please help me!

oregonchick writes:
: Just had my daughter on the 11th, determined to breast feed. But even with
: a good latch, my nipples are already cracked and bleeding. I caved and
: pumped and bottle fed tonight. I absolutely cannot tolerate the pain. I'm
: sitting here with an ice pack on each breast. I just don't know what to do.
: I'm crying and miserable, and want to do the right thing, but oh god it
: hurts.

Betsy,

Congragulations on the arrival of your daughter. I don't have much to
add, I thought I had something new to suggest until I read Mary W.'s post.
(darn). I just thought I'd collect them in one spot.

1. Even if you think you have a good latch you might want to get
it checked with an IBCLC certified LC.

2. Agree with the lansinoh.

3. It takes at least 2 weeks before the pain goes away and 4 to 6 weeks
before it is comfortable. Hang in there. Take it one feed at a time.

4. A bottle at 4 days is awfully early. Be careful to avoid nipple
confusion/bottle prefrence.

5. Agree with the ibuprofin.

6. If they are cracked watch out for thrush. Sometimes it can be
asymptomatic other than the cracks not healing.

Good luck, good luck, good luck. Hang in there.

Larry

"Jen" wrote and I snipped:
I spent a couple of weeks
wandering round the house in no bra, or at least one with plenty of
Vaseline (worked just as well as Lansinoh or the avent stuff)

I've not heard of using Vaseline. I believe Lansinoh is recommended because
it need not be wiped off before the baby feeds. Can/Should a baby ingest
petroleum jelly?

-Patty, mom of 1+2

"emilymr" wrote in message
oups.com...
I don't have any good advice (besides slathering on the lasinoh), but
I'm pulling for you!! Nursing through pain SUCKS, and I *do* know what
it feels like to cry through the latch (I'd sit on the bed dripping
tears on M's head and telling DH "He doesn't even care that it
hurts!!") -- it took me at least 2 weeks before it stopped hurting, and
I definitely could understand why women stop. But it *did* stop
hurting, so there is a light at the end of the tunnel, even if it seems
very far away at the moment. I'm sure other people will be able to
give you some tips, but I just wanted to give you some encouragement
right away!

Em
mama to Micah, 11/14/04

Hey, if I only have to suffer 2 weeks, I am pretty sure I can do that.
Actually it's starting to get a little better today. One side is terribly
cracked still, so I'm feeding her off the other side and pumping the cracked
side. It hurts to pump too, but it's more controlled.

"Sidheag McCormack" wrote in message
...
oregonchick writes:

Just had my daughter on the 11th, determined to breast feed. But even
with a good latch, my nipples are already cracked and bleeding. I caved
and pumped and bottle fed tonight. I absolutely cannot tolerate the
pain. I'm sitting here with an ice pack on each breast. I just don't
know what to do. I'm crying and miserable, and want to do the right
thing, but oh god it hurts.

BTDT. *Very* deep sympathy.

- How sure are you about the good latch? Even if it seems really textbook,
it's really worth getting someone who's seen a lot of breastfeeding to
watch a feed and try to see what's going wrong.

Last night I had a girlfriend come over to check my latch, because she's
actively breastfeeding herself. She seemed confident that I had a good
latch. I will be going in to see an LC tomorrow, and double check. But
things are already starting to feel a *little* better...


- Ibuprofen really helped me. I just kept taking it at maximal doses. At
the worst times (like now, for you, from the sound of it) I took
paracetamol (acetaminophen) as well, staggered (so e.g. you take
ibuprofen,
then two hours later, when you can't take any more of that, you take
paracetamol. Write down what you took when, it's easy to lose track! You
can take both, and both are OK for breastfeeding.

That is good to know. The doc said I could take some of my oxycodone but it
makes me groggy and dizzy. I'll be taking more Ibuprofen and Tylenol then.

- Gel pads, whatever they're called near you - soothies or maternimates or
whatever. You do not want the nipples sticking to anything... They can be
cooled in the fridge, too.

I've been using crushed ice, but will be going to the pharmacy to get some
gel pads or whatever I can find. Cold feels SO good.



- for things to put on the nipples, I found that a nipple cream that
included lanolin, but wasn't pure lanolin, worked best. The pure lanolin
was too stiff and sticky - I couldn't get it on without hurting myself.
Fatty breastmilk at the end of a feed, gently rubbed onto the parts that
are sore but not excruciating, also seemed to help.

I will look for something then other than the PureLan that I have been
using. It is so sticky even it hurts to rub on.



- if you can pump and bottlefeed e.g. for 24 hours, some people find that
helps a lot. It's not a great idea for supply this early, but if it's that
or giving up, no contest! I couldn't, because I couldn't pump enough to
feed DS and stop myself getting engorged. But be careful, because some
people find that pumping is actually worse than feeding for exacerbating
cracks. I think it's probably to do with how much suction you need.

I have one side that I can tolerably breastfeed from, so I am feeding her
from that side and pumping the other. I think the pumping is not so
painful.

Thanks so much for all your feedback. I am determined!

I second or third or fourth or whatever the ibuprofen. I just realized
(duh) that I was on lots of drugs since I was recovering from a
section, and in retrospect, I'm sure that helped the pain -- in fact,
now that I think about it, nursing started hurting much worse once I
got off my meds (double duh).

I also second the deep breathing suggestion. I'd sit up very straight,
then take a very deep breath and try to relax, and do yoga breaths
through the latch, *really* focusing on breathing so as not to focus as
much on the pain. It helped a little bit.

Nipple shells also helped, just to keep my sore boobs off cloth -- but
make sure you clean them ALOT, and try to get off them as soon as
possible since IME anyway, they were a lovely bacteria breeding ground.
:P

Good luck, and it WILL get better. And a year later, you can make fun
of all the platitudes about "nursing is relaxing for mother and baby"
that people toss at you. It's relaxing NOW, but it sure wasn't THEN!

Em
mama to Micah, 11/14/04

oregonchick wrote:

I will look for something then other than the PureLan that I have been
using. It is so sticky even it hurts to rub on.

I never used much of the stuff but if you rub a pea sized blob between you
fingers until it is warm it is much easier to apply. I still have the first
tube I bought.

--
Nikki
Hunter 4/99
Luke 4/01
Thing One and Thing Two :-) EDD 4/06

I was lucky enough to not have nipple pain when starting nursing, but
had pain from thrush, milk blisters, and blebs.

1. Ibuprofen and tylenol definitely helped. I only took 2 per day, so
timing didn't matter much for me. However, I've read that it's better
to take them after feeding, so baby gets less exposure. I'm not sure
how important this is becuase these drugs are considered safe while
BFing.

2. There are lots of different regimes for using the more sore/less
sore side first or pumping. You'll need to figure out what works for
you and it sounds like you've take some steps in this direction. Some
books say to start with the less sore side first because the baby sucks
more aggresively at the start. I started with the more sore side first,
limiting the amount of time on that side, and letting baby suck as long
as she needed on the less sore side. Giving them a break definitely
helps. If it hurts less to pump, do that. I found that pumping one side
for an entire day made things much better. If your supply is good, and
you're worried about nipple confusion, you can freeze the milk for
later.

3. I had supply issues early on and gave my baby a bottle with formula
a couple times around day 3 or 4. Baby hasn't started to show any
criminal tendencies, craving for cigarettes, or resistance to BF. In
other words, not the end of the world for either of us.

4. Someone suggested that you consider thrush as a culprit. The fact
that ice makes the pain better, in my unprofessional opinion, makes
thrush unlikely. IME, any kind of compress, hot or cold, didn't help.
However, if it is thrush, there's lot of good advice elsewhere on this
group. BTW, you might have thrush and baby can be asymptomatic.

Hugs! Hang in there.

Susan and "Lentil"

wrote:

1. Even if you think you have a good latch you might want to get
it checked with an IBCLC certified LC.

I have to agree with this. I thought I had a great latch. The nurses
at the hospital said it looked great. The LC at the hospital (who was
crap) said it looked great. My mom, former LLL Leader said it looked
great. But it hurt like hell and she wasn't gaining, and I didn't feel
like I had much of a supply.

I went to see my local LLL leader, who I would nominate for immediate
sainthood if I were Catholic, said that it wasn't as good a latch as it
could've been. We saw her in the morning, and the same day we saw her
I leaked through my shirt for the first time ever. It was a HUGE
change, and it was almost immediate.

If it keeps hurting, keep getting opinions until it stops. It's hard
because we can't see you. I guess you could post pictures somewhere!
LOL. I was showing everyone in town our latch - my sorority sisters,
my relatives who had BF, everyone. I was walking up to strangers in
the mall and saying, "So what do you think of our latch?" Ok, not that
bad, quite, but eventually we found the right advice, and it made all
the difference.

I wish I could explain in words what she told us to do differently, but
there were too many props involved. She had boob puppets. Find
someone with boob puppets, and a hamburger puppet. It had something to
do with being able to take a bigger bite of the hamburger if you hold
it one way, than if you held it the way I was holding it. Keep your
fingers out of the baby's way - I kept getting my hands in her way.
But it doesn't make any sense without the puppets...

Amy

Nikki wrote:
oregonchick wrote:

I will look for something then other than the PureLan that I have been
using. It is so sticky even it hurts to rub on.

I never used much of the stuff but if you rub a pea sized blob between you
fingers until it is warm it is much easier to apply. I still have the first
tube I bought.

I wonder if it's microwavable? I know what you mean about it being too
sticky, I remember that. Ouch.

Amy

Amy wrote:
Nikki wrote:

I never used much of the stuff but if you rub a pea sized blob between you
fingers until it is warm it is much easier to apply. I still have the first
tube I bought.


I wonder if it's microwavable? I know what you mean about it being too
sticky, I remember that. Ouch.

Just put the little tube into a glass of hot water and wait a bit... Or
hold it in your hands for a little while, that's what I did, way back
when ;-)
I'm not sure about the tube itself being microwave safe.. I'd be scared
of the plastic melting :-/

I also didn't rub it on I just dabbed it all over the painful parts. I
wasn't too worried about wasting it, you can always get more if you need
to. But I never had really badly cracked or bleeding nipples... They
were just really sore and kind of pinkish the first week or two.

take care
nicole