4 week old DD, struggling to bf with very painful cracked nipple!

[whatsthetimemrwolf]

Hi, DD is 4weeks old and I have been struggling with bf'ing from day 1. She has been ebf on demand.

I had craked nipples from the beginning and have used silverettes which have healed one nipple. However the other nipple still has a deep crack which when dry is slightly white around the edges and pinky red in the crack. It is incredibly painful to feed on (regularly taking paracetamol and ibuprofen). It is now sometimes hurting after dd has stopped feeding, it feels like a throbbing pain almost as if dd is still feeding. Its at the point that I feel like screaming when dd latches on and dread feeding her on the bad side.

My latch has been checked by my midwife and health visitor and they've said its fine. Its definitely fine on 1 side as other than the initial pain of latching on I can feed easily. Is it possible to have a good latch on one side and not the other? Or do you think the pain is because of an initial bad latch which just isn't healing?

It doesn't help that dd is feeding so much, the longest stretch we have is 2 hours between feeds. Shes had 2 separate days of pretty much constant feeding for 6 hours at a go (at 3 weeks and 4 weeks).I'm using a dummy as shes a very sucky baby. My mum and sisters keep telling me its not right to be feeding as much as I am (as their babies who they easily breastfed were happy babies who went much longer between feeds)! I have got 2 other children and I suffered from terrible cracked nipples and couldn't feed them for longer than 10 days each so have been really pleased how well I am doing in comparison but don't know how much longer I can carry on.

Does anyone have any advice for me? Thank you in advance.

hi, sorry its rough for you, don't know if this helps but i had the same problem with dd1, very cracked & sore but kept getting told latch was fine as it looked like the textbook latch. Was about to give up & another HV said latch looked fine but to try a different latch & try that as dd hasn't read the books! It helped & feeding actually became easy & because i wasn't stressed & dreading it, the feeding became more regular & not as often.
Hard to describe the latch but it was getting the nipple in the middle of dds mouth not at the roof as the books show. My nipples were really cracked only on 1 side so this may not help.
I'm sure some others will have better advice for you.

I had similar problems with my dd, (although she had a tongue tie), I still have the scar on my left nipple now 3 years later! I eventually expressed from the painful side, (as I could control the pressure, a lot less then her sucking) and and gave her it in a bottle just until the crack healed, then I used Avent silicone nipple sheilds for a few weeks. We were only well established bf by 13 weeks.
You could also try holding her in the rugby ball postion, this may ease the pain, as she will be sucking on the opposite side iyswim.
I hope things get easier for you

Congratulations on your DD!

I'm not an expert (hopefully tiktok or someone else will be along in a bit) but I have a 5 week old DS, and had a similar problem - midwife thought the latch was fine but it was still incredibly painful on one side with one nipple in tatters.

She suggested I fed using a different hold - I used the rugby ball hold - which let the nipple recover, and is now fine.

I also tried the biological nuturing latching (where you let the baby latch itself on)which was a bit fiddly but completely painless so might be worth trying too.

www.biologicalnuturing.com

Hope this helps!

Sorry, I don't care what your midwife or health visitor says. Your nipples are cracked, and feeding hurts - your latch isn't right.

Is there any specialist breastfeeding help available to you? If you're happy to say what town you're in, I can have a dig.

The pain after feeding sounds a bit like thrush, but this mostly really sounds like bad latch. What shape is the tip of your nipple after feeding? If it's round then the latch is maybe ok, but if it's sloped like the tip of a tube of lipstick, then latch isn't ideal, and needs changing ...

I feel your pain! I BF 3 DC and my 3rd time was just as challenging as the first. I had to try various positions (rugby style worked at first) but would always have an initial tear in my eye as she latched on. I think there is possibly bad latch on one side and if you managed to get this sorted it would help crack to heal. For me it was a vicious circle and I had to break through the pain barrier a few times.
Hoping this is of some help.
Also my 2 youngest DC fed all the bloody time too, as did my friends. Lots of babies feed all the time and yours is still only 4 weeks old. You are doing really well and try to ignore the know-it-alls.

Thanks for the good advice everyone. It helps to think of the support from MN - why does bf'ing have to be so hard though?!

bumblingalong - I'll give your suggestion a try and try to get the nipple in a diferent part of dd's mouth.
katiepotatie - ooh you poor thing, I feel your pain! I did try expressing last night but couldn't bear to turn the suction up and didn't get any milk. I also tried a shield for one day but still found that painful. I can't believe the power of dd's suck, it feels like she has my nipple in a clamp.
getthepartystarted - thanks, I've just tried the rugby hold and that wasn't quite so painful so will try to carry on with that for a bit. I have tried the biological nursing position during the night and I still find that painful but maybe thats because I'm so tired and everything hurts more than during the day.
notquitecockney - thanks very much for the offer of help. I've just found a LLL number and left a message so hopefully I can get someone to check the latch. I'm sure you're right that the latch is wrong. My nipple is coming out lipstick shaped, even with the rugby hold I've just tried (its also coming out that shape on the side which doesn't hurt though).
easyoptionwman- thank you, it is reassuring to hear of other constant feeders. I almost can't bear to see my family beause everytime dd starts feeding I get more negative comments like "you're making a rod for your own back giving in all the time" which then makes me feel even worse!

Hello! I'm demand feeding a 4 week old too. She varies between 1 and 3 hours, with the occasional 4 hour stretch. I rang the NCT breast feeding helpline last week as I was struggling with my latch on one side and they were very helpful. I also found Lansinoh cream very good for bleeding nipples.

Good luck! ignore unhelpful comments, you're doing a wonderful job!