Congratulations on your new arrival Danielle. It sounds like things are going really well already. Sucking is important but pain is not good. Maybe you could try some different positions first to see if they help, and if not, maybe put a time limit on his sucking to give your nipples some rest. Many mums find that leaning back in a reclined position and placing baby on their chest allowing them to find a position that works can be more comfortable. I've linked to a couple of clips that might give you some ideas. I hope it settles down hun.
MantaRay – Thank you so much, I had forgotten about these kind of attachments. Do you know if they would still be suitable with a flexible tongue tie? Sometimes when he goes to attach his tongue isn’t down and he can’t take as much nipple in his mouth. When I attach him I release him and then re-attach but if he was doing it himself would there be more cause for damage?
Lactation consultant came this morning, and he is tongue tied but it’s flexible meaning it’s not affecting him drawing the milk out. She is going to drop off more information and gave me the details of two GP’s in Brisbane who I can go to to see if it requires snipping. We are going to be trying out the football hold to remove the pressure on the newly formed blood blisters (which I’ve put the LOVELY rite aid hydrogel breast pads on…. BLISS)
She also said that the shape that he was making of my nipple in the cradle position was not good (the midwife said it was fine yesterday) and that it showed he wasn’t taking it deep enough into his mouth, which is another reason we are trying the different position.
She said that his sucking / swallowing was excellent and that he is definitely getting something as he has only lost 225 grams (4135 born – 3910 day 3) So so far so good… and she’ll be back tomorrow to see how things are going and help out if my milk has come in.
Danielle, some babies with tongue-ties do much better in those positions. I never tried with my tongue-tied DS as I didn't know about those positions then, but his was severe enough to not be able to attach at all so it probably wouldn't have helped. I'd give it a shot if you want to - you might have success.
I can also recommended having it snipped - we never looked back after having it done. There are other issues that tongue-ties can cause as well as feeding - such as speech later on and tooth decay, so it's worth looking into. The doc in Brissy that did DS's was brilliant - it was so quick and easy.
Having had one who just wanted to suck when she was born and gave me blisters, and then a second sucker who looked like he wanted to do the same, I got ruthless on the second sucker and just popped him off and snuck in the dummy if he looked like he was settling in for the duration and he was fine. And not surprisingly, I had virtually no problems with blisters/cracks with him.
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