If it's kind of house shaped or lipstick shaped then she didn't have enough in her mouth - but that may just be that she has to grow a bit more. If it's not hurting then let it go for now - as she gets stronger it will start to hurt you if she hasn't got enough nipple in her mouth, but her mouth will also be bigger so you have a better chance of fixing it then.
My dd used to leave my nipple misshapen. She had a very strong suck and used to shred my nipples too. I was told, as long as there is no pain the shape isn't really a problem in itself. It should correct itself as she gets older. I had very flatnipples, so dd had to draw it out a lot and I think that's why mine used to hurt in the early days.
I have fed through so, so many cracked and bleeding nipples. Weeks and months of them, and I can safely say the worst part is the thought. Breast milk is essentially white blood, so real blood won't harm them. Poor you though!!
I've never expressed to heal nipples, just kept feeding and trying to attach baby away from the crack, by twisting my breast to ensure the crack is to the side of their mouth, not the gummy top or bottom.
Good luck. Keep an eye on the type of pain too. If it starts becoming deeper into your breast you might want to get checked out for an infection like thrush or a bacteria...that can cause persistanr cracks in the nipple.
I had issues with engorgement early on with DD2 and found putting pressure on the breast just behind the nipple and pushing back helped immensely together her attached (as mentioned above in the article by hotl). Cold packs and Lansinoh for the bleeding and it really helped. I kept her on the boob only, not expressing because I didn't want to increase my supply anymore then I had. Good luck with it, it does get better!
Thanks so much for the encouragement - I'm feeling a lot better about it today.
I got myself some of those hydropads from Coles and I can really see a difference in the healing between feeds.
The baby led attachment worked well last night but I've tried it a few times today and she doesn't seem to be able to get on at all, instead she just seemed to get frustrated so I take over for her - maybe I haven't been giving her enough time though so I'll try again tonight I think. I am so amazed by the way she wriggles herself around to find it!
So I've still been attaching her today the best I can and then I've been taking her off once I hear her start to drink faster (after my let down) and then reattaching her because everything is softer and she seems to end up on a lot better after that.
I'm feeling a lot more in control over the whole thing at the moment - I think just acknowledging that I'm not prepared to give up had helped me deal with everything a lot better.
Hope you have a good night again tonight.
She maybe really hungry when you are trying to start feeding her, see if you can recognise her early hungry signs. Alot of babys start opening their mouth, putting their hand to their mouth alot.
Once she has a bigger tummy and feeds less often your poor sore nipples will heal between feeds.
Well done for hanging in there your baby is lucky to such a good mummy
Sent from my Galaxy with the barefoot princess covering me in kisses, so please forgive the mistakes
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your baby is lucky to such a good mummy
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