Breastfeeding advice

[CMcW1]

I’m looking to see if anyone has any similar experiences regarding my breastfeeding journey. I feel like it’s just one thing after another and I can’t get to grips with it.

First time mum. My daughter is 6 weeks old. From her birth we struggled with the latch and my nipples were torn, cracked, bleeding etc. (tongue tie has been checked and ruled out) This was so excruciating I was close to giving up completely. My daughter ended up losing 11% of her birth weight so when she was 2 weeks old I decided to buy a pump and give her top ups using mam bottles to give my nipples a rest. I had to use nipple shields when feeding which I think reduced my supply from the get go. I had to keep going with the bottles of expressed milk due to pain. My nipples finally healed but I was still in pain until only recently.

Now the pain has gone when feeding but I am experiencing throbbing pains in my breasts and pain which travels round my sides and back, usually after a feed. I also notice the tips of my nipples can be white.

My biggest problem now is that my daughter is getting so frustrated every time I feed. She will latch on for a little while but then end up becoming so unsettled and angry and won’t latch back on I end up having to give her a bottle of expressed milk. This happens after almost every feed which makes me feel so frustrated and upset and like I’m failing at feeding her. She has never been satisfied after a feed from me but settles much better after a bottle. I wonder if there’s any point in trying to continue to feed from the breast ( as it just causes us both to get upset and frustrated) and just resort to bottle feeding instead.

could this be supply issues? Or is she just so used to the bottles that she doesn’t want the breast anymore? Any advice or similar experiences would be much appreciated!

[fairymary87]

Oh sweetie, first of all well done on getting so far. I believe you maybe have a clogged duct or blebs. Reach out of the infant feeding team or your HV and they will be able to help you x

[MrsHero]

What you're describing sounds a bit like vasospasms? What support are you getting from your health visitor team? Reach out to them if possible as many have an infant feeding support service. Also look up La Leche League for other support groups. Six weeks is so early, even if it feels like an age when your nips are ragged. There's no shame in stopping, but it doesn't sound like you want to yet from your post so definitely find local, face-to-face support.

[Kitkat1523]

Ask your HV for a referral to the infant feeding team

[solomon2]

I had a similar experience and it turns out I had thrush in the nipples due to a course of antibiotics.

ask HV or midwife to do a swab to rule that out because it’s absolutely excruciating. Feel free to dm if you ever need any support. I’m nearly 8months in breastfeeding and I didn’t think id get past the first week because I found it that difficult but I did. You’ve got this mumma x x