Breastfeeding- Nipple Pain

[Jellybaby13]

Hi,

I know it's common to have nipple pain in the first few weeks of breastfeeding but I'm into my third week now and latching is unbearable. I've been expressing and bottle feeding over the last 24 hours because it's just become so painful.

I've been using lansinoh cream as recommended by my midwife and I had also tried warm flannels on them but I thought I'd also give the Medela hydrogel breast pads a go. They seemed to make things 10 times worse! They don't look raw but they feel raw!

I tried breastfeeding this morning and latching reduced me to floods of tears! I've seen a lactation consultant because I had so many problems with milk supply (c-section) then nipple pain/attachment problems due to late milk supply etc. so I know I have my latching correct, so much so that she discharged me this week and didn't seem at all bothered about the pain I was in.

I'm a little worried there may be a bigger issue going on here, anyone have any healing advice with a similar experience? I do want to keep pumping but I was hoping to do a combination of pumping and breastfeeding (because she can be bottle fed due to my early problems anyway). This morning I came close to running out and was so scared I'd have to put her back on my nipple.

Lactation Consultant also suggested not using formula as a top up anymore (was using it when breastmilk ran out) due to baby having difficulty with pooping. Will be so grateful for any healing advice!

Thank you!

P.S. out of interest when did latching pain end for you ladies??

Is the pain sort of inside your nipple or from the skin on the outside being rubbed? How old is your baby?

They're sore on the skin on the outside. Whenever anything brushes up against them it's painful. She's 25 days old today. Xx

Have you checked for thrush?

Hello I did a post like this literally a few weeks ago! My baby is 5 weeks and today for the first time I had no pain on one nipple yay! (The other still hurts when he initially latches)
I've been through three tubes of lansinoh and also would express milk and rub it into my nipples then let them air dry. I tried the hydrogel pads too and didn't think they were great.
There is hope as I used to cry over feeds feeling it would never get better but now they are very nearly healed. I hope yours get better within the next couple of weeks too

Mine were like this, I can still remember the pain several years later With both DC it spontaneously resolved at 4-6 weeks, I guess due to my nipples toughening up and baby getting better at feeding. When it was really bad I used nipple shields (just the thin ones from boots), which helped me through the worst of it. I also found keeping my boobs super warm helped so thick jumpers and coats. Lansinoh breast pads were the most comfortable (reusable was not an option for me due to milk flow!).

How much lansinoh are you using? As PP mentioned, I got through about 2 tubes in the first 4 weeks. You need to apply liberally after every feed, you can’t use too much! With my first I thought the lansinoh made things worse but I was using much less and now realise the error of my ways. Also try to “unpeel” your nipples from your bra before they get too stuck - it’s pretty grim to say but makes things better!

It is really hard and you’ve done so well to keep going. Almost every day until 6-8weeks I was sure I was about to quit, then it stopped hurting, and now at 13 weeks even if he latches lazily it doesn’t hurt so much and I haven’t needed the lansinoh for at least 4-5 weeks.

Also try a different latch position. I found cradle/cross cradle near impossible to be pain free until about 10 weeks when we both had more experience. Rugby ball with a feeding cushion to support was much better (and still my preferred position, although very tricky to do in public!).

Good luck

I had this too. I know everything was fine but it hurt so much I could feel myself coming up with ways to avoid feeding and was considering formula. And then it just stopped. It's a bummer but you just have to get past it.

All.of the advice given so far is very good. I had a similar experience and used nipple shields for a while, which did help. Also air drying nipples after a shower and popping a blob of lansinoh on the breast pad before putting it in my bra helped. Mostly though time and patience. At six weeks I suddenly noticed it didn't hurt as much any more, and a few days after that feeding was painless.

So sorry for you. I had agonising pain for a couple of months with my first, gradually eased and I continued for 10 months. Somewhat better with my second, better again with the third. It's over 20 years ago but I'm feeling it after reading your message! Apparently I wasn't doing anything wrong, perhaps just have very sensitive skin. No thrush either. I was fed up at the time with people saying that he mustn't be latching properly, when he was. What spurred me on was meeting another mother who had been through it and also gritted her teeth through the pain. Most other people kept telling me how easy and natural it was, so I felt like a freak

Thank you so much for your replies, it's made me feel so much better that I'm not alone in all this. I'm using a hand pump for practice at the moment because it's my 30th tomorrow and I'm suspicious my husband/family have planned something out of the house - and even this is painful.

Could I ask though, before the pain went away did any of you give your nipples a break and just express feed or did you just power through with breastfeeding? I can't think of anything worse than latching her back on right now but if that's what it takes then I will do it. Not sure if I mentioned in the original post but I latched her on last night and I just sobbed through the whole feed just because how painful the first latch was. I'm really conscious of my baby seeing me that emotional too.

So relatable about people telling me over and over it's due to not having a proper latch, I know I am because of the lactation consultant.

Again, thank you for the support and replies. Starting to feel like I'm not cut out to be a mother.

@Jellybaby13 I did try to express but never got enough milk to have a proper break. I was in tears feeding and don't know how I got through it. I felt very strongly that it was important to keep going, and I knew I would be hard on myself if I gave up. I don't judge others though. Everyone's pain threshold is different. You don't want it to be so bad that it dominates your memories of this time

Your baby is tiny and really won’t notice that you’re finding it hard- I used to watch grisly crime dramas whilst breast feeding! I didn’t express exclusively because I also got very engorged but I would give myself a break every couple of feeds and swap to expressed if I needed it.
Don’t worry about being cut out to be a mother- I had hideous nipple pain that also made me cry, a grumpy, colicky baby and I have no patience so was probably a grumpy, leaky, weepy mess for the first few weeks with my first. With my second, I sailed through the first few weeks then hit sleep regression and was chronically sleep deprived for 6 months. I remember properly arguing with my 3 year old as my brain was so wiped out I couldn’t think logically anymore. Both kids survived and are happy and grounded!
Hang in there, it gets a lot easier at about 8-10 weeks. Honest!

Hi OP

Sorry u are struggling- it is really hard being in so much pain and I completely sympathise.

I am on week 6 now. Spent the 1st 2 weeks crying every time she went on. The pain was toe curling and nearly unbearable. People thought I was crazy for not giving up!

Agree with all previous advice.

2 things to add. Has ur baby been assessed for tongue tie? This can cause major feeding issues and pain. And it's not always obvious. I speak as a mum of 2 DC's who have had tongue ties, where I have initially been told there was definately no tongue tie!! Even by the hospital doctors, midwives and community midwives! It was the lactation consultant who thougt she may have one, and referred us to the tongue tie clinic. Low and behold she had quite a bad tongue tie!!!

My 1st dd was diagnosed at a few weeks old and after it was cut I noticed an immediate improvement. 2nd dd had hers cut yesterday so hoping to see an improvement soon.

The 2nd thing I found helped are little silver nipple cups. U can get them on amazon. The make I got were SenoCap. The silver is supposed to promote healing. Now I cannot swear that the silver helped, but they kept my nipples moist, drew out a bit of milk onto the nipples and stopped them sticking to my bra/breast pads. So I didnt have the extra pain of trying to peel my poor nipples off of the breast pads before a feed! I did ask midwives/lactation consultant about using these and none advised against it.

I think speaking to the right people is so important here to try and isolate what us causing the pain. Especially as if it is a tongue tie, it quite often gets missed. If my pain doesnt improve now the tongue tie has been dealt with, I will definately be going back to the lactation consultant to get more advice.

I really hope u get to the bottom of it and it eases up soon. U are doing an amazing job!x

I just powered through - miserable. I think even the thought of expressing made me wince so I thought I might as well feed her. It did pass though - I think earlier than 6 weeks but I couldn't say how much earlier. I took paracetamol once I think, in the hope that it would help.
Breastfeeding is so tough. I really think that the difficulties should be talked about more as the commonly heard 'if it's sore you're doing it wrong' is not always true! I can imagine a lot of people are tempted to stop as they believe that they just can't do
It. (I can understand why the problems are
just skirted over, mind you, as they don't want to put people off before they start.)
Definitely check for a tongue tie though, if you haven't already. I was so disappointed when DD didn't have one! Thought at least it would be an easy solution.

The pump has started to hurt now too. Can only bare the lowest setting.

Ah shoot, I'm actually dreading feeding her next. Midwife checked for a tongue tie at my 5 day appointment. I'll ask the health visitor to check again though because when she checked my baby was fussing and I wasn't sure that she got a good look at the time.

Thrush - haven't really looked up symptoms. Will look into it but sounds like I'm getting the same sort of pain all of you have experienced.

I agree, they should talk about the difficulties more. I always thought people only gave up because they couldn't get the latch right therefore had pain etc. But it's so much more than that! I went to a class on breastfeeding with a lactation consultant leading it and none of this was discussed. Only 'if there's pain then the latch is wrong'

I pushed through, with the help of the nipple shields. Lots of people told me it would get better. My midwife told me that for some women, even when everything is right, sometimes breastfeeding just hurts but it would get better. So I kept going. And eventually it did get better. Hardest thing i ever did though.