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.