Breastfeeding troubles! So much pain!

[mammaF16]

I am breastfeeding my DD she is just over a week old. I have severe cracked nipples and the pain is excruciating when she latches.

I am looking for some hints or tips to help to continue on. I really want to breastfeed her but the pain at times is too much.

Any help appreciated,

From a distressed mummy

I forgot about my breast shells. I had some from Amazon and they were a godsend - they let a bit of air flow around and also relieved a bit of engorgement so I didn't have to be so concerned about mastitis. I think they were Medela...?

Nipple cream or sudocream
Push baby onto your breast
Hold baby onto your breast
Swop positions and breast each feed
Don't pull baby off the breast wait until her mouth unlatches herself
Warm bath and or shower
Cabbage leaves
Massage your boobs
Correct size and material nursing bra
Bottle feed with formula for some feeds if it's to painful
Speak with the breastfeeding nurse
Join your local breatfeeding group
Time
Practice
Perseverance

NIPPLE SHIELDS !!!!!

The midwife who gave them to me was a life saver. I don't know why nobody had suggested them to me before - I was in agony.

I know it's often said that it shouldn't hurt, but pretty much everyone I know who breastfed (including me) said it was very painful at first. That said, I agree with PP that it might be worth getting someone to check your latch and to rule out tongue tie.

I really sympathise, I used to grit my teeth in the early days because it was excruciating. Lansinoh is very helpful, and it can also help to rub a bit of breastmilk into your nipples after a feed. Also, it's a good idea to take the baby off your breast and re-latch if the latch is too shallow, as allowing them to feed on a shallow latch will make it worse. I didn't use nipple shields for every feed, but used them to give my nipples a break every now and then if they were feeling particularly raw. It does gradually get better.

Avent nipple shields. I used them for months and had several so that I always had a clean one ready.

If baby's weight is ok you could consider using a dummy at times if you need a break.

Multimam compresses from boots are very soothing. Lansinoh is good. I also used a wound dressing called jelonet to help healing - you can buy sheets of it from the pharmacist and cut to size. When my nipples were very bad I expressed for 24 hours to give them a break and fed the milk via a bottle.

Good luck I really hope it improves. I found a goal of a week at a time helped me get through but don't beat yourself up if you change your mind and want to stop.

Much sympathy - it is really hard. I found breastfeeding very painful at first. It probably took a couple of weeks and then it just hurt less and less until it was suddenly just fine! I then fed till over a year with no issues at all and didn't need to use formula- though I had the premade bottles just in case as back up.

I was really worried as I kept reading that it shouldn't hurt if the latch was OK and I became a bit paranoid about it but actually the latch was fine - it's just that my nipples were just a bit raw and adjusting to breastfeeding. They just needed time. I would second Lansinoh - I used it after every single feed as a big, thick layer. I also had a tip from the midwife at the hospital - she gave me squares of clingfilm to put on the breast covering the nipple once the lansinoh was on - that actually really helped! I had DH on clingfilm duty - he prepared the squares for me and stored them between 2 sheets of kitchen roll to stop them sticking so I always had a fresh square to go after every feed.

I also introduced a dummy by day 3 so that DD wasn't latched on all the time - I know that can be a bit controversial but it worked fine for us - the midwife told us that babies can tell the difference between sucking for comfort where a dummy is a fine substitute and sucking for food in which case they'll spit out the dummy and let you know they're hungry!!

I will just say that my nipples never bled though - if that's the case for you you might want specialist advice. I just wanted to share my experience because I wish I had known that the pain was normal and would slowly disappear on its own rather than fussing with the latch every 5 minutes.

Good luck and I completely agree with previous posters - persevering is good only up until it starts to affect you or the baby. Fed is definitely best.

Yes, agree that the shouldn't hurt thing is a myth. In my case, my nipples just needed to toughen up! It took a couple of weeks but after that it stopped hurting at all and I had nips of steel

I could only manage with nipple shields, get every size as guessing the size of your nipples isn't always clear cut. I used the shields for months then gradually reduced how much I used them and ended up BF DD for 20 months. It's really hard at the start but try the shields.

@Hugasauras

Yes, agree that the shouldn't hurt thing is a myth. In my case, my nipples just needed to toughen up! It took a couple of weeks but after that it stopped hurting at all and I had nips of steel

I wonder if they tell women this so as not to put them off before they've started, because it just makes sense that having a baby with hard little gums sucking forcefully on your nips for hours a day is going to be pretty sore at first. The problem is that you then get a shock when it does hurt and think you must be doing it wrong.

The nips do just toughen up over time as you say, it's the getting there that's horrible. I was scolded in the hospital for using nipple shields, but they made a world of difference. Used them every few feeds to give myself a break and it never seemed to cause any issues. I know it's anecdotal but they didn't seem to cause any issues for any of my friends either.

I was scolded in the hospital for using nipple shields

I know if you dare mention shields, bottle too ups for dummies Kelly mom winces and gets out the pitchfork.

In reality, they’re all great tools to get us through the difficult bit.

Have you checked for tongue tie.

My DC had a tongue tie and that made breastfeeding painful. I was always in tears the first few weeks and wincing when their mouth came close, until the tie was cut. It got easier afterwards.

@FTEngineerM

I was scolded in the hospital for using nipple shields

I know if you dare mention shields, bottle too ups for dummies Kelly mom winces and gets out the pitchfork.

In reality, they’re all great tools to get us through the difficult bit.

Absolutely agree 😆 it's like as soon as you have a baby, you must suffer. I get the arguments around nipple shields and supply etc but for a lot of women, they make breastfeeding bearable enough to continue.

I had this on all 3 of mine and I only successfully bf number 3 because I just couldn’t get it sorted on the other 2. Turns our they all had posterior tongue ties. Worth get that checked out by an expert because my kids were all missed until I went to a paediatrician who specialised in this area for number 3. I was told the other didn’t have them but they do.

Nipple shields were absolutely necessary and lansinoh and time. A good latch was significantly improved with time too as the baby’s mouth gets bigger so eventually I could get rid of nipple shields.

Nipple shields will help and are fine if you’re established at feeding already. But I would also go to a local breastfeeding support group (often known as breastfeeding cafes). They have support people there, sometimes a lactation consultant, they can check your latch and can catch tongue tie. Feeding was the most painful with my third and way beyond the ‘grin and bear it’ which is natural in the early weeks. I went to breastfeeding group, they saw he had tongue tie, we got it snipped and things improved a lot.

Lots of good advice here already! I was just going to chime in and say it was so painful at first, but getting the latch right and nipples toughening up meant we got there in a couple of weeks. But fed is best and that will be whatever works best for you and your baby.
A decent nipple cream applied after every feed is essential at first!

OP, you need real life help and support.

Creams, shields, positioning advice etc all great and absolutely use them in the short term, but risk masking the real problem meaning you may keep persevering with a poor latch. This will result in more pain for you and possibly reduced milk transfer which spells disaster in several ways. So def use these things for instant relief but don't put off seeking support/expect it to magically get better - we want to find the reason for these cracks and the pain you're experiencing.

This is how to find IRL support:

Ask your midwife, if you haven't yet been discharged to HV care.
Ask your health visitor if there is an infant feeding specialist or a breastfeeding peer support group.
Contact your antenatal teacher, if you went to paid classes.
Look up your nearest La Leche League branch and when their next meeting is.
Look up your local NCT branch and see if they have a breastfeeding counsellor/breastfeeding support group.
Phone the national breastfeeding helpline and ask where to access local support.
Phone the NCT or ABM or LLL helplines.
See if you have a local Baby Café.
Look up the IBCLC register to see if there are any registered lactation consultants near you (last resort, because this is private healthcare so not free). See if any of them run courses, classes, support groups. If not, start contacting them to see how much they charge and whether it is affordable.
If you can't afford to hire a lactation consultant, there are some free online clinics for this purpose but please be honest about your ability to access help, as places are limited: www.facebook.com/LucyruddleIBCLC/posts/2505969396203882