Breastfeeding pain

Breastfeeding didn’t stop being painful for me till about 6 weeks 😩 the latching was so intense and nipple pain was so bad. Nipple shield helped a little. I’m so glad I persisted but it definitely hurt for quite a while with no clear reason why except that sometimes women are just more sensitive to the pain

Silver cups helped me a lot with the pain. I was having them on non-stop in between feedings with my first. The pain went away all of a sudden a few weeks later. It definitely gets easier, even enjoyable later on.

@Marina I have some silver cups somewhere just can’t find them 😅 I had to ice my nipples earlier. It’s the lack of break that’s killing me. Feeding every hour for 30 minutes today right now he is latched on but asleep but every time I try to get him off he starts sucking and that hurts so much 😭

Hold your nipple to babys nose, wait for the big open mouth and press their head onto the nipple for a deep latch, if painful use your little finger to break the latch and start again. The goal is for the nose and chin to be in contact with boobie. Also be kind to yourself! Breastfeeding is a learning process for both you AND your baby, trust me it's worth it when you get aligned. I love it ☺️ the position that works for me best is the rugby hold because I find aligning baby to nipple is easier when learning how to breastfeed! My baby is 6 days old now and Im slowly moving to cradle hold to build the strength and skill for it... After I heal more I will try the laying down one

This is what I’ve been doing as it’s what the midwife showed me too but I must not be doing it right 😓 I can definitely tell the difference between and good latch and bad latch pain wise but the less painful is still like he’s pinching me/pulling the skin off my breast.

A good deep latch will help, if you don't get it, unlatch, using a pinky finger to break the seal do not pull your nipple out, and try again. It will be painful while you heal for the initial few sucks with them drawing the nipple in. Lansinoh cream after feeding helps for the nipples to heal. I'm having similar issues with my girl as she likes to have her hands up so it makes latching harder.

Did they check your baby for tongue tie? It can cause extra pain when feeding

@Julia not sure they didn’t mention if they checked or not so will ask at my next appointment ☺️

Best tip was put lansinoh cream on before and after. Not just after. You can also rub breast milk on which helps. I had bleeding blistered nipples in the first few days. In the end I was told leave my nipples to air out. I literally walked around my house with my boobs out 80% of the day. This healed them up super fast and I have EBF. It's now getting much easier 3 weeks in x

The advice I found helpful from my midwife first time round was after they latch count to 10, then count to 10 again. If it still hurts after that then it’s probably not a good latch so try to unlatch & relatch. Counting helped me focus through the pain at the start of the feeds but it is brutal!! My nipples were so sore & cracked for a good few weeks - agree with a comment above about airing them. Also if you pop the lansinoh nipple cream tube under your thigh or rub between your hands for a bit, it warms it up and it’s a much easier consistency to put on! It does get better as the cluster feeding slows and you both get more used to it xxx

My baby wasn’t latching properly the first day or so and I started putting nipple cream on just before she was feeding which made my nipple more slippery and so she actually latched better as her mouth was opening while feeding. Now she latches just fine. Took a couple of days at most. Good luck!