Breastfeeding 2 week old - sharp pain

[shoutymcshoutsmum]

When my milk lets-down (correct expression ) whether the baby is latched on or not, it feels like someone has stabbed a needle through both my nipples. It's really horrid. I can't remember this when breast-feeding my first two. The pain goes after 30 seconds or a minute. Is this normal?
Thanks!

yes some people do experience a very painful let-down, it should ease off over time though

Yes sometimes I have a painful letdown (with a strong tingle beforehand) - it's usually if the breast is quite full. I've been BF for 8 months and it has eased off - but is still quite strong sometimes!

Thanks. I was a bit concerned it might be thrush but couldn't see any white fur in DS's mouth when I checked.

If it is thrush you might not be able to spot the white in his mouth though.

How do your nipples look? Are they bright red/shiny/itchy?

I had the same thing. My baby is now 11 weeks and it has gotten better with time. I also thought something was wrong, but some people just have a strong fast painful let down...I used to feel it in the other breast too. Around week 4 my breasts settled down and the whole thing doesnt bother me at all now, I hope this happens for you too. keep up the good work.

I think I've heard it described as the 10 second toe curler! I remember it well! It does fade with time.

I think I've heard it described as the 10 second toe curler! I remember it well! It does fade with time.

oops

Could be the let down it was quite painful for me in the first weeks, but you could have thrush in your nipples and it not show up in your baby. When I had yeast infection I had shooting pains, but they occured during the feed as well not just at the beginning. Check out the link here for symptoms (you could try citricidal or very weak tea tree solution wiped off before bfing as a natural alternative to anti-fungal creams/gentian violet).

I am feeding dd2, 4 weeks. I have a toe curling let down and to cope I press the non feeding nipple with the heel of my hand or arm. Had the same with dd1 but settled by 6-8 weeks. Looking forward to that this time.

i was talking with my local LLL leader a few weeks ago and she was saying shooting pains on their own are actually unlikely to be thrush

you would have sore red itchy nipples before the stabbing pains. the pains with thrush tend to last through a feed, and you'd experience them between feeds as well.

I had a painful let down with both mine, toe curling for the first few weeks

It did pass though

I do think it might be worth getting a midwife or health visitor to check for thrush though, just in case

I had a really painful let down as well as really sore nipples, even holding DD up against them to wind her was painful and I seriously considered whether bf was for me She didn't have any symptoms of thrush but that's what I turned out to have, once treated the let down was a lot less painful and i'm really glad that I stuck with it.

If it's just at the beginning it's perfectly normal and a good chance to practice all those breathing exercises you learned to deal with labour. Agree with pp that it should settle down and stop hurting by 6 weeks or so. If it doesn't or you have any other symptoms of thrush (whether or not your baby does) then get it checked out (warning: some GPs are a bit clueless about breast thrush and will try to treat it with a single-dose medication, which is no good. I think awareness is increasing, though).