Breastfeeding pain

[Catarinah]

Hi everyone, so my baby boy is now 4 weeks old and my nipples are very sore from incorrect latching. I have now been seen my a lactation consultant who's taught me how to correct my technique. I now believe the latch is better, but seeing as I've been doing it wrong for 4 weeks, feeding is still painful as my nipples are already sore. She has been checked him for tongue tie and believes he doesn't have one (he moves his tongue like mad, and when he cries hysterically I can see below all of his tongue and there really doesn't appear to be any issues). My nipple still comes off slightly lipstick shaped but only slightly (he does have a very small mouth as he was premature). I have attached a picture of his latch earlier for you to see. How long until my nipples heal whilst still feeding do you think? Any tips? I don't want to give up...

I got hydrogel breast discs off Amazon. The worked wonders but are quite expensive. Took about 3 days but haven't had any issues since. I got too sore to apply the nipple cream on the blisters so brilliant alternative!

I found feeding very painful for the first 4 - 5 weeks and I envied a FF friend whose baby slept all night and the mum seemed to be getting on better than I was with just about everything.

Then it all kind of came together and I was able to continue feeding for several months when I can honestly say it was a real pleasure to be a BF mother.

I think you are doing brilliantly. And if you need to add some FF bottles into your schedule, that will be fine too.

Have lots to eat and drink.

Good luck!

Well im on my 4th feed with shields and they're certainly more bareable, I think without these I would've had to stop and I'm determined to continue. Should I exclusively just feed with shields now for a week or so until I heal or continue to feed some feeds without them? Im worried that he'll still cause me trauma but also worried he won't be able to feed without afterwards

One of my nipples started bleeding I thinking during week 1, saved by lansinoh cream. I persevered and really glad I did, let me tell you there were times I wanted to give up. What I would say about the latch is try to get his chin dug into your boob rather than his nose. Let your nipples recover with the shields.

@Catarinah firstly, you are doing a great job. I am a breastfeeding supporter and support breastfeeding mums at groups. Breastfeeding should not be painful, despite what many think. If it is painful then his latch is still incorrect and can be worked on. Do you have a local support group you could attend? Many women find them extremely helpful and they can help you with the latch, advice for healing sore nipples and offer you ongoing help and advice.
There is reliable research that suggests Lansinoh cream does not help with painful nipples, many women chose to use it which is absolutely fine but it won’t help the pain, only correcting the latch will (Unless this is caused by something else, like a tongue tie). Also, something to hear in mind is that many midwives and health visitors miss tongue ties, and you can’t always see a tongue tie just by looking, especially if it’s a posterior one, little one would need a proper examination for that. The wait is usually rather long so you could consider seeing a private specialist, but that’s of course your decision, as little one may not even have a tie.
Shield may help you, but they aren’t recommended. Many women find them helpful (including a close friend of mine) but be aware that little one may struggle to feed without them once you stop using them.
You are doing a fantastic job, but I would strongly encourage you to access some face to face support

@Catarinah this is the number for the Breastfeeding Support Line, open 8am-8pm (if you’re in the UK) 0300 100 0212

@TwinkleStars15 I have had a midwife and a breastfeeding champion from the local support group (like urself) check for tongue tie and both said he doesnt seem to have one. The breastfeeding champion checked my latch and tweaked it for me but I think the damage to my nipples has already been done by incorrectly latching for last 4 weeks so nipples need time to recover... hence the nipple shields. I am going to the breastfeeding support group on Wednesday but I think without the shields I wouldn't have been able to continue today, even my baby boy has a small red bruise on his lip from the sucking I presume? Will it get easier as his mouth gets bigger?

@Catarinah it’s great that you’ve accessed support, and you’ve found it helpful. Unfortunately the people you mentioned aren’t qualified to diagnose tongue ties, hence why they are often missed. Mothers are told that it doesn’t look like baby has a tie, but to be able to be sure baby needs a full evaluation with a specialist, like La Leche League.
My little one used to get a ‘milk bleh’ when she was first born too, nothing to worry about, it’s quite common.
I’m not sure about your last question, as I’m not convinced the size of his mouth has anything to do with it. My supervisor breastfed a tiny baby with very very large breasts, size of baby is not the issue. The fact that your nipple is still misshapen, although better, indicates that latch still needs some work. I hope that your nipples feel better soon, and you should be proud of what you’ve achieved so far.

Well done OP for persevering - keep going!

I don’t have any useful advice as I don’t remember now what I did to stop the pain or how long it took for it to stop hurting, but I do remember crying in agony and frustration.

I was right on the verge of giving up when DD let out this sigh like she was struggling too and wrapped her little fingers around my finger as if to say come on, let’s keep going. That gave me so much strength to struggle on and she breastfed until she was 3 years in the end and I grew to really enjoy the bonding aspect of it.

I don’t know what made it so tough at the beginning- I think I just had really shallow nipples. Now after the 3 years of breastfeeding they are super long even though I haven’t breastfed in nearly 3 years

I was told by a midwife and pead doctor my baby has no tongue tie. I was referred to a specialist after 6 weeks of pain (investigations for thrush and all sorts in the mean time) at the feeding team at the hospital and was told he had a 50% posterior restriction. It was cut and 2 weeks later no pain at all!

I would definitely recommend you get referred to see someone who is qualified and specialises in tongue tie.

I appreciate what you're saying Twinklestars (I also did the peer to peer support training a while back) particularly about tongue tie as I know in some areas like mine the service is woeful however;

I fed 3 babies for a few months each, the longest being my third for 8 months. Despite the tons of research I did (I like to read a lot ) and I still couldn't really say why but each experience was different.

My first I was very sore, walking around with chilled cabbage leaves in my bra, using milk collection cups, loads of fresh air, nipple shields etc

My second I will never forget the excruciating pain which felt like I was being stabbed with a knitting needle all the way through to my back during latch on, I had to grit my teeth.

My third, I NEVER had any soreness whatsoever and honestly don't think I did anything different although I did get mastitis I think around 6 weeks in and it was horrible I felt like I'd got the 'flu and apparently that's linked to being engorged and the milk leaking from the mammary glands into our bloodstream but I don't know how that happened as he literally never stopped feeding!

All that to say that, yes, latch is incredibly important but I think sometimes for some people it just hurts for a while. I was determined to continue so battled through but can see why people without support from partners and other stuff going on think forget it.

I would also say as much as I'm pro mother's milk where possible I actually gave mine the occasional bottle of formula from being tiny as I'd seen people want to stop breastfeeding and really struggle as. Baby wouldn't accept a bottle, mine would always have either and during that painful difficult bit with my first giving him a bottle restored my sanity when he just would not stop cluster feeding (and yes I know about supply and demand but as a one off it put me in a much better place emotionally and enabled me to carry on)

It IS worth it once the early weeks are out the way when you're you can just whip your boob out and feed your baby with your wonderful milk served at the perfect temperature and no washing up!

Have a family sized block of chocolate and a cuppa OP you're doing amazing

That first few weeks killed for me. When it was so painful I pumped an fed. Much easier on the nipples. Only way I was able to continue. Shields did nothing for me.

Try Weleda Nipple balm, I found it a million times better than lansinoh. It's not as thick and goes on so much easier. I had the 'lipstick' shape issue for a couple of months, my little boy has quite a high palate and the Weleda stuff really helped.
It does get better. Good luck !

I had to use breast shields for first 6-8weeks due to latch and tongue tie. They were a god send. Was told by lactation consultant to get boots own shields as they are the thinnest and would make it easier to transition. It took a while whipping the shields off mid feed but he got used to it and 15 months old now breast feeding still going strong. It is hardwork and you’re doing a great job! Xx

OP, you've had lots of great advice from experts on this thread, but just to add my experience: I breastfed two premature babies and both times used shields in a very short-term way to help my nipples heal. In both cases I ended up feeding for a long time, and loved it once the first four weeks or so were out of the way and I had healed. I had lots of advice on latch too!

I am guessing this is not the case, but when I had my ED, I was having excruciating pain when feeding her. It turned out she/I had thrush which was causing needle like pain during feeding. It was so bad, I would be in tears before each feed, which was very often. I think I used Caneston and I think she had a course of antibiotics and it cleared up really quickly. She did have white patches in her mouth which took a while for the midwife to notice.

Thanks everyone for all your kind messages and support. I have contacted the local tongue tie specialist via email tonight so hopefully she can do her assessment, I am contacting the hv tomorrow for more advice but am also going to ring the gp to check for thrush... I'd rather explore every avenue although I really hope its not tongue tie as it makes me sad thinking about the snip and him being in any pain, he's 4 weeks now and I read the longer it's left the ore painful it'll be!?

I felt the same on getting my baby’s tongue snipped he had it at 1-2 weeks. He got more upset about the doctors hands in his mouth than the snip itself. The doctor was brilliant the procedure took seconds and then fed him immediately after and he went back to sleep. No blood or anything. My friend had her baby’s tongue tie procedure at 8 months as it wasn’t picked up at birth and then he was struggling with the weaning process and moving food around his mouth.

Well done for perservering! I completely agree with you that I had no idea how painful it could be.
.On about day 5 my nipples bled and I used to dread my baby waking to feed. My latch was all wrong but my nipples healed from the cracks and blisters by applying my own breast milk to them . Before a feed, express a small amount and rub it over them as well as after and let them air dry.

I stopped wearing a bra and just ruined a few t-shirts instead. After a couple of days they fully healed.

Lots of advice already. Just wanted to say you're doing a great job. Dig deep now and it will be a total breeze soon and you'll be so glad you persevered. 11 weeks in here, it got better after 4 for me, but hurt like fuck before that. Milk Making Mama on Instagram is good. She has lots of advice about breast feeding. Post on nipple shields is good.

My dd had her tongue tie revised at 11 weeks and it was absolutely fine.

How are you doing today catarinah? I certainly found it hurt to start, but has improved with practice and time as we've both learnt. You're not perfect and neither is your baby and it's a learning process for both of you - take it each day, night, feed, tantrum at a time x

Well done OP his latch does look good and if they're only slightly lipstick shaped then you're on the right track!

I used mam compressed and lasinoh religiously. I tried to air dry but actually felt better with them in a bra with the compresses. It gets better quickly and then you've got the eSiest way to feed him. It will be worth it!!

The feeding with shields seems to be working for now because I've changed 9 wet nappies and 3 soiled nappies in the last 24 hours, however, he's not settling to sleep so well now! He doesn't seem to have wind so no idea. My nipples are already starting to feel better, so much that I've just done one feed without but broke the latch after numerous attempts to get a good latch and him seeming to be on well (same as the picture) it's still pinching/coming off lipstick shaped. He opens wide, nipple to nose, areola in... But still not succeeding. Very disheartening situation.

I think they can swab for thrush so that should be quickly ruled out.

Honestly the tongue tie snip was nowhere near as bad as I thought. The ladies were lovely and it was done in seconds, fed straight away and stopped crying straight away. A tiny bit niggly that afternoon was all.