BF 1 wk old: Sore nipple and very frequent feeding!

[SnowInNovember]

I had my baby girl exactly a week ago today. At first she had problems latching on when i fed her, and I needed loads of support in hospital with it but we got there. Since coming home though, she has been rooting constantly when awake and pretty much crying if not being fed. She only falls asleep during a feed or when she goes out in the pram. I feed her when she roots, so on demand, and now my left breast is incredibly sore and it's so painful when she latches on. Its a bit 'scabby' on the nipple but i keep putting cream on to keep it soft.

Can anyone tell me if this frequency of feeding is normal? She poos around 5x a day aswell! Also any recommendations for the sore breast - should I use my pump for a bit on that one or just grin and bear it?

Am seeing midwife again tomorrow so hoping she can help.

New babies can be v v hungry little things. My son's feeding settled down after about 3 weeks. God, my nipples were sore! I likened it to someone having shut my breasts in a car door. They bled and hurt like hell. A few things that helped me:

Let they air get to them. I know this involves basically walking round with your boobs out but it really helped.

Savoy cabbage leaves. Leave them in the fridge so they are nice and cold and then pop one leaf in each bra cup. Instant relief. Crazy but true- google it

Lansinoh nipple cream, liberally and frequently

Try these products
https://www.babyhaven.com/uk/lansinoh-soothies-gel-pads.html?fee=16&fep=10507&utmsource=google&utmmmedium=cpc&utmcampaign=google+shopping+uk&gclid=CLn16en90dICFcEp0wodCpoMBg

Looked a bit like Madonna, but these saved me: breast shells.
www.boots.com/philips-avent-comfort-breast-shell-set-10001618

It will get easier soon, but these things will help you for a few weeks till it settles down and it will , promise x

Congratulations!

Lansinoh cream after every feed and the shower.
After every feed rub your milk onto the nipple (then lansinoh) let air dry if you can.
It is hard right now but if you persevere it gets fabulous.
Get midwife to check for tongue tie and that your latch is good.
Try feeding lying on your side with babe next to you.I found the change in position changed where their gums went on the nipple so it gave the soreness a chance to heal.
Use the rugby position for the same reason as above.
I have not tried the reclining position but I have heard good things about it.if you want more details on positions ask on here or your midwife.
Pooey nappies-mine had loads each day.perfectly normal. Mine fed every few hours which is normal too. Going out to get fresh air kept me sane.

I personally wouldn't use a pump on that one as it can effect supply. A pump is not as efficient as a baby.
Just noticed this was posted a week ago.
I hope all is ok with you op? How are you getting on?

Yes to lansinloh cream and definitely letting the air get to them. If you don't want to be topless then just wear a thin top with no bra and definitely no breast pads! I'm sure they explained in hospital about getting a good latch and when they are latched on well you will see your breast around the nipple moving (I don't really know how to describe it!) And my 3 all had dummies as well.
It will get easier
And congratulations by the way!

Whoops just seen this was a week ago too! Hope all is going well

Thanks for the advice everyone... it's still ongoing though! Midwife said I was being sensible pumping that one as literally can't stand the pain. I get shooting pains in it between pumping/feeds but there's no redness or marks any more. Have been having hot baths/showers and tried warm flannels but still extremely painful (to the point of being in tears) when I tried to feed her last night.

She had tongue tie which was picked up in hospital almost straight away and corrected. She latches on and feeds just fine now, it's just me in huge amounts of pain with the left breast.

I'm desperate to get her back on the left one (pumping and feeding is so time consuming, exclusively BFing was much easier when it didn't hurt!) Does anyone recommend nipple shields? Are they any good?

I got a pack of nipple shields from boots, only used them the once but they got me through. I would literally bite down on a dummy when he first latched on to get through that initial latch. At around 3-4weeks things improved massively and it doesn't hurt at all now, I came soo close to going to the bottle just because of the pain but it does get better.

Bite your lip and the shooting pain will pass - luckily it gets better very quickly but is uncomfortable at the time. Good advice above.

What helped me was taking to the sofa and leaving her attached.

It was the latching/unlatching that caused the pain and soreness, so i just left her there when she'd finished. She's half wake every half hour and take a bit more, but nowhere near as painful as she was already latched.

Try to get her latched on to the sore boob and as she feeds massage your breast towards the nipple with your palm.
I really would suggest changing feeding positions too. Lying on my side was a God send. For some reason the latch didn't hurt so much then. Plus when they fall asleep you can actually move about and leave them in the centre of the bed.(obviously be safe etc but even chilling in the room without being attached is better than holding a sleeping baby constantly)
I do remember how painful it was, for about 4 or 5 weeks it was painful then it lessened for a few weeks and then I was fine. I was suffering so much I set myself a limit in the end of 6 weeks.I told myself that if there was no improvement I would go to formula at 6 weeks. Luckily there was an improvement and I fed mine for years so I don't regret it. (I would like to add that there is nothing wrong with formula but for me it was a need I had to breastfeed if I could)
Remember you can take paracetamol which may help for a few days.if your baby has a preferred side (like mine) then you can use the rugby position.

I also had to use nipple shields with both my babies, just for the first few days as I too had extremely sore, blistered nipples. The midwives checked the latch and couldn't see a problem there. Nipple shields enabled me to feed until the nipples healed, and my supply was established, and then after that I successfully fed for months. Midwives advised against the shields in case there was 'nipple confusion' but luckily this didn't happen. Good luck op, it's so hard at first, I sympathise!

My midwife arranged for me to get cooling gel pads on prescription which would be worth you asking for.

Thrush can cause shooting pains, maybe get yourself and baby checked to rule it out?

Hi it is very normal.

I forgot what is what like until I had another baby and thought omg did I really do this last time.

It calms down after a month and things start naturally settling into a routine.

I'm currently bfing a 2 year old so you can persevere and do this if you want to.

I found box sets and candy crush useful when it felt like all I was doing was sitting down bfing.

I also found keeping the nipple wet all the time helps with the scabs and using lanolin. I've bf 3 children and got sore nipples every time at the beginning.

If you have a Moses basket bring it in every room with you same for the bouncer I found them a godsend.
Even in the bath I would put the Moses basket next to me and rock it with one hand if no one was at home and I was desperate.

Also, get out the house whenever you can. They tend to sleep when out and about and it makes things a lot easier and it really helped me with baby blues.

Hi

Ladies have already posted fab advice. I just wanted to say this was me on week one of BF my DS is now 11 months. I BF him until he was nearly 6 months mainly stopped as he had 3 teeth.

I had a fabulous breastfeeding support worker at my local children's centre maybe you could ask there as they are very good at what they do. Mine visited me at home.

My baby was nearly 10 pounds when born and had jaundice and got dehydrated. I fed him every hour in the first week and would cry with the pain. So I ended up combination feeding. It was not what I wanted to do but it enabled me to still BF which I was desperate to do and gave me a well needed rest. So with my health visitor and BF support worker I ended up giving him 3 x 5onz bottles a day (increasing the onzes as he got older) and BF on demand inbetween. I BF at night as that's the best time to increase supply so gave 3 formula bottles at around 7am, 1pm and 6pm and BF at all other times. This helped fill him up too as BMilk is easily digested so it all became easier and my son seemed so much more content and I wasn't in pain and wasn't exhausted.

So just wanted to give my story it may not be the right one for you and BF is the ideal but if you feel like you can't cope or you or baby don't seem content then I'd consider speaking to your midwife or HV about combination feeding rather than it getting to the point where you can't BF at all (if things remain terrible or worsen)

I hope your BF works out either way and remember if you can BF for the first 6 weeks that gives baby's immune system such a boost. Also BF does definitely get easier with time. But overall a fed baby is a happy baby however it's fed.

Best of luck and enjoy this precious time xxx

Thanks so much for all the advice, the nipple shield is working wonders and my LO doesn't have a problem feeding normally from the right breast. I was treated for thrush as recommended by my midwife, but when the health visitor found out she said it didn't sound like thrush! So whether it was or not, it's sorted. Have tried a couple of times without the shield and it's ok, but have to use it for most feeds as she feeds so much! The health visitor doesn't approve of them, or of me pumping when I couldn't feed, so I've not bothered to tell her I'm using it! At the end of the day it works for us, and it's better than me not being able to feed her I suppose.