do you carry on breast feeding with damaged nipple?

[ems147]

Ever since my dd was born i have had probs with my left breast, in hosp whenever i asked if she was latched on rite i was always told she was. but it has always been toe curlingly painful!
my left breast has got worse today, bleeding now. since then iv avoided feeding her with it as i dont want her to drink blood or make it worse. starting to worry that she may not be getting enough from the one breast. i am using lasinoh not sure how much it is helping though. also using nipple guards which make me look like maddonna and i keep having to empty the guard on the left breast as its constantly expresing. what do you do when your nipple becomes this damaged? do you continue to use it grit your teeth and use lasinoh like crazy or do you not use it until its healed properly? i want to do the right thing by her, im sure my right breast cant solely feed her and satisfy her. any help would be gratefully appreciated

Ouch. Poor you.

In the short term, you could try expressing the sore side very gently by hand or by using a breast pump. Then at least you can avoid it getting worse and you can offer dd the expressed milk in a bottle. It will also stop you getting a blocked duct.

Also maybe go and see your GP or your HV tomorrow and ask if you have thrush in your breast. That could explain why it's so painful.

But definitely don't leave it because it can get worse.

Bleeding isn't caused by thrush. You can actually use the milk it leaks to heal it, many mums find that's better than any bought product.

Mums do often feed just from one side. If two boobs can feed two babies, one boob can feed one baby.

But you need to get your latch fixed.

Why are you using nipple guards?

How old is your DD?

What help have you had with feeding? The pain was your breast complaining about the bad latch - your breast new better than any of the people who were helping. I'm guessing they were HVs or MWs, not breastfeeding specialists?

If you are happy to say what town you live in, I can have a dig for good (free!) bf resources there ...

using the nipple guards as when i just use breast pads the skin on my nipple sticks to it and makes them worse. are there other things you cant buy to stop this?

when i used just the one breast i jus cudnt seem to settle her. she wanted feeding almost every hour and even then didnt seem satisfied. got to a point where i went back to the left breast and just gritted my teeth. she seems more satisfied but im in alot of pain doing it.

i live in chester, in the hosp they even put her on for me and it was still painful.

dd is 9 days old btw missed that bit out sorry!

I found the lasinoh totally rubbish. I used Kamillosan bought at Boots. You have to rub it off with a flannel before each feed, but it's magic stuff IMO.

Why don't you put a shell type thing over the sore nipple to catch the milk and then tip it down the sink if its bloody for now.

You definitely need to go to a BF clinic and get your latch looked at, or call La Leche and have a good chat over phone in the meantime until the next clinic. They're really helpful and it's free.

Could you express off the sore side and top her up with it if the milk isn't too bloody? Or is that a bad idea?

Have a read of the kellymom website too it's very helpful.

Ok, wait, you're wearing nipple guards while not feeding, to keep them from getting more sore - they're not like shields that you wear while feeding? That's fair enough.

This website lists a BF event on Thursdays.

There's a baby cafe in Chester partway down this page, on a Tuesday, as well as the Thursday one.

If you can get your latch sorted, then you may be able to feed on the damaged nipple, without much pain, or more damage. Expressing off the damaged side makes sense - at least to keep that supply up. You can feed her milk with blood in, it will do no harm.

My HV told me to get as much fresh air on them as I could - both were cracked, but the left side was worst - I went around topless for a few days, feeding off the right hand one mostly and expressing off the left. I used the Lansinoh as well and found it pretty good. Getting her to latch on properly is the key, otherwise, they'll just carry on cracking/bleeding....

Best of luck! Once the pain stops it is lovely...

would expressing and giving her a bottle confuse her and maybe make her latch worse? so hard to know what is the rite thing to do.

dp and mil are desperate for me to express as they want to feed her. mil is very much "il take her off your hands for a bit if you want if you cant cope" i can cope and i dont need the help, im her mum and its my job to look after her. i want to do it.

i would love breastfeeding if it wasnt for the pain in the left one. i really dread every other feed.

i cant really wear the nipple guards when out and about, they express to much milk off and i end up with milk just pouring down my front, all very embarassing. only thing iv been able to do is to cut little squares of plastic to place over the nipple to stop the damaged skin from sticking and pullin off the skin. dont know if this is a bad thing to do or not.

True, bottles can make latch worse. Cupfeeding is a good trick, and not that hard to do - find an explanation online?

The bits of plastic on your nipples to protect them sounds sensible. As long as you're latching baby straight on, nothing between you and your baby, then whatever you do the rest of the time, as long as it works for you, is great.

I gave DS a couple of expressed feeds from a bottle a day until my nipples healed and he didn't seem to get confused. He was still getting most of his feeds from the boob and slowly got the hang on latching on properly.

Don't worry about what people tell you is the right thing to do, you're her Mam and you know what's best for you and her. Try the bottle, try the cup, try anything, do what you feel comfortable with!

I know somw mums have recommended a dressing called jelonet, its like a mesh impregnated with something a bit like vaseline, it keeps the sore bits moist, which is what you want really. you might be able to buy it over the counter at pharmacy.
I had bleeding nipples when I first bf, and dd vomited up milk with blood in which scared the hell out of me; was almost a relief when I realised it was my blood!

i expressed from one side for five days to make it heal comptely when ds was about a week/two weeks old - horrible crack eww - and he didn't get confused at all - it was fine. and then i was really really strict with his latch, waiting till he opened his mouth really wide. he protested a bit at first but soon got the idea!

incidentally, now he won't take a bottle - well, he messes about with it, might drink an ounce or two????

i think half the prob is that im quite hesitant when latching her on my left breast now as its soo painful, plus i think i manage to get her on properly initially but she wriggles through the feed and i think loses the latch. times when i hav noticed her doing that i take her off to put her back on properly but she is zonked out and isnt interested anymore. so not getting a full feed. which isnt good if its a night feed. shes quite an irratic feeder at night as it is. didnt get her down properly till gone 2am last nite.

I had a very sore bleeding nipple and did carry on feeding from it (just once a day though). I had all kinds of antibiotics to try to clear it up, nothing worked. I the end it turned out I had athletes foot, or well a fungal infection, I was given some cream and that worked like magic!

Go to your GP straight away, that would be my advice.

Your baby is very young and I always found it did take a long time to get used to it. Do get the bleeding looked at though.

To add to the excellent advice on this thread Just a couple of links you might find useful.

Here is an article all about different ways of treating damaged nipples

Here is an article on Biological Nuturing which allows the baby to latch on themselves, even with damaged nipples this way of latching should be comfortable.

iv got a doctors appointment for my stiches on monday should i mention it to her or is this the sort of thing only a midwife or health visitor would know about?

It is worth asking your GP and see what they say. Bearing in mind that the GP may or may not be up to date in terms of breastfeeding knowledge. If you ask you might be able to get a prescription for Jelonet dressings (usually used for burns) or other creams which might help.

ems147, locally in Chester they have HVs who specialise in lactation. I presume the doc can make a referral, as can the HV or MW. I have found them very helpful - as well as the Baby Cafes that they run.