Pregnancy and Painful Nursing

[Flopsy]

I'm honestly not sure where to post this. I hope this forum is ok. Let me know if it's not.

I'm still nursing my 14 month old and 9 weeks pregnant with #2. Almost as soon as I found out I was pregnant, nursing became very painful. My son nurses 3-4 times per day, less if I can distract him. I'm hesitant to wean altogether because nursing is a real comfort to him. He loves it more than anything else.

Have any of you had any luck finding anything that soothes sensitive nipples in early pregnancy? Does it get any better as pregnancy goes on? Or are my options basically deal with it or wean?

[dex_millie]

I was in the same situation as you are 4 years ago so my memory might not be as good(Got pregnant when my 2nd was 14months). If I can recall well I basically just dealt with it, I didn't know what else to do. I was irritated, sore and had to deal with morning sickness. I don't know if cold compresses might work, just to numb it, you can try. Now if with all of that you get cracked nipples then I would put the lanolin breastfeeding cream on it.

In time it did get better. I did end up weaning my child at 22 months only because I didn't want to tantem nurse. 

[skycheattraffic]

I'm 10 weeks and DD is 21 months but we are in a similar situation. It's starting to get better for me, usually it just hurts when she latches on. I find I have to be very careful with her latch though and get a big open mouth or it's painful the whole time. I also have to support my breast very carefully or it's also a problem. A BIG thing that helps me is distraction. Usually I'm reading a book or texting or something so my mind isn't focused on the sensations of nursing. It hurts most at night and that's when DD wants to nurse longest so I try to take a break and cuddle with her in the hope that she will fall asleep off the breast. On really bad days I try for a car or stroller nap to skip the nap nursing but it doesn't always work. I hope to tandem nurse so I'm really trying to get through it. It was worst when morning sickness was bad but I'm coming out of the first trimester funk and nursing is feeling better too. Weaning is always an option but at 14 months it will probably be a lot of work. I'd say stick with it as much as you can, cut back if you need to. Do you think you would like to try tandem nursing? I just borrowed Adventures in Tandem Nursing from my midwifery practice and it's a great read. It covers everything from the moment you find out you're pregnant, why people wean, why people don't, how to decide if tandem nursing is right for you and different things to help you nurse through pregnancy if you choose. I just got it but so far it's been very enlightening. I hope some of this helps. Good luck! I'm right there with you and it's already getting better for me. Hugs

[Flopsy]

Thank you both! I kinda figured it was just one of those things I'd have to deal with, but I'm glad to hear it might get better. :-)

I'd love to try and tandem nurse if I can find a way to keep my supply up throughout pregnancy. I think I might see if I can track down a copy of the book you mentioned, skycheattraffic. Thanks for the suggestion.

[BabySmurf]

I would make sure that she is getting a good latch, my DS got a lazy latch and that definitely added to the pain.  Also, someone in my DDC mentioned that low vitamin D can contribute to sore nipples, so maybe try supplementing that? It seemed to have worked for me, or maybe it was just timing.  It has gotten a lot better for me (I'm 18 weeks), but it can still hurt if he's just comfort nursing (lazy latch) or when he's just latching on. Good luck!

If you are looking to nurse throughout, you might be okay with supply if you make sure you are eating tons (with a lot of fat) and drinking plenty of water.  So far my supply seems fine at 18w3d, although DS is nursing considerably less than he used to, but still up to 4 times during the day and a couple times at night (he's 25 months). 

HTH!

[Flopsy]

Hey, anything's worth a shot! I supplement a little vitamin D in the winter here anyway. I'll try upping the dose a bit.

It's great to hear from other moms who have successfully nursed (or are nursing) through a pregnancy. I had always heard it was nearly impossible.

[BabySmurf]

That's what I had heard too, then I started posting on Mothering ...there's a lot of support here for that kind of thing.
 

[katelove]

I fed my toddler throughout my whole pregnancy with my now 6 week old. My supply dropped significantly but that didn't seem to worry her. Unfortunately the pain was considerable the whole time. Things which helped a little bit were - lanolin cream (even though my nipples weren't actually damaged), wearing cloth breast pads ( it hurt to brush against anything, the pads provided a little bit of extra protection) and night weaning (at 34 weeks. This made the biggest difference to the pain and meant I could stop wearing the breast pads).

Not sure whether it's the new baby, the new milk supply or both but my toddler has gone from a couple of feeds a day to wanting to feed almost constantly. I see no signs of self-weaning anytime soon :-)

[BabySmurf]

I have heard that the first two months or so of tandem nursing can be quite demanding!
R your nipples less sore now that the baby is born? And congrats on your baby!

[katelove]

Originally Posted by BabySmurf 

I have heard that the first two months or so of tandem nursing can be quite demanding!
R your nipples less sore now that the baby is born? And congrats on your baby!

Thank you :-)

Pain is gone but I still have that want-to-jump-out-of-my-skin feeling when I feed the toddler and I can't feed them both together or that sensation is magnified to almost unbearable levels. But feeding the newborn is fine and I can get through a short session with the toddler.

[1babysmom]

Just posted this in another thread but it applies here too. LOL  I have nursed through 3 term pregnancies (tandem through one). (never had anyone wean during pregnancy)  I tend to get slightly tender early on, but not badly...however, I find the last 6ish weeks to be the worst as far as pain, for me.  But...on the bright side, after each baby was born, we had ZERO "new nursling" discomfort!  So that was always nice.