help!breast feeding and exhausted - advice please

[frogmarsh]

my dd is 2 weeks old and so far exclusively bf, but i am fiinding the whole thing exhausting. To begin with my latch was awry and i got really sore cracked nipples, have worked on the latch with help from bf councillors and it is now fine but my nipples still have not healed - how long should it take?

the main problem though is that dd takes ages to feed - 45 - 1 hour per breast which means that with a nappy change to wake her up in the middle feeding can take 2 1/2 hours by which time she is almost ready to feed again! When do i get to rest!?

Also she will not settle into her cot or moses basket in between feeds only slepp on us or in the sling which is fine but again doesn't give me time for a rest.

sorry for typos - one handed typing whilst feeding

Frogmarsh you're doing so well, please don't feel guilty. Now you know what the problem is and it's being treated, it won't last forever and I'm sure things will get easier. I've read about those silverette things being really good and worth the money too.

BF can be rubbish! I had thrush, mastitis, slow weight gain and everything else you describe. At 2 weeks I wanted to stop but hung on in there and am still BF now at 15 months (once a day thank god!) There is light at the end of the tunnel - I promise...it's really worth it now. I know how awful and inadequate it can make you feel. Also - you have to weigh up happy mum and bottle feed vs knackered, horrid miserable BF mum...it's a tough one...
Loads of luck.
Allie

Frogmarsh you have nothing to feel guilty about. Thrush hurts like hell. You can get through it though and lots of people here can give you advice. My own advice is aimed at stopping the thrush from growing and recurring:

1. Change your bra every day and wash at 60 degrees, which kills the thrush
2. If you wear breast pads change them very frequently as the damp harbours thrush
3. If you give a dummy or bottle to your DD make sure you sterilise in a steam steriliser or boil in water to kill the thrush, or you will keep reinfecting her which will reinfect you. Throw the teats/dummy away as soon as you have cleared the infection
4. Make sure your DD is treated at the same time as you and that you persevere with her treatment until you are both cured
5. Eat a diet as low in sugar as possible (I struggled with this!) as thrush thrives on sugar
6. Buy acidophilus capsules from the health food shop. They are basically 'good bacteria' in a concentration high enough to help you fight off the thrush.

I did all the above and my thrush was gone within 3 days. I hope yours goes quickly too