Am I going to ruin my supply?

[lovelylisa]

Do you think I am putting myself up for failure? I have been feeding on demand since my daughter and I came home from the hospital almost 3 Iweeks ago.

 Long story short. My nipples hurt. The first 30 seconds after my daughter latches on is horrible.. so much that I cry out ( and my 2 year old mocks me lol) The beginning of the day it doesn't hurt as bad but come time for the late  night feedings at 3 I am too sore and tired. So DH gives her a formula then, and I am ok by timebut  she wakes up at 5 am to start the day off again. . I tried to pump for that feeding but I can't find the time. DD nurses nearly constantly from 4-8 pm and her feedings get progressively longer at night.

So now I wonder if I am not making enough milk for her? And is that bottle at night going to  ruin my supply? I would like to not give her that bottle but I am too sore by then. I can't seem to figure out side lying nursing so I sit up and prop  a pillow between my head and the wall and half sleep for the 45 minutes it takes her to finish eating. And cry and curse silently cause it hurts and DH sleeps while I do all the work :)  Any tips for night feedings? Should I take supplements to increase my supply?

[Marissamom]

if nursing is making you cry in pain, seek help, something is not right. I was feeling similarly with my DD, turns out she has a posterior tongue-tie. be extremely careful with latch and position, and for me, spending a lot of time topless helped my nipples feel somewhat better. remove all saliva after a feeding with a soft cloth, then do milk and lanolin. 

supplementing can cause long-term supply issues, the less formula you can use the better for your supply, so if you can do a partial feeding at the breast and then "top-off" with formula that would be better for your supply than doing a fully formula feeding. but again, seek help, thing won't get completely better until the bigger issue has been addressed.