When does breastfeeding stop hurting?

[blondie887]

My baby is nearly 3 weeks old and I have been part breastfeeding him ( I always planned to use some formula so partner can do some feeds). Currently around a third of his food is breast milk.

I'm still finding it really painful though. Ive had the latch checked lots of times and it's not that. I think it's just how hard he has to suck. I certainly never have any trouble with leaking boobs, in fact I really have to squeeze to get any to come out at all, so I think I'm just really hard work for him, hence the ferocious sucking.

Is it likely to get easier/less painful? I'm sticking with it in the hope that it will but if it's likely to continue to hurt this much as long as I carry on I think I'll just drop it altogether

About 5/6 weeks onward for me, when nipples eventually healed. Still bf at 14 m and it's so easy now

Thanks all. I think I'm going to give if till 6 weeks and if it still hurts then I'll have to stop.

I tried with nipple shields yesterday but if anything the pain was worse.

@blondie887

Do you know what it is that makes it hurt less? Are my nipples just going to toughen up or is it that the baby's mouth gets bigger?

It’s a learning process. DS had borderline tongue tie but he grew out of it as he learnt to move his tongue better. And yes his mouth grew. And my nipples toughened up like wearing in a new pair of shoes. First 3 weeks mine were cracked and bleeding constantly. Settled after 6 weeks. Would say we had it cracked at 10 weeks. But it’s horrendous and you have my sympathy. Why people don’t tell you how shit it is I’ll never know.

Reading this post has brought back memories!

I exclusively breastfed my dc until they were a year. The first six weeks were painful - toe curling pain! I used nipple cream, wore nipple shields and still pain. My nipples actually bled. I would become anxious when my dc stirred as I knew they were waking up for a feed and it was going to bloody well hurt.

I hung in there because I was adamant they would be breast fed. It was something I felt strongly about so I endured the pain.

Breastfeeding hurts to start with - by my 3rd child I knew what to expect but it was still hard to battle through. I found it easier to have a feeding time plan, clean your nipple after each feed with water, use all the lansinoh cream, air out your boobs! You’re doing amazing to persevere- another week and it should be fine. I remember the pain and the crying and psyching myself up for a feed… then suddenly it was easy and I fed each for over a year.

Toe-curling pain for the first 4 weeks, then gradually got better and better until completely pain-free at 8 weeks. Both my babies had tongue ties, one was corrected and one wasn’t. The one that was corrected was definitely less painful and got easier quicker but it was all much of a muchness after the first 8 weeks! Painkillers-alternate paracetamol and ibuprofen, some breast milk rubbed in after every feed then let your nipples air-dry and smother in lanolin. You have my sympathies it is definitely the hardest stage and when you’re in it, it seems impossible but after a few weeks it will be so easy!

For me it was about six weeks. I always gave one bottle of formula at night and it never affected my supply.

Are you isnt lansinoh? It encourages wet healing. So you nipples don't dry up, start to heal, scab over, and then are painfully cracked again at the start of the next feed. It really does make a difference.

Haven't read full thread so perhaps someone has already suggested this but:

LANSINOH cream

Helped massively. You should be able to find it at a local pharmacy or big shop.

@blondie887 have you tried multimam compress?

I haven't read the full thread OP so sorry if this has been said already but silver nipple cups are amazing and have been a huge game changer for me!!!
I have BF for 3 plus years in total between two babies (still going with my youngest) and from my own experience, no matter how good your latch is, the early days are absolutely crap but it does get better i promise!!! All of a sudden it will click! Keep an eye out though for thrush as this can be extremely painful. I can't recommend silver nipple cups enough for healing and comfort though xx

Definitely get yourself to see a trained IBCLC. They specialise in breastfeeding and have substantial training in it, far more then midwives and health visitors who have to know a wide range of topics. The midwifery team may be able to refer you, but if not I would pay privately. It will more than pay for itself if it saves you from buying formula for a year! It really shouldn’t hurt if there’s no issues. People don’t say that to make people feel bad, but to encourage people to get help. You deserve to enjoy feeding and it should be comfortable! It’s not your fault, breastfeeding is a skill and our society has one of the lowest breastfeeding rates in the world. We don’t see it or here about it enough before we have babies! I would give the national breastfeeding helpline a call - it’s free and they are really helpful. As others said the multimamm compresses are brilliant.

I've now seen a lactation consultant who suggested it might be tongue tie. I've seen a tongue tie expert who snipped a posterior tongue tie.

But it still hurts! Nipples comes out looking a bit pinched and I'm sure it's rubbing against the hard palate of his mouth, even though the latch looks wide. I'm at a loss as to what else I can do.

Can you go back to the lactation consultant? It sounds like there's an improvement but there might be more tweaks you need to make to the latch now the tongue tie has been cut.

It should not be hurting throughout a feed, a little bit at the beginning is normal for the first few days, although if your nipples are damaged they will be sore while healing but it shouldn't take too long. The fact you say it's a strong suckling kind of feeling and it was worse with nipple shields makes me think it's likely milk transfer related.

I know when my baby misses the nipple and latches on to an unrelated bit of breast it's really sore! But doesn't hurt in the slightest if he's latched on properly.

Are they white too? That sounds like blanching to me. What do you want to do most? Keep on with the breastfeeding or switch to pumping/formula? If I have the timeline right you should be at about 6 weeks now? My nipples really did hurt up until the 6 week point, I think if the pain had continued I would have had to stop. But really I think you should do what feels right to you, if you want to keep trying I would try nipple shields again (make sure you are wearing them properly, make sure to put on nipple cream after every feeding (I recommend the mother love brand that doesn't need to be wiped off), and give your boobs a break if they get really hurt by just pumping on one side till it is less chapped.
If you want to switch to pumping or formula you should, what is most important for baby is that mama is healthy and happy. So so many babies are bottle fed (I was!) And turn out great! So don't be afraid to stop of that's what you want to do.

Yes definitely give the lactation consultant a call and explain the issues that are still ongoing. Once it’s all sorted and your nipples and healed it should genuinely be pain free for you.