Shallow latch

[FraRuggia]

I have a 6-week-old baby, and over the past two weeks, my nipples have started to hurt. I realized the pain was caused by a shallow latch. In the early weeks, I didn’t feel any discomfort while breastfeeding, so I assumed my baby was latching well.

I’ve been combo feeding since day 5 due to weight concerns, and now, to manage the pain, I’m using nipple shields—but I worry they might be making things worse.

I’m feeling both physically and mentally drained. Sometimes, I think about giving up breastfeeding, but I can’t help feeling like I’m letting myself down if I do.

Has this happened to any of you? How did you manage through it?

I just gave up breastfeeding and felt 100% better. You are not letting yourself or the baby down if you choose to stop, you need to just do whatever is best for you both!

I would get some trained help from someone like a lactation consultant, La Leche League or hospital infant feeding team.

In the meantime things that helped get a deeper latch for me was position - using rugby ball really helped. Or cross cradle making sure baby was super far away from my nipple so they really has to tip back and open wide. I also used flipple technique which helped.

I never managed to wean off nipple shields with my 1st but they usually advise weaning off as generally they do make the latch shallower.

I second the flipple technique and rugby ball hold, both worked well for me. Also nipple shields, I used them for 8 months with my first and went on to feed for another few months without them. Although if you can sort the latch and ditch them it's easier as they are a faff. Face to face support too whether from a lactation consultant or a good breastfeeding support worker is invaluable.
Has baby been checked for tongue tie? Latch issues in both my babies were due to TT.
Good luck :)

I never managed to sort out a shallow latch issue. It was horribly painful at first but over time it just improved - I think my nipples just became tough and numb 😂🙈🙈. At 4 weeks I was crying with every feed... At 8 weeks I realised they were healing... By 10 weeks I didn't really have any pain. Any my DC fed for nearly 4 years after that so I was glad I had got through the initial struggles.