breastfeeding/expressing!!! help & advise needed!

[Pr1ncess]

i have a 3 day old....yay!!!! and am now producing 'real' milk but im really sore and heavy/full, my one nipple has cracked! v-painful..this happend strait away and is not healing well
baby latches great on one breast but not the other ...when can i start to express...i have been told after 5 wks by MW but others have said asap! help and advse needed!

Sorry, don't have much advice, but I have a 3 week old and my nipples were VERY sore / cracked / bleeding in the first few days.

I used Lansenol (SP?) cream and it really helped. Also found using breast pads helped too, though I'm not sure why this would be.

My baby didn't latch on well while my nipples were cracked.

He's 3 weeks now (well, 22 days today) and he's latching on fine now - so there is hope.

I'm not expressing though, so can't help with that one.

hello there, congratulations on your new baby!
it's a bit bedtime-ish on here right now so you may not get answers immediately. have you had a wee look on the other threads in this section, while you're waiting?
i wasn't brilliant at bfing but have you an lansinoh for that cracked nipple? buy some tomorrow, it's great.
i'd hold off on the expressing for a wee while, just because you don't really want to introduce bottles too early (i did and regretted it as baby much preferred bottles to me).

anyway, i'm sure you'll get better answers than this, i just wanted to welcome you to MN really.

Congratulations on your new baby!
OK. You need to establish your breast feeding first. Your breasts will feel full and certainly different for a little while, but you do get used to them

I bought some Silverettes to combat cracked nipples and they worked really fast. Haven't got a link, but just google for them. When I got them a few months ago, they were on special offer, so quite inexpensive...in fact, they were the same price as some creams you can buy!
Good luck!

I'd get your latch sorted out first princess, try contacting your local NCT,LaLeche, or ABM counsellor -I don't have the links,but if you search posts for BFC and the above, you should find the links
for the cracked nipple, get as much air to it as you can, and rub a few drops of your milk on it after every feed, lansinoh cream is very good, Your M/w might be lucky enough to have some samples to tide you over til you get some.
Babies do tend to have a foavourite breast, you could try tricking LO into thinking they are on the favoured one by using the rugby ball hold
Here's a link tokellymom on latching, there's links to the various holds, some video as well i believe, the whole site is very good
anyway congratulations on your new addition!

magic cream mentioned above is lansinoh i think.. it is fab so ill second that. I had very bad nips with dd.. she practically ate half of one of them. ds is now six weeks and so far so good! have had sore nips and one crack but due to thrush fom antibiotics instead. May be different here (australia) but one of the midwives suggested i used a dummy once my milk was in as dd liked to suck such a lot. i know that is seen as bad by many lacation gurus but my life chanaged once i did! and i fed her for almost a year! with ds i have started with a dummy .. normally he only has this between feeds for a suck for about 10 mins, i have had to try about 8 brands and shapes to find one he would tolerate and before i found one my little finger was the best option. as the midwofe said to me breast are for feeding so breast feed not nipple feed, dummys are for sucking on! so far so good this time!

Hi Pr1ncess - and congrats!
I would also like to extol the wonders of Lansinoh!
Breastmilk on your nipple will help. You should avoid using breastpads if your nipples are cracked - as they might stick to the wound. Moist healing is recommended, so that scabs don't form as when baby sucks he/she may cause it to come away.
I would definitely advise you to see a breastfeeding counsellor to sort your latch out, the sooner the better.
How Breastfeeding Works is a website written by our very own HunkerMunker and it has a list of all the big bfing organisation who can help you.
Good luck, and well done!!!!
Oh, boy or girl?

Hi Guys....Thankyou so much for all of your advise!
I have decided however to switch Alfie-Jay to Formula as he clearly was not getting enough milk from me! He seems really happy with it...... I just could not enjoy feeding him and that was a really important part of this experience for me... :-)

Hey Pr1ncess.. Why do you feel like he wasn't getting enough milk from you? Maybe we can help if you give us some more info?

For what its worth, bfing your baby will give him an amazing start in life, so even if you can do it for a little while longer he will really get the benefits. More info here

Plus it will really help you lose that baby weight!

Congratulations on your new arrival!

I always thought my little one wasn't getting enough but he piled on the weight without me even realising and it was so rewarding to know that I was doing that for him. Believe me, there were days when I thought I couldn't go on much longer but it is well worth the difficult days when you realise just how great it is for them. I got loads of help in the early days and learnt all manner of ways of getting the boy latched on and what not- it was a piece of cake thereafter.

If you really don't feel that you can carry on breast feeding why don't you try expressing like you said? My ds was in SCBU for a week and they had me expressing by hand immediately and then with an electric pump as soon as my milk was in. Although they're reasonably expensive- do consider investing in an electric pump as it's quick, painless and convenient and ensures your baby gets all that lovely milk you've got going spare- why waste it?!