So for a quick background.....I am currently breastfeeding DD who was born premature in June at 25 wks. We've been home about 10 days and are combining breastfeeds with bottle top ups of EBM. Her corrected age is about 4 weeks old. I've been expressing while she's been in hospital to maintain my supply.

At the moment we are successfully breastfeeding with the help of nipple shields. Without them the pain is excruciating as attachment is quite challenging. Small baby, small mouth, big boobs etc. So the shields are working, its not 100% pain-free but still its tolerable.

Next issue is the vasospasm. I know I have it and several LCs that I've spoken to have identified the trademark symptoms. I get a lot of pain during and after feeds, expressing is also painful and my nipples turn a rainbow of colours too. Generally, my nipples are tender & sore between feeds and expressing. I just kind of accepted that it was how it was going to be.

I know it will be making feeding more painful when it really shouldn't be, and probably contributes to the nipple trauma I experience. We had very bad attachment issues when DS was a newborn which left us abandoning breastfeeding because my nipples were so badly damaged.

It appears that treatment using Nifedipine is quite effective so I have an appt with my GP on Thursday to have a chat about it, and I'm really hoping it will make a difference. Can anyone share any experiences or advice? I know about feeding in a warm environment and warming breasts up before & after feeds etc. I'd love to hear from anyone who has had success with Nifedipine too.

At the moment I'm just taking things day by day. Some days DD will attach really well (like yesterday) but then today she'll have a day where it leaves a little to be desired (like today) and I have to wonder whether my poor old boobs just aren't tough enough LOL! I'm not really interested in persisting through a lot of pain after the past few months that we've had, but I'm hopefuly with some more time and growth things will get a lot easier.