Posted by
happychick
20 yrs ago
My baby is nearly 2 weeks old and I have been combining breastfeeding and bottle formula for feeds. I'm doing it this way because I didn't have any breast milk for about a week so had to rely on formula. However, for the past couple of days, my nipples have become very sore due to hard suckling. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to relieve the soreness as the pain is really putting me off breastfeeding.
Thanks!!
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oj
20 yrs ago
DON'T BE SCARED OFF !!!!!!!
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oj
20 yrs ago
oops hit the enter button before i'd finished.
I had a similar experience with my first child, and used nipple sjields, available from Mothercare and they were an absolute god send.
They are silicon, does not harm the baby at all and they simply fit on top if your nipple and the baby feeds. Helps enourmously and i breastfed for 6 months like this and ignored what some midwifes told me (it will affect babies feeding, etc.....) and my baby is now an extremely healthy and intelligent 5 year old.
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@@
20 yrs ago
I would consider getting a midwife like Hulda from Annerley Midwives to have a look at the latch. With my first child it took awhile for the feeding to fall into place but once I found (was helped) with tha latch I never looked back.
Perhaps then if it seems you need the shields you'll know for sure.
Also do you have some nipple cream? I think the Lanosil is the best, you can certainly find it in Bumps to Babes I'm not sure about Watsons or Mannings.
Good Luck.
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Thank you for all your advice, I think I will call someone to see if my baby is latching on properly though he has no problem getting the milk.
I don't think I have thrush as my friend suffered from this as I don't have some of the symptons but will check just in case. I already use nipple cream and it's been great as I don't have cracked nipples or anything, they are just sore from too much suckling but in the meantime I have started pumping so my baby doesn't miss out on my breastmilk.
Thank you!
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I'm sure there was a typo above - it's called Lasonil. Brilliant stuff. Power thru. Breastfeeding is awesome. All the best. The Lasonil will help enormously.
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RiceT
20 yrs ago
: ) I remember when my babe was around that age...maybe 1.5 weeks, I was feeling it too. My friend said, "Just give it another week or two and it gets better!" She was right. I share this advice with you too. : )
We had LaLecheLeague come over; you can also pop into a meeting of theirs. We also had one of Hulda's people over too. At different times for various questions, etc.. It helps to have that objective perspective.
Do you use Lansinoh? Loved it.
Finally, I found that the pump made me more sore (since you said it's not cracked, but rather sore) than the babe; make sure you have a pump you like.
Nonetheless, the more babe feeds, the more your body becomes used to it. Keep up the good work!!! :)
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One thing that really surprised me is that it took about 6 weeks for BF to truly become seamless for us. I was totally committed to it, and used Hulda and a few written resources (LLL and The Nursing Mothers Companion--both excellent) but was surprised it wasn't more "instinctive".
It takes a while to get used to, and it takes your baby a while to get used to it, and it takes your milk supply a while to settle into the supply and flow that's appropriate for your baby...So definately use Hulda, and certainly have that Lansinoh on hand (Bumps to Babes sells it). And relax and BELIEVE you are giving your baby the best possible meals. In a few weeks this time will only be a memory and you'll be a very happy BF pair. And when you finally do wean, you'll think back on your nursing days as one of the best parts about being a mummy.
btw, all my friends with second children say it's MUCH easier the second time around. They seem to credit the second baby, I wonder if it's the experienced mum :-)
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sub
20 yrs ago
If it is chafed nipples (can be inside where you can't see) then after feeding, if you can, express a little more breastmilk and leave nipples exposed for a while, it toughens them up apparently.
Until I got the position right, I hadn't realised I had "grazed" the inside of the nipples, so it was v sore for at least 1 week or more (even after position was good), I even saw a little scab come out later!
It really gets so much better after the first week of serious sucking. You don't even feel it at all later - believe it or not - just keep going.
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for your positioning, make sure that you are comfortable. Then remember tummy to mummy, nose to nipple and make sure you bring the baby to the nipple and not the nipple to the baby. Make sure baby has a wide open mouth when latching on. Also the tip about putting breastmilk on sore nipples helps.
Hope this makes sense. Keep going it gets better and is a great bonding time with your baby.
Good luck
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Here's another idea (in addition to others here). A newborn's mouth is tiny, his suck can be weak, and s/he can have difficulty latching on that great big breast, especially if the breast is hard and engorged. You have plenty of milk -- in the early weeks your body is making far more than baby actually needs -- so don't be afraid to express enough milk before you begin a feed to make the nipple softer and therefore easier to latch onto. It may sound like a radical idea, but you can even allow all the "letdown" to release into a towel! (It's okay to "waste" -- there's ALWAYS more where that came from!) Getting rid of excess milk from the breast before you put baby on breast will make the breast softer, smaller, and easier for baby to latch onto. Baby will also get the rich hindmilk which is so satisfying. Oh did someone already mention changing positions? If you think of the breast as being like a wheel and directions coming off of it like spokes, find positions where baby rotates around to different spoke positions. This will spread the load so not just one spot gets it. For instance, not just cradle hold but also football hold, lying down, and anything else you are willing to try -- one mom showed me once how she positioned a baby from over her shoulder. I had an entirely different experience with nipple shield than poster above. Can be helpful for an inverted or flat nipple I think, but don't think it will help much for simple newborn adjustment and can interfere with bf overall.
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Thank you for all your advice. I went to see my doctor the other day and showed her how I was breastfeeding. It turned out that my position was slightly wrong and ended up with my baby grasping for my breast. As Izzy adviced, I was also trying too hard to guide my nipple to my baby instead of the other way around. So, I was making plenty of mistakes which have now been corrected and I have to say that breastfeeding is so much easier now and my nipples are no longer sore!
Thank you all very much for your advice and I hope others who have the same problem will look back on this thread and find it as helpful as I did.
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