Nipples are too sore :(

[Caz_88]

Hey Tasha sorry you are feeling so down I hit it bad day 3 as well. It sucks big time. As you know we had issues with my milk coming in too- I was just so so lucky we had a LC who was really good. She told us that alot of LC condemn the nipple shield claiming its a downward spiral- but she feels comp feeding is worse- even though breast stimulation is reduced by them its better than nothing and lets your nipples repair. Shes a id to use it for half of the feeds- more if you really need too. We are still using one for 1/3- 1/2 of his feeds- my supply is fine!!
PS if you can express 20mLs that milk will be here soon ! that is awesome! You will probably have your milk come in overnight and then you will have to deal with the boobs so rock hard they feel like they are going to explode lmao it does get better hun, hang in there. I didnt enjoy the firsr week but it is getting easier and better

[Barb Glare]

Hi, it’s really hard to separate the baby from the breastfeeding (it all seems to be about breastfeeding, possibly because people perceive you have a choice about feeding) But babies do turn your life inside out - regardlesss of how you feed them! They need to feed (as your nurse says) every 3 hours pretty much. Think of it from your baby’s point of view - he or she didn’t just *start* on the day they were born. They had 9 mnths of womb service. Always fed, always held, always close to you. Then they are somewhat forcibly ejected from their world - and the only thing that is constant is their mother’s body. No baby will want to sleep in a cot alone - mainly they will want to be held by mum or dad - not forever, but while they make that adjustment from life on the inside to life on the outside. It sounds like you are now getting the help you need and things are on the up and up. As others had said, losing 10% of birthweight is boringly normal and it sounds like you now have a plan in place.

[RhiChiChi]

Hey Tasha, plenty of great advice so I won't rehash anything but I am in Narre Sth if you need help or just a shoulder to cry on. The first month was the hardest for me in terms of getting bf established and I honestly didn't think I'd manage and I am still bf my 8 mo to this day. I know the days seem long and the nights lonely but the feeding time will shorten and your nipples will get used to it. I used shields for the first month and they were a god send, dont think I would have gotten through without them.

[Marley&Me]

Thanks everyone for your advice and support. My milk seems to have come in today so hopefully it will help things along a bit more. Dh took over 2 feed and I got 4 hours sleep this morning. The most i've had in 5 days!

[peanutter]

That's wonderful!!

Good work.

[Joeve]

Great!

[Marley&Me]

One more question though....I expressed 30mls a few hours ago and I just fed her from left breast only for 10 minutes and then gave her the expressed milk. But she seems to be having difficulty drinking from the bottle of expressed milk. She keeps spitting it out and fussing around

[PumpkinZulu]

She might be full from her breast feed, or she might prefer the breast

[Marley&Me]

And I just tried to put her down and of course, she just screams I just gave her 30 mls expressed milk plus a boob. What am I doing wrong!!?

[Joeve]

Tasha she probably wants to be held a bit longer.
I had to stay in hospital for 5 days with DD she was either wrapped snuggly or held for most of those days. I think she probably feels more secure with you

[little_O]

As barb mentioned before, they miss the closeness they had in the womb. I know dd loved to feed to sleep because she felt safe on my skin. Maybe instead of having the expressed milk let her suck away on the breast. I know my LC said that babies aren't efficient at sucking when they are first born so they do suck for longer. As a basic guide I would go about half an hour on one side then burp, then swap sides and do half an hour. Maybe try that.

See if she will go to sleep on the breast? You will notice the sucking change as she has drained the boob. So you can even go till that point and then swap. It's important to make sure you keep draining your breasts each feed at this point so your milk keeps coming in.

[MLR1901]

My gosh your predicament sounds exactly how I was. Bubs is now 9 weeks and we have only just got the hang of it. So hang in there!

30mls is awesome!! I was only getting 10mls for the first week so topped up with formula, after bubs was doing 3hr feeds! So yes just as you finish it's time again. But I waited till bubs cried or gave hunger signals then to clock watch.
Also used nipple shield but bubs is a slow lazy sucker, so she would carry on on one side with the shield, so I had to bare the pain.

I'm only now getting 80-120 mls and that's possibly because I'm taking Motilium as bubs and I got sick week 6 and my supply dropped.

BF is hard work but don't feel bad about the formula as it helps bubs ; ) and you!!

Lanohsil has also helped, oh and Rite-Aid cooling pads for the nipples.

Oh and my bubs loves to be wrapped hands in with the blanket up to her ears! So I second the wrapping as previously mentioned.

[Marley&Me]

As barb mentioned before, they miss the closeness they had in the womb. I know dd loved to feed to sleep because she felt safe on my skin. Maybe instead of having the expressed milk let her suck away on the breast. I know my LC said that babies aren't efficient at sucking when they are first born so they do suck for longer. As a basic guide I would go about half an hour on one side then burp, then swap sides and do half an hour. Maybe try that.

See if she will go to sleep on the breast? You will notice the sucking change as she has drained the boob. So you can even go till that point and then swap. It's important to make sure you keep draining your breasts each feed at this point so your milk keeps coming in.

Maybe try that. I just worry my nipples will never heal if I feed for long periods She always sleeps on the breast, but when its time to finish she just cries.

My gosh your predicament sounds exactly how I was. Bubs is now 9 weeks and we have only just got the hang of it. So hang in there!

30mls is awesome!! I was only getting 10mls for the first week so topped up with formula, after bubs was doing 3hr feeds! So yes just as you finish it's time again. But I waited till bubs cried or gave hunger signals then to clock watch.
Also used nipple shield but bubs is a slow lazy sucker, so she would carry on on one side with the shield, so I had to bare the pain.

I'm only now getting 80-120 mls and that's possibly because I'm taking Motilium as bubs and I got sick week 6 and my supply dropped.

BF is hard work but don't feel bad about the formula as it helps bubs ; ) and you!!

Lanohsil has also helped, oh and Rite-Aid cooling pads for the nipples.

Oh and my bubs loves to be wrapped hands in with the blanket up to her ears! So I second the wrapping as previously mentioned.

I just started using the hydrogel discs. problem is i cant put them back on cos i cant put her down...

[little_O]

I think because they have such a good feed the sleep for longer. With dd he would go the 3 hours between feeds with the longer feeds, so you actually end up getting more rest on your nipples.

Other thing I just remembered, if your nipples are really bad (dd took a chunk out of one of mine) my ob suggested using bepanthen for a while to accelerate healing. You just have to wash it off before you feed. This did help with the healing.

When does the nurse come again to check your attachment?

Have you tried the football position? I found that helped my attachment on one side in particular.

[Marley&Me]

I think because they have such a good feed the sleep for longer. With dd he would go the 3 hours between feeds with the longer feeds, so you actually end up getting more rest on your nipples.

Other thing I just remembered, if your nipples are really bad (dd took a chunk out of one of mine) my ob suggested using bepanthen for a while to accelerate healing. You just have to wash it off before you feed. This did help with the healing.

When does the nurse come again to check your attachment?

Have you tried the football position? I found that helped my attachment on one side in particular.

They are coming again tomorrow, this will be the third day. I am already doing the football position too. I will just feed from breast, no time to express now anyway. The pain is tears in eyes pain, but I will just have to endure it.

Is that what it was like for you? Tears in your eyes pain?

[Joeve]

Total tears pain. I used to count to 10 then once let down happened it would ease up a bit. Still painful but those first 10 seconds I just wanted to rip her off me

[little_O]

Definitely. I didn't know how I could keep feeding her.

Now that your milk is in another helpful thing is to hand express a bit to get let down and then put them on. That reduced the pain a bit for me so she wasnt dry sucking on a sore nipple.

[HotI]

That is a really good point, is it hurting throughout the whole feed, or just at the beginning? The count to 10 is a good rule, if you get to 10 and it still hurts you might need to reattach. If you get to 10 and it is settling it might be ok. This doesn't last forever, but i remember it from my early days.

Also, i almost never expressed more than 50ml at a time, however i was able to tandem feed 2 babies for over a year. Expressing really is not a sign of how much milk you have or can make.

one more, do you have a baby carrier? When my little ones were really unsettled, and i knew they had food in their tummy, and i needed a break DH would take off for a walk around the block with baby in the carrier. It gave me time to have a rest or shower and not have to worry about baby, and often the warmth, closeness and movement meant DH would come home with a baby asleep.