Urgent Help needed with breast feeding

[Mosschops30]

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I had bleeding and cracked nipples too. I used nipple sheilds and lanisoh. Is there a breast feeding clinic you can go to? Are your midwives/health visitor any good at advising on getting the latch right? Really feel for you as it really got me down too.

What do you want to do darling? Do you want to continue or to stop? No-one can tell you what you must do.

OMG this sounds awful. I think either you have an infection like thrush or your baby is not latched on properly. It shouldn't be like this. I expect Tiktok will be on soon, but I think you should call the NCT or La Leche League and see if anyone can advise you re positioning. Has your baby got the whole nipple in his mouth? have you checked his lower lip isn't curled under? It really SHOULDN'T hurt to feed and what I did was take ds off and relatch him as often as I needed to until it didn't hurt (apart from the sharp little pain immediately on latching - gone by the time you count to 10 - which is different IME)

I think you really need someone to be with you who knows what they are talking about. A breastfeeding counsellor is the person, I think. I cannot think why hand expressing would help you and also can't think why this is the only advice offered. I am no expert at all but nipple shields might give you a bit of respite, but unless you get the latch right nothing will really help.

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Lanisoh is about a tenner in mothercare. Boots has never heard of it when I asked!!

Telephone 0870 444 8707 immediately to speak to a breastfeeding counsellor.

There is obviously a positioning problem which needs sorting. You may have been told by your midwife that the positioning is fine but many midwives are not qualified to tell.

In the meantime you could try hand expressing and feeding baby your milk from a sterilised spoon, syringe or bottle top. This way baby won't get confused before he has learned to feed.

Go through the basics of positioning again, tummy to mummy, wait for wide open mouth then quickly bring baby to the breast. Don't take your breast to the baby. The baby's chin should come to the breast first and if you can still se any of the areola (dark bit around nipple) it should be above the nipple rather than below.

If it hurts, break the latch with your little finger and try again.

In the meantime lansinoh cream can help.

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Phone the number!

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Also, send your dh out for the magic ointment, arrange to see a BFC and it really is unbearable, then give him a bottle of formula for next feed - it really, really doesn't mean you have to give up breastfeeding. Just think of it as four - six hours respite between feeds in order to feel less traumatised. It really will almost certainly be a positioning thing, though so many people get thrush I think that should be ruled out too.

very quickly as baby is restless.

just express whatever you can, you can keep adding to a bottle over the course of 24 hours. breastmilk keeps in the fridge for 4-7 days.

is he opening his mouth wide enough?

do phone the nct number

Whenever my nipples got sore, I found that smearing breastmilk on them and walking around topless sorted them out best. The breastmilk you make at the end of the feed is really fatty and very very soothing.

I would not recommend using nipple shields if you can help it.

And phoning a BF counsellor would be very wise. You may find there are local people who can help you - my nearest BF counsellor is only a few blocks away.

If you're doing cup feeding, try few oz to start with, you can keep it in a bottle in the fridge and then just cup feed. I don't think you can re-use milk that's been used in a cup feed, it probably gets baby spittle in it.

Were you told to hand-express before feeds because of over-supply startling the baby? Or to bring on let-down?

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mosschops, you have some great information here - not clear whether you have called any of those numbers, but if you haven't, it will certainly help. Moist (not wet, yurtgirl) would healing will soothe and help - it's just the same as when your lips are cracked. you put gunk on to stop a scab forming and the skin drying out. The products mentioned here are good.

Sore nipples at 6 days are almost certainly caused by positioning that allows the baby to compress the nipple between tongue and roof of mouth - ouch. This can be changed....hope things get better soon.

would=wound

AN afterthought. What does the nipple look like when you take baby off. Does it look flattened like the shape of a new lipstick? This is a sign that things are not right.

Mosschops - HUGE sympathies. Does this thread or this thread help?
Congrats on the birth of your ds. I hope things improve soon.

Mosschops POOR YOU but don't despair, LOTS OF mummies have been there are STILL gone on to have a good breastfeeding relationship, if that's what you want to do.

I REALLY recommend smearing some of your own milk on your nipples and TURN UP THE HEATING and take OFF your top for as LONG as possible - all day is perfect.

(P.S. I have a funny story about answering the door to the parish priest during this phase, but now's not the time...)

P.S. and breastfeeding counsellors are THE BEST THING.

All the advice on this thread is v good.