring and painful. DD was born on Sat. First two days of BF were fine, then from Mon everytime I BF DD2, the first few sucks are sooo painful and thereafter it's ok. Is this normal?

To top it off it seems like she is permanatley on the breast. On Mon night she was on most of the time from 9pm to 3am and I hardly had any sleep and I have to admit that last night when the pattern started to repeat itself I gave in and gave DD2 formula (I felt so bad), but she slept for 3 hours straight (she usally goes 1.5 hrs then needs another feed). Today aswell it seems like she has been attached to the breast best part of the day. Feel so tired and nipples feel sore....I really want to give BF a good go, but it's sooooooo hard...Is any of this normal or am I doing something wrong?

Sounds like baby is not properly on, Give your midwife a call and have her watch you feed?
My son would NOT open his mouth after a few days of not attaching proplerly and ripped me to bits, A friend gave me a nipple shield to use for a few days, then when things are recovered every other feed try feeding without it, havent looked back!
Good luck it worth it!
Happy christmas!

someone will be along with some advice soon.
it is hard in the beginning but so worth it.
merry christmas and congratulations on your new baby x

This is totally normal. I found that it took a while for my nipples to get used to bf, but it can't hurt to get your latch checked by a bf counsellor or other bf expert - you can contact them via La Leche League or NCT. If your midwife is any good you coul ask her to have a look. Often is feeding is painful, it can be helped by improving the latch.

It is normal for your baby to be constantly feeding. Basically, if your baby is having plenty of wet and pooey nappies then all is ok. My baby used to go about 2 hours between bf, sometimes more, sometimes less. iirc feeds could last up to 40 minutes too! I think most babies go longer bewteen feeds eventually and feeding takes less time as they get better at taking in milk.

Well done you so far, good luck with continuing to bf. There is support out there, make sure you ask for it if and when you need it. I have done so + think it has made all the difference. I bf exclusively for 6 months and am continuing to bf whilst weaning hopefully for another 6 months.

Hi,

Firstly congratulations on the birth of your DD!

Afraid I'm no expert so can only tell you my experiences.

Unfortunately for most BF is tiring and painful in the early days but does improve-honest!. Every feed was painful to begin with for me like you have found but the nips seemed to get used to it and Lansinoh ointment helped as I got a bit raw.

My LO was often on for what seemed like hours, only found out on this site that its usually in order to get the supply going. I personally wouldnt critisise anyone for giving formula when very sleep deprived but if given regularly your supply wont match her demands.

Things should settle down but it could be helpful to speak to a breastfeeding counsellor/advice line if you are not getting advice from your midwives. The NCT one was very helpful for me even when all they did was reassure things were normal.

Sorry I dont have the number to hand.

Many people recommend BF lying down in bed so you can rest more. I had problems with DS latch etc so wasnt able to do this but seems to be highly recommended by many people on the site.

Did you BF your DD1?

Yes, it's totally normal, it hurts for some people and it doesn't necessarily mean they / or you are doing it wrong. Have you got some Lansinoh ( I think that's how you spell it) cream - use as often as poss.

I would give nipple shields a try - although dd1 couldnt get enough milk with them and then fed even more often.

Yes totally normal to be constantly feeding, don't worry, you seem to be doing fine.

It's SO hard at first, but it will be worth it in the end. Try to think of each feed as one feed closer to pain-free feeding (and it will be!)

Congrats on your Christmas baby. Good luck

Firstly congratulations on your dd2 and Merry Christmas!

Feeding so much is normal - she will be stimulating your milk supply to meet her needs. I know it's exhausting, but they have such small tummies at this age they can only take a small amount of milk at a time. Your sore nipples could be caused by a very slight problem with the latch - could you get someone to check the latch, a midwife or a bfing counsellor? Having said that, I personally found bfing gave me sorenipples for the first few days, even though I was doing everything right. It did get better very quickly.

Everything about a newborn is tiring at ths stage - you must be exhausted from the birth, added to that, your hormones will be all over the place. I promise, it does get better, it may just be worth checking he baby's latch.

Sounds pretty normal. It gets easier in time. For now I think the best thing is to try to rest and feed. There's nothing else you should be doing.

I've successfully bf all mine of mine and everytime it has been toe-curlingly painful initially. Lansinoh cream is great, Avent shells are great too.

It does get easier, but it takes time for you both to get used to it. Don't worry, and take it easy. Cosy up, gaze at your baby and feed, feed, feed. Good luck and Merry Christmas.

I personally found breast milk itself helped heal my sore nipples.

Oh, and check out Kellymom.com which is the most helpful bf website going. And Breastfeedingheaven is quite good if you need to buy anything.

The pain is prob from your let down - this will get better. The first few days are difficult but it gets a lot easier later on. Lots of good info here

www.kellymom.cpm

Hi Amani, it is normal, you are doing brill

It does tend to hurt for the first few sucks, for a week or two, then should start to settle. Really, don't panic!
Newborns do suckle an awful lot at first. They are basically trying to stimulate the prolactin hormone in you to produce milk - the milk coming in in a day or two will make it SO much easier! Honestly you will feel the difference - I take it your milk hasn't yet 'come in'? 3 or 4 days would be the usual time.
Once that happens she will not need to feed for so long, she will get all she needs - I know it's hard at first but please persever, it will be so worth it, you will forget the soreness very quickly, and please try to resist topping up with formula as it might mean you reduce your own supply by doing this.
Try not to do anything else for a few days, just lots of lying around if you can with her, also get your MW to check the latch is correct - it could be she has such a tiny little mouth, as do lots of newborns, that she isn't quite opening wide enough.

Please don't give up! It will be brilliant once you are established, it does take a few days to get the hang of it, for both of you xx

Take care
Lots of experts on here once Christmas busy time is over.

try again

www.kellymom.com

that should be 'all four of mine'. Must be the Christmas cheer [hic]

Hi and congratulations! I was exactly where you are last year - ds was born on the 22nd too!

It's hard to get support during the holiday season but I would really encourage you to try and get hold of a bfc to watch you feed - tiny adjustments can make an enormous difference to the latch.

As to feeding frequently, it's a good thing as it will get your supply established, so grin and bear it I'm afraid.

Good luck with it all, and do get some rl help.

Ladies I wonder if her milk just isn't in yet - that would explain a lot?

0845 120 2918 La Leche League
0870 444 8708 NCT breastfeeding helpline

Congrats on your new baby!

The bf counsellor I saw talked about the 10-second toe curl ... it's something to do with your let-down reflex establishing itself - as long as it's not painful for more than 10 seconds, then all should be fine with the latch ... if in doubt, though, go and seek out a bf counsellor - beware, not all MWs are trained bf counsellors ... which seems daft to me, but that's another soap-box!

I'm with flightattendant on this one. Every chance that your milk hasn't come in yet Amani, so she will be working hard just to get a bit of colostrum. This frequent feeding will stimulate your supply though, so it is important to let her feed freely in the beginning.

Do your breasts feel mega full at all? It really was very obvious for me when my milk came in fully, which wasn't until day 4 or 5, despite very frequent feeding up til then.

I also had a bit of pain for the first few days, but after a week or two it didn't hurt at all. If the pain doesn't go soon then certainly get a bfc to check the latch.

Congratulations on your Christmas baby.

Ditto the congrats on yr new baby!!

My dd is now 11 weeks and feeding beautifully but the pain at first was a shocker. I sobbed over her little downy head as it felt like needles being shoved in my nips. Felt i couldn't go on but as fliiiightattendant suggested above my milk just wasn't through yet - by about day 5 (had c-section) the sensation was far more bearable. Just more like chapped nipples from the incessant sucking...

My tip is that I used these brilliant breast compresses and balm called Biofem which a friend recommended. yeah right, i thought, expensive gimmick. but for me they healed and soothed my nipples far better than lansinoh and at that point i'd have paid anything to feel better. here's where i got mine from

here

balm is for sale on the same site. i used them until about 4-week stage and then all was well.

good luck - what a lovely Xmas present

Oh, and i used to leave the compresses in pretty much all night (it says leave as long as five mins but i just left them for hours) and by morning my nips were not painful anymore. gel gets a bit oozy but, lordy, so worth it.

DON'T WORRY about the constant feedig! My DS1 is 3 weeks old and he has been sucking constantly since he was born. I was reading people talking about 'x amount of time between feeds' and thinking 'there IS no time between feeds - it's ALL just one long feed!' but he is begining to space it out a bit now. It's really really hard to have a newborn begging for food all the time but please know it does get better. I know i'm only a very new inexperienced mum but already after only 3 weeks I'm finding bfing so much easier. Hang in there - you can do it! And it's all for the good of your LO and you have made such a good decision for her - you're putting her first!

Thank you EVERYONE for your help, am beginning to feel really emotional now with the lovely and encouraging responses...think am going to cry now....

On the BF front - having still having moments when DD2 will feed for 10 mins, sleep for 5 mins and then the pattern repeats itself for the next few hours (i.e this morning from 6am - 9am). I started doubting whether I had enough milk to sutain her and to see how much she was drinking and I expressed some yesterday night and ony got 1/2 ounce.

Is this right or have I expressed to early (DD2 5 days) or am I genuinley not producing enough milk?

I gave her formula this morning as I was worried she was still hungry after our three hour cycle of feeding on/off, and thought if I have not expressed enough then she will not be getting enough either..

Sorry to ramble guys (am sooooo tired aswell), but I really want this BF to work, but feeling down about it as it becoming a bit of a rough ride and I DREAD sometimes bringing DD2 to the breast....

Have got MW to check latch and number of times and she said 'it's fine'. In that case should I still call the BF helplines? Got DH to buy nipple shield so going to try that too.

A lot of people all say it will get easier, but when????

Amani... what you express is NO indication of what she's gets when she feeds.

Are you doing lots of skin to skin with her? I know it's tiring but it will improve.

Hi Amani - congrats on your new baby! I haven't read anyone else's advice, but I just wanted to add that I had a similar experience with bfing - v painful let down and first few sucks and then gradually okay. I got help from a fab bf counsellor and it slowly got better - it was not an instant thing though. I ended up bfing for a good length of time despite initially thinking I would never get there, so it definitely gets better. Take care and hope things improve soon.