Ouch Ouch! Bfeeding and bleeding please help?!

[charx]

Ok, just out of hosp yesterday with DD2 now 3days old.
Couldn't bfeed DD1 because of cleft palate so totally new to this.

I was in AGONY last night trying to Bfeed. DD won't latch on correctly and constantly only taking in nipple. Her head/mouth all over the shop and mouth doesn't seem to open wide enough to get nipple at back of mouth.
I was sobbing, tears the lot but basically after DH took DD away to help me calm down I gritted teeth and got on with the job, all the while tears pouring down face.

This morning called midwife to make sure she was coming and left answer message but then had to rush to doc with DD2 as she puked up blood about 40mins after morning feed. Since found out that blood came from nipple (lovely). And of course midwife came when I was out.

SO MY QUESTIONS ARE:
Any tips?
What should I do with nipple that is bleeding? Should I give boob a rest or push on through? (sounds a bit gross for DD if I do!)

PLEASE HELP

you shoudl rest that breast untill you get advice, hope tiktok comes on. Or try and call lal leche league

You have my sympathies charx - I had a very similar experience. I bawled my eyes out through many early painful feeds.

Sorry to contradict JennyLee but if you can stand it, it would be good to get that breast a bit of stimulation (either by feeding, or gently hand-expressing) if you can, just to keep the 'demand' bit of the equation going while you're in such early days of establishing bfing.

If you can call an NCT or LLL BFC PLEASE do it as soon as you can - they really are the ones who have the most expertise.

Do you have Lansinoh to hand? It doesn't heal cracks exactly, but what it does do is promote healing by creating a seal over the crack, which stops scabs forming (which tend to be 'sucked off' at subsequent feeds) and allows new cells to grow underneath. If you apply both before and after each feed it really will help. Works with grazed knees too, btw.

Not opening mouth - my DD was the same. In retrospect, and now knowing lots more about latching, I suspect I was being a bit too 'by the book' with the 'nose to nipple' thing and put her too close, and she was so eager she was trying to suck herself on to my nips. Perhaps experiment with holding your DD just a fraction further away so she's opening up more in anticipation? Some mums also find their babe needs a little more manipulation to get their head in just the right place - almost to the point of snuggling them so close in that their bottom lip is touching (or almost) the bottom of the areola before kind of 'rolling' the head forwards so top lip just clears the nipple. Sorry - that's not a great explanation, which is why a BFC would be a much better source of help!

Good luck

is okay I was hoping someone would come on and help her as this never happened to me

Hi all!
Thanks for that! Midwife coming round today (Sunday) after I left a desperate message (!) and I have been expressing (and luckily had the expressing stuff from feeding DD1 via bottle due to cleft).
So am expressing until they heal a bit, both are bleeding now. Smothering them in the Lasinoh. And will call La Leche on Monday. In the meantime I am hopefully waiting on a tel number of a apparently fantastic counsellor who would be able to be with me throughout a couple of feeds - as the thing I found with the midwives in hospital was that once she got one - they were like 'yay! you've done it' but then she seemed to slip off again and I felt that she was only latching on properly about 10% of the time (ouch!).

So thanks for all the advice and support. I'll let you know how it goes. I really want this to work, because of not being able to do it for DD1 and also for the sheer convenience of it all!

At least last night I didn't feel the need to sleep with a bag of frozen peas strapped to my boobs!

Well done for persevering! I had exactly these problems and totally understand the crying-while-feeding scenario. It DOES get better - my DD is now 9 months and we have a fantastic bf relationship.

Don't worry about DD taking in your blood- it won't be as much as it looks like (as mixed with milk etc) and it won't do her any harm.

I found kamillosan (sp?) cream much more soothing than lansinoh and easier to apply.

I also found that her latch improved when I held her closer to my tummy and teased her nose with my nipple, so she had to put her head back and open her mouth wider to get to it. Also try different positions. I found both rugby ball and lying down very helpful in those early days.

Good luck! you CAN do this. Let us know how you get on.

My MW gave me some stuff called Jelonet which is a kind of netting impregnated with gel (hence the name, ahem) that you can put on between feeds. It helped me. But the key thing I remember is that after about 2 weeks it starts to get better.

charx,

I had a very similar problem with ds at the same no of days old. My milk had come in and my boobs were as hard as oranges, poor ds couldn't have latched on properly if he'd wanted too. Hence the chomping on my nipple. Once I had pumped them off enough to make them softer he was able to get a proper latch, the whole wobbly head, not opening wide enough bit happens to almost all of us to start with, the 1st few days / weeks of breastfeeding are totally different to the next year.

I don't know whether you have been chomped for the same reason as me, but you will get through this.

Remember too that it is very hard to open your mouth wide without tipping your head back. Try having a sip of water without moving your head back v difficult, tip your head back and it can open much more. - does that make sense?

Keep going u can do it!!

jelonet worked for me - my counsellor said not to let the wound dry and scab up as it will then crack deeper each feed

I was told the same about not letting them dry out, but was told to use vaseline in an emergency if I couldn't get jelonet

Anything that provides a good seal does the job - jelonet, vaseline, lansinoh etc should all be good.

Kamilosan can be very soothing, I used it too, but doesn't do the same job as the 'waterproof' ointments above can be used in between feeds though if it works for you.