Nipple trauma suuport group

[kismetbaby]

Hi mamas!

I am having a bit of a rough go with the nursing due to a shallow latch and thus some nipple trauma making the feedings very painful. My milk came in great and he is very happy about it, so happy he wants to nurse every hour or two, so its pretty much pain, pain, pain all day for me. I do have someone helping me with this, but it got worse this last night and I thought I might find some commiseraters around here.

We were just getting better at the latch when I got pretty engorged and now its almost impossible to get a deep latch b/c I am so swollen.

Any thoughts? Any tricks?

[dosergirl]

my first week and a half was god awful. i had to sing everytime she nursed or dh would have to massage my shoulders to try to help relax me cause i was in so much pain. lanisoh saved me as well as time. i use it after every feeding and especially after my shower and before bed . doesnt help the latch issue but will help your nipples

[b-girl]

Are you massaging before a feed to help soften the breast, express some milk and allow the nipple to come out?

Also, have you tried Jack Newman's all purpose nipple ointment? Here is info on the APNO

[angelachristin]

motherlove nipple cream saved me the first week. i got it at whole foods.

[robbins611]

Ladies, I am a lactation counselor and la leche league leader. I'd be happy to help any of you. Pain is not normal and we can get you fixed up Just message me and I'll give you my number. You don't have to hurt. Pain is a sign that something is off...not something to tough through.

Much Love,
Gini

[lisa_nc]

Spencer would mash down on my nipples HARD with his gums no matter what I did the first few days. I had blisters. There was really nothing I could do about it because it wasn't a latch issue other than try to massage his jaws, tell him to be gentle, etc. Thank God once my milk came in he stopped. This is not my first time at the rodeo, but boy it has been the most difficult. I feel you mama. It got waaay better for us and I hope it does for you too.

[pastrygirl]

I'm in some pain, too. It's gotten better since we had his tongue tie clipped last week. But, he wants to latch NONSTOP. That's what's causing some of the pain, just sheer duration! It's not even every hour. It's constant. If I'm holding him, he's latched on. I ordered some Earth Mama nipple butter; it should be here tomorrow.

Nighttime is the worst, for some reason. He takes forever to latch on (side-lying) and when he finally does, he clamps down! It takes an hour or two just to feed on one side. One of these days I'll wise up and go sit in the rocking chair... I just really want to be able to do it lying down! I never had trouble at night with my older son. I slept through most of his nighttime feedings. It's strange to know that I can do it, but Caleb can't. It's old hat to me, LOL!

[kismetbaby]

Originally Posted by pastrygirl

I'm in some pain, too. It's gotten better since we had his tongue tie clipped last week. But, he wants to latch NONSTOP. That's what's causing some of the pain, just sheer duration! It's not even every hour. It's constant. If I'm holding him, he's latched on. I ordered some Earth Mama nipple butter; it should be here tomorrow.

Nighttime is the worst, for some reason. He takes forever to latch on (side-lying) and when he finally does, he clamps down! It takes an hour or two just to feed on one side. One of these days I'll wise up and go sit in the rocking chair... I just really want to be able to do it lying down! I never had trouble at night with my older son. I slept through most of his nighttime feedings. It's strange to know that I can do it, but Caleb can't. It's old hat to me, LOL!

I realized I can't nurse side-lying quite yet. . .the nights I did seemed to cause the most trauma. So I have been making myself wake-up, sit-up and pay attention to his latch, which is hard to do every two-three hours all night. But I do hope to master the side-lying, sleeping thoughnight nursing thing. . .sounds like heaven right now. And for some reason the side-lying makes him want to stay forever latched on, when we sit-up I can pop him off when he is done and he will stay asleep, but laying down he just wants to keep my nip in his mouth. I don't know how they have figured these things out yet!

I am still struggling. . .have a lac consult coming tonight. Its just so hard to feel like this is the single most important thing I can do for my LO right now and its no fun at all for me. The nights I dread the most.

[confustication]

Mine always seem t stay perma-latched side-lying. I don't mind though as it means I get some sleep.

Our problem right now is that we are fighting a HORRIBLE case of thrush- the nystatin did nothing, but the gentian seems to have helped.

However, it caused him to be uncomfortable enough that it was hard for him to nurse at all, and now he's popping off and screaming when I try to get him latched. My easy nursling is suddenly very difficult. It'll sort itself with time though.

[sugarpop]

I think I am over the hump but not before I was bleeding! I took a class before hand and made sure I "understood" what we were doing. Apparently understanding and doing are two different things. I had blisters then that turned to bleeding, I continued to nurse. However, when the blisters bled, I found that caused Sophia to be sick. I never thought about that but she projectile vomited. How frustrating was that. I had just fed her, a painful experience that I was not enjoying and now her belly was empty again and we were back at square one.

I saw a lactation consultant each day in the hospital (4 days) then got home and the next day saw another one at the pedi office. I was prepared to call another one into the home. But the one at the pedi made a difference. She gave me a nipple shield and it solved my problems. Apparently, some people are against these as they may cause nipple confusion but when it is that or bleeding I vote for the shield. We are now nursing on flesh 60% of the time and using the shield when my nipples get sore to prevent back sliding!

Keep fighting ladies, you can do it, and the LO's can too! I am thinking about you and sending positive nursing vibes your way!

[ElliesMomma]

Originally Posted by pastrygirl

He takes forever to latch on (side-lying) and when he finally does, he clamps down! It takes an hour or two just to feed on one side. One of these days I'll wise up and go sit in the rocking chair... I just really want to be able to do it lying down! I never had trouble at night with my older son. I slept through most of his nighttime feedings. It's strange to know that I can do it, but Caleb can't. It's old hat to me, LOL!

my baby is four weeks old, and he usually can't quite get latched on side lying. but if i prop up enough to deliver the nipple straight to his mouth from above, then i can scooch my self back down to side lying, we get a good position that usually doesn't hurt. although with time in bed overnight, it does sometimes become a "bad latch" position over time. at this point, i do put my finger in and pop him off. he's usually asleep by then anyway and i would rather try again later when he is more awake, than risk traumitizing my nipple to the point that it hurts. which, when it does hurt that much, i've taken a motrin to dull the pain. i'm nursing both the newborn and my 3 year old, so my poor nipples are seeing a lot of action these days.

[pastrygirl]

Originally Posted by ElliesMomma

my baby is four weeks old, and he usually can't quite get latched on side lying. but if i prop up enough to deliver the nipple straight to his mouth from above, then i can scooch my self back down to side lying, we get a good position that usually doesn't hurt. although with time in bed overnight, it does sometimes become a "bad latch" position over time. at this point, i do put my finger in and pop him off. he's usually asleep by then anyway and i would rather try again later when he is more awake, than risk traumitizing my nipple to the point that it hurts. which, when it does hurt that much, i've taken a motrin to dull the pain. i'm nursing both the newborn and my 3 year old, so my poor nipples are seeing a lot of action these days.

Good idea, thanks! The strange thing is, that as soon as it's daylight, he latches on much better. Maybe he's too sleepy at night? (I use a light to latch him on during the night.)

[MyZoeJane]

Due to scarring that runs through my nipples that was caused by them being pierced about twelve years ago... (I only wore jewelry in them for a a few months but the scarring is permanent!) I have had painful feedings with both of my children. With my six year old daughter, it lasted the first month or so... This time around is seems to be subsiding more quickly, though they are still quite sore. My son is only 17 days old, but the scabbing is gone and now they are only slightly red and sore.

Anyhow, the scarring causes an abnormal "pull" when my babies suck... and the bottoms of my nipples roll under and cause the majority of the sucking pressure to be on the tops of my nipples. Because of this, I have literally pulled chunks of my flesh off because it was dangling. I've had bleeding scabs that left tinges of blood on my baby's mouth. Yuck.

But the good news? Even with this severe nipple injury? They toughened and stopped hurting after a few weeks! I tend not to buy the whole "breastfeeding should never hurt" thing. True, your baby's latch can make it less painful, but I think it's perfectly normal to go through bouts of tenderness for a couple of weeks.

Have you tried switching your hold each feeding? Going from cradle hold to football hold can change the locus of the pressure on your nipples and make it a bit less painful by spreading the pressure around a bit.

Good luck and hang in there!

[kismetbaby]

Originally Posted by MyZoeJane

Due to scarring that runs through my nipples that was caused by them being pierced about twelve years ago... (I only wore jewelry in them for a a few months but the scarring is permanent!) I have had painful feedings with both of my children. With my six year old daughter, it lasted the first month or so... This time around is seems to be subsiding more quickly, though they are still quite sore. My son is only 17 days old, but the scabbing is gone and now they are only slightly red and sore.

Anyhow, the scarring causes an abnormal "pull" when my babies suck... and the bottoms of my nipples roll under and cause the majority of the sucking pressure to be on the tops of my nipples. Because of this, I have literally pulled chunks of my flesh off because it was dangling. I've had bleeding scabs that left tinges of blood on my baby's mouth. Yuck.

But the good news? Even with this severe nipple injury? They toughened and stopped hurting after a few weeks! I tend not to buy the whole "breastfeeding should never hurt" thing. True, your baby's latch can make it less painful, but I think it's perfectly normal to go through bouts of tenderness for a couple of weeks.

Have you tried switching your hold each feeding? Going from cradle hold to football hold can change the locus of the pressure on your nipples and make it a bit less painful by spreading the pressure around a bit.

Good luck and hang in there!

Thanks! this is great to hear. . .I too think that some nipple soreness must be normal. I mean wearing a new pair of shoes can cause pain too right? And my nipples have certainly never been used like this before!

I am in the phase of pulling bits of skin off my nips. . .and watching scabs form. Its hell, and I am still working on the deep latch, but I think only time will heal this. The engorgement is down a bit which really helps, but its still rough. Its hard to deal with this and the hormonal crying jags at the same time. Some moments I wonder who I am. . .

[greeny]

With all 3 of my babies, I had a lot of pain for the first two weeks. Then it went away.

[xelakann]

We had horrible latch issues and I just took Mabel to get some cranio-sacral work done and get a chiro adjustment and OMG the pain is gone completely, she had a really shallow latch too and it rubbed my nipples raw until they bleed and they worked on a palette and everything is a million, trillion times better. Please don't suffer ladies... look into cranio-sacral work. Please.