Breastfeeding dilemma...

rheme

Get a tub of coconut oil from Holland and Barratt and apply it to your nipples. Promise you won't look back.

inkie

When feeding my DD2 I had a similar problem. Latch was fine (i'm a MW) - turned out that I had thrush and ended up with an open sore on my nipple as well! Needless to say, I exclusively breastfed throughout - I used a nipple shield whilst all this was going off which relieved the pain. Your Community Midwife should be able to tell what's going off - if she's not able to help, then do not hesitate to seek out a breasfeeding counsellor.

grey_lady

Totally up to you - but in my mind theres a huge amount of guilt and pressure associated with not breast feeding when theres nothing wrong with formula feeding, it has saved the lives of hundreds of thousands of babies and many of us reading this will have been formula fed. If you choose to formula feed for a couple of days or from now on then I'm pretty sure the sky won't fall in.

LilacPixie

No BF advice but yay on getting through the birth. I know you were stressed about that.

My_Fathers_Daughter

Hi Jo,

Have you tried some different positions to sort out babba's latch? It does sound like something is not working for you... How about rugby position or laying down?

Whatever happens hun do whatever is best for you and your family - it is different coping with this with an only baby to coping with 3 other children.

I hope it works out for you...but the most important part is that your lovely new baby gets the food he needs.

Congratulations xxx

madtrekker

Yes - I experienced this and know how terrible that toe-curling pain is. I too cried at the thought of feeding, had bleeding nipples and was very miserable (but who isn't with all those hormones rushing round?!). I was determined to give BF my best shot stuck with it and LO is now almost 9 months and still breastfed. I am so, so glad I put up with the pain of the first couple of weeks as I've found breastfeeding pretty easy since and loved being able to feed LO whenever and wherever without having to sterilise and make up bottles etc.

I think the awful, awful pain only lasted a few days - maybe a week. Ask for help with positioning as a good latch will minimise damage. Also ask MW to check that nipples aren't getting infected., e.g. thrush (I had this too, although not in the very early days, and it was v. painful - like glass in your nipples).

Whether you give up breastfeeding or not is up to you. Nobody would blame you if you do - it IS horrendously painful for some people in the first few days. You have already given bubs the best start with all the colostrum etc. However, if you really, really want to give it a good shot, I think you'll find that this awful pain will go away fairly quickly. Nobody would continue to BF for weeks / months in that much pain! I set myself short-term goals i.e I'll give it until the weekend and then to the end of next week and so on.

I was adamant that I would only try formula as a very last resort as too many people I knew went down that route and very quickly gave up BF. Missing a feed this early on can interfere with milk supply. I didn't want to try expressing due to fears over nipple confusion. However, if I was in the same situation again, I'd probably not worry so much - you can always cup feed to avoid bottle teats. I didn't think to try nipple shields - some rave about them, others hate them. Maybe ask MW or HV?

What I did do to help with the pain was always start the feed on the least painful side (which varied each day as both nipples took a bashing!). That way when the baby is doing that mad, starving sucking, it's not so bad. I switched breasts during the feed back and forth every 10 mins or so or when I couldn't bear the pain anymore (I know they say that doing this can stop baby reaching the hindmilk but we never had problems). Use heaps of Lansinoh (keep the tube in your pocket so the cream comes out easier - rubbing solid cream is a lot more painful that a soft cream). Change breastpads often to prevent chaffing. Feed baby little and often. Oh, I also found it worse if I was cold so would cuddle a hotwater bottle to my chest for a few mins before a feed - sounds silly but it helped!

If your nipples are raw and bleeding, you'll be pleased to know that they do heal even with a baby sucking at them every couple of hours! I had a flap hanging off one at one point and was sure my boobs were about to drop off!! Within a couple of days they were fine! Oh, and don't be alarmed if the baby brings up a bit of blood after a feed - it's totally harmless.

Congratulations on your lovely bubba and good luck - you've done it before and I'm sure you can do it again but take each day as it comes.

clairec79

Is he tongue tied? If he is then getting refered for it to be snipped may make a vast dfference

Had a similar problem with my third and only got through it because I knew I felt bad when I'd given up feeding with the other two and felt I'd regret it. The first few weeks were bad I'm not going to lie, I used to have a cloth next to me and bit on it when he latched on, if I counted slowly to 10 that feeling had faded and was ok.

neneromanova

Congrats on bubs

I know exactly how you feel. After I game birth to DD i went for a shower with my hospital tag still on my arm, washed a little quick and sliced my nipple with it which was great fun feeding and i too dreaded it. I was in agony so i mentioned this to the MW and she mentioned changing position on that nipple. So I started to feed her holding her like a rugby ball where her body goes out behind you. All i can say is I wanted to hug the MW the next time I saw her the pain had eased that much. So I would say try doing a different position which is comfy for you.

onlyroz

If you're sure that the baby is latching on correctly (and have sought the advice of midwives, healthvisitors and breastfeeding counsellors) then I think you need to grin and bear it for a few weeks to allow your nipples to toughen up. This sort of thing usually does get better given a bit of time.

PS - you might find that the pump doesn't help much with the soreness because that can aggravate the nipples as well. Try the nipple cup things - they can collect the milk you leak (particularly when bubs is feeding off the other breast) and if the cups are sterile you can feed that to the baby later on from a bottle to give you a small reprieve (note that this milk will be the watery foremilk though, so won't count as a full meal).

Gillby1

Jo_R,

You have my sympathy - hope things improve for you soon.

Just a quick note to say that formula CAN be used as a temporary solution, and it doesn't have to mean that you give up breastfeeding entirely. My baby was born nearly 6 months ago, and i've given him formula on various occasions just so that my partner could manage a couple of feeds and i could get some rest. I've never been able to express enough for a full feed! I've always gone back to exclusive breastfeeding afterwards, so it's quite possible to use formula to get you through a difficult patch without giving up BFing.

Hope it all works out soon. Congratulations on the little one!

Gilly