So sore!

[Acacia]

DD is cutting her first upper molars.

And she is making me soooooo sore! She won't take a proper mouthful of breast no matter how much I make her take to begin with, she just lets it slip and will only hold on to a little so it doesn't hurt her gums. It means that my letdown is taking longer because she's not triggering it properly with a big mouth of breast, which means she's sucking/pulling on my nipple for even longer to get a feed, which is making it worse arghhh

Aside from Lansinoh, which helped in the early days when I was getting sore and a little chaffed just starting BF and getting attachment right, has anyone got any other suggestions of what can help my sore boobs, or anything else I can do to help DD take a better mouthful? I'm doing everything I can with her attachment, so it might be a matter of just riding it out in the meantime, right...?

[Jennifer13]

hun, this seems to be more common than most women realise - older toddlers that damage our nipples through teething, growing, poor attachment, and so on. I think it's just that since so many bubs haven't bf for longer there's little experience with health professionals knowing what to do!

I had the same problem at about 2 years of age. TBH the thing that mostly worked was time, which you'll probably find if she's just teething. Take care of your nipples in the meantime, as you would have when she was new if she'd damaged them. Express some milk on them, let them air dry, etc. I also found paw paw ointment was helpful.

To stop it happening, try holding her in a different position or lying down. It's harder once they're bigger, but the football hold can work if you have a big enough chair! If she's not drinking properly, take her off as quickly as possible and put her down. I think she's just old enough to understand 'ouch, that hurts Mummy, don't do it'.

GL!