So I had my baby just only five days ago, and I've been breastfeeding a lot, at least to me! I feed on demand and my nipples are KILLING me! Even as I type, they're stinging slightly, but when he first latches on, oh my gosh, the stinging!!!! I've been told the little guy has a good latch from lactation consultants at the hospital, and I expected SOME pain, but not THIS much!!! I do have an electric pump and I'm wondering if it would be okay to introduce a bottle to him so early on in the game (just for a couple of feeding sessions to give my nipples a break), or if I should just suck it up and endure it? It's only super bad when he first latches on and lasts 20 seconds? Afterward, sure, there's still some pain, but much much less. I'm still going to see a lactation consultant just to be absolutely sure, but I'm wondering whether anyone had any advice right this minute or personal experience with this type of pain and how they dealt with it. I've been applying nipple cream as well, but almost to no avail! HELP??!!
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I'd pump. Give your nipples some time to heal. I did this with LO and had no problems with confusion. Every baby is different though.
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I say hang in there! Mine hurt so so bad at the beginning too but after a couple weeks it does get better. I used a LOT of lanolin and i soaked my nipples in epsom salt water when I bathed. I think that really helped a lot. I am at 6 weeks PP and sometimes I have to look to see if LO is still latched because its so much better now! Good luck!
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I know the feeling - the first couple of weeks are excruciating! Hang in there though, I found that at the two week mark, I stopped getting the searing, bring tears to my eyes, pain at each latch. It softened to a minor pain at first latch and immediately went away. I do know how horrible that initial pain is though and it sucks. I'm five weeks post partum and it's a thousand times better now. We just introduced our first bottle of expressed milk today and it went well. The only word of caution I'd say though is that I didn't find pumping to be any less painful than LO latching on; in fact, I found it slightly worse...but that could just be me.
To help ease the pain in the meantime though, try expressing a bit of milk after each feed (by hand) and rubbing it into your nipple, then let it air dry for a few minutes. I used tons of lanolin but it wasn't until I started doing this that I noticed any improvement.
Good luck and hang in there - it DOES get better!
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First off, congratulations!!
Second, pump!! LO had a bad latch even though the LC at the hospital said it was decent. I had blisters and bloody nipples, blah. I started pumping and only nursed once a day for the first 3 weeks and then started to nurse 3 times a day, now I exclusively breastfeed and she's 7 weeks old. I'm sorry you're in pain. Try gel pads, especially refrigerated! I found some at my pharmacy and I couldn't live without them for the first 3 weeks. You might want to give the LC a call again to help you with latch/position if it continues. Also, I found that it was easier to get more breast tissue into LO's mouth once she was older and had a deeper latch because her mouth was growing and she learned that she could get more milk that way. Good luck!! -
I would stick it out. I went through the exact same thing, it is totally normal! When my LO first started sucking I would tear up and squeeze my husband's hand. I promise it gets better.....don't give in to the pump yet!
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I picked the side that hurt the most and pumped that one for a day and nursed exclusively on the other. I had to or it just hurt too much (blisters and blood and all). Breastfeeding hurts but it will get better. At 15 months they are sensitive but only hurts when he wants them to (I.e. bites me).
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Use lanolin like it's your job. That's the only thing that got me through those first 4 weeks. Use gel cooler pads and ibuprofen. It does get better. As long as they're not cracked or bleeding, it's probably normal. Good that you're going to see an LC! They are worth their weight in gold.
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I had terrible terrible pain for the first couple weeks but it got better! For me, pumping actually hurt worse than actually feeding her
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1. Apply breastmilk on the nipples after each session and allow to dry before putting the nipple cream. (Your milk helps heal your nipple and that worked better than nipple cream for me)
2. Nurse on only one side each session so the other side gets a break.
3. Try nipple shields to ease some of the pain while nursing
4. Gel pads or shells between feedings. -
I had similar experiences and it will get better, it just might take awhile for your body to adjust. I muscled through it so I'd probably suggest the same to you but only you know what you can and can't handle.
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I know the feeling. Mine felt like needles! I don't really have advice for you about the pain (I'm as new at this as you are). But try rubbing breast milk on your nipples each and every time you feed. It works with chapping. I wish I knew what to do about the pain =/
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The pain you're experiencing sounds normal, and as long as you don't have really bad blisters or cracks then hang in there! PP have given you great advice!
For me, lanolin didn't give me very much relief. I used is natural ointment that I got from a lactation consultant called calendula. It looks European and there's no English on the tube, but the main ingredient is calendula. I also found rubbing breastmilk on my nipples and letting them air dry a little helped!
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What worked for me with both of my kids were using breast cream right before and after every nursing session. I also found that Lansinoh's worked better for me. Also, don't soap your nipples when you shower. Just let soap and water run down so you don't dry them out. That's what my lactation consultant told me with my first. And in time your nipples will get broken in and you'll feel less and less pain. Good luck!
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Congrats!
I say hang in there. The pain will go away soon, and you don't want to risk messing up a great latch. I used a lot of Motherlove nipple butter and walked around topless for the first couple of weeks. And don't wipe off the breastmilk after feeding... it helps with healing. And definitely put on lanolin before you shower... I didn't learn that one until several weeks in
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Lots of good suggestions here, so I just want to add that this is unfortunately pretty normal. Nobody told me about "latch on pain" until I found it online when my dude was about a week old and I thought something had to be wrong with me. It does go away eventually, but I know it really, really hurts right now. (When I was going through it, I thought people thought I was exaggerating how painful it was!)
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I had the exact problem, but mine started on the 2nd day of breastfeeding. The hospital lactation consultant came to my room on at least 6 occasions to try to check on latch and milk supply(was in hospital for 4 days). Problem was that she was latching on wrong. latch was mainly on nipples so she tore them pretty bad and it made breastfeeding incredibly painful and bloody. She suggested exclusively pumping for 1-2 days (to allow time to heal), using gel pads, and lanolin after every breastfeeding or pumping. It healed by nipples by day 2 of pumping. To make it less painful i adjusted pump to lowest setting. Lactation consultant said, in the future, to check latch and if she's not latched right to remove her from breast and have her retry latch. Otherwise problem will reoccur. At 1st month, told to only let her latch for 20 mins at a time, because after that she is only using nipple to soothe/as pacifier and increases chances of tearing nipples. Baby is now 2 months and nipples will occasionally get sore (on those days i pump) but nowhere near as painful as first days.
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Hang in there! I felt the same for the first couple of weeks---so painful, raw, red, had a slight fissure one one nipple and a blister on the other, with breast tissue pain from thrush and baby was tongue tied on top of that. But it really did get better and I was so glad that I stuck with it. I know it sounds like a long time, but by week 9, it was all gone--I could wrap a towel around me and wear a bra without feeling any pain.
It does get better!!
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Congrats!
Mine started hurting about week 1 to 2 and stopped seriously horribly hurting at week 6-7 (and occasionally hurt now at 9 weeks).
The only things that worked for me were switching feeding positions EVERY time he nursed, using lots of lanolin (even though it didn't seem like it helped, over time i could tell the difference), and only feeding one side at a time.
Using breastmilk on your nipples helps, too.
the gel never helped me, and pumping always hurt the same as nursing (except that excruciating moment of latch!)Do what feels right for you... bottle and pumping, or lanolin and switching positions... and go to a lactation consultant if you can.
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lots of great suggestions, but if it were me, i'd pump!
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I would go see an independent lactation consultant. The one I went to was worth her weight in gold, and I saw her twice the first and second week, and once the third and fourth week. She kept me going, and I felt so much better after every visit! The hospital ones were helpful, but I kept getting conflicting information with every new shift- seeing the same one helped so much!
I might try alternating pumping and bf'ing and see how you feel after taking a little break.
Like the others said: once finished doing anything boob related, cover your nipples with milk, let it dry, then cover with lanolin.
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Gel pads gel pads gel pads! Lanolin can only do so much; the pads really help.
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Thanks for the advice, everyone! I've decided to just suck it up and endure the stinging rather than feeding him a bottle too early on. I'm gonna try the gel pads too! I guess I'm relieved to know it's normal, but kinda sad that this might have to continue for more weeks to come! Good thing I truly do enjoy breastfeeding though!
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