i need the truth from actual nursing mom's

I'm happy to be back in the BF forum, but with only 1 baby this time

Our little guy was born 4 days overdue and 9lbs 4oz, so his suck is great and he'll try to nurse on anything, but in the first 24 hrs of life he and I are both learning how to latch and my nipples seem to be extra sensitive and it appears he did some trama to the ends of the nipples while trying to latch initially.

if you ask a lactation consultant they will tell you that a correct latch will never hurt and nursing shouldn't cause pain, but seeing how the nipple tip is damaged and can't get a chance to heal, I am feeling a sharp, needle like pain when he first latches and then a duller sensation as he continues.

does it mean he's not latching correctly now if it still hurts? will the nipples have a chance to heal? I seem to reacall lots of mom's saying that the first week of nursing is painful as everyone get settle, but get's better after that, is that true?

I'm just so nervous because of the bad experience I had trying to nurse the twins and horrible nipple pain and injury with that experience. Even though he is 100x better at latching and sucking, this pain is getting me worried. I will go see a LC in the next few days, but I like to hear from other mom's too..

Thanks!

 

I was VERY sore by the time I came home from the hospital... so sore that I ended up pumping for a day just to try and heal a bit (toe-curling, tears to my eyes-pain). Then I struggled with nursing and was sore for 2 months. My boys just were not latching to where it was ever comfortable for me. It took a lot of patience to bear the pain knowing it would someday get better. I was told 3 weeks of soreness... it was more like 2 months. At 2 months they were finally latching well enough that I could reposition them to make myself more comfortable.

Best of luck! Hang in there... the LC should be able to help you get beyond the pain.

 

it hurt for me - i even had a bad cut on one of my breasts. I used A LOT of lanolin and that really helped. good luck!

 

A good friend told me that it would be ~6 weeks of pain for my nipples toughened up. I think it was more like 3 weeks, but there was a short time in there where it hurt quite a bit. I think that "hurt" is wrong if you're getting blisters, or if he's just sucking on the tip - that was a "wrong" kind of hurt.

DD would never open her mouth wide enough, and she created some blisters. As long as I battled with her to get more of my breast in her mouth, she didn't hurt me.

Good Luck!! I hope it gets better!! Way to go for BFing after you had so much trouble with the twins! :youcandoit:

 

Mine always hurt at the beginning (with all four children) .I think once you get a little cut or sore, it takes a while to heal...so even though he might be latching good right now, it is natural that it will still hurt because you have an open wound. I ended up getting a special cream called APNO (all purpose nipple ointment)...your doctor can order it at the pharmacy and it helped me tremendously (better than just lanolin). I put it on and it helped to heal things and then I wouldn't use if for awhile but then if I felt like I needed it again, I would start using it again. All my kids had good latches (I'm pretty sure) but sometimes I think the wear and tear just takes its toll and I found this cream to be the best!!
shannon

 

my nipples were quite damaged at first with the girls because of allowing bad latches, but then once their latches were good, my nipples still needed time to heal. during that transition time, i found that my nipples would hurt quite a bit when they first latched on, but then within 30 seconds or so of sucking, it wouldn't hurt anymore, unless they got lazy. i also used APNO & found it really helpful in healing my nipples. so that was my experience. HTH!

 

The second time around with my singleton my nipples hurt for about 2 weeks, especially when she latched on. I used lanolin once or twice a day and that helped. Since then nursing has been great! It's really a breeze compared to nursing twins. I hope nursing goes well for you!

 

Thanks for the responses, I'm encouraged to keep trying!

I'm not getting so much blisters, as the tips of my nipples are kind of "cracked" for lack of a better word and the parts of the nipple are seperating after he finished nursing, and then kind of going back together after he is done...

anyone else have this?

 

There's a saying " Pain is the bodies way of guiding you to comfort" in other words, if it hurts you'll find help because you know it shouldn't feel that way.
If your nipples are injured, you should start nursing on the least injured side first because the suck will always be the strongest when he first starts nursing. I think its a good idea to see an LC for sure.

 

A friend of mine also said 6 weeks. I think it's a real combination of things- firstly, in the beginning you go from not nursing to 10+ times a day. That's going to create some irritation. Next, it's a learning process for you and the baby to figure out what to do and where to go for the milk Thirdly, it's hard to justify readjusting a latch when you think it's uncomfortable but you finally got s/he to stop screaming (but should be done anyway to preserve the nipples). I was really sore for the first 6 weeks or so then breastfeeding seemed to click for them, I knew what I was doing and could easily correct a bad latch and my nipples were able to heal.

The best thing I can say is fix the latch every time in order not damage yourself any further and slather on that cream after every feed for awhile.

HTH.

 

I had this and I had 3 different LCs and my sister who has nursed basically the past 2 years watch Hannah latch and eat and told me she was perfect at it when she was born. Despite this my nipple cracked and would NOT heal! I spent a lot of time topless smearing lanolin on and wearing the gel soothe pads in my bra during the day. After about 3wks I broke down and used a nipple shield about every other feeding (it was only my right side) to give it a longer time in between her actually nursing on the breast to heal. Seemed to do the trick!
Also...it was 6wks for me when my nipples seemed to magically get "tougher" and now nursing is not painful at all!!! But I know exactly what you are talking about and I remember crying at 2am and wanting to quit but I am so glad I stuck it out! Here we are at almost 5.5 months and Hannah hasn't had a drop of formula!
Keep going!! It does get better!!! :grouphug:

 

My LC said you would have pain (especially the 60 second zinger at the start) until your nipples were toughened up - I had pain the first 2 weeks and then just the discomfort at the beginning for another 2 weeks.

I hope it gets better for you soon.

 

Our baby is 5 days old, and I am having problems with soreness too...I have heard give it two weeks....I keep trying to fix the baby's latch and trying to find the most comfortable way to nurse. My LC said to try the football hold so I could try and get her bottom lip/chin down easier with one of my hands. Sometimes I feel like I need 3 hands! And I nursed twins? Sheesh! That seems so long ago!

I am so grateful for this forum - many of you have helped me a lot!!

 

The first 6-8 weeks of nursing my singleton hurt so much, I would cry.
I have inverted nipples, one nipple was also dammaged by a "well meaning" nurse who tried to draw it out. :headbang:
And he had a bad latch do to the shape of my nipples.

I really can't remember what I was told to do that helped.
But I can tell you we are happily nursing pain free at almost 10 months.
I will search the old thread which gave me tips and post the link.

ETA, here is the thread that included the advise that helped me when I was in terrible pain.

 

I had horrible cracked nipples in the beginning too.. I would cry through nursing sessions it was so bad. A LC told me that if you have a yeast infection in your breasts it can make it very difficult for your nipples to heal, and as soon as I started a treatment for yeast things improved dramatically. So that might be something to check out! Good luck and hang in there, it DOES get easier.

 

Before you put any ointment on them, it actually helps to spread some extra milk on the nipples and let them airdry. The milk has healing properties. I think that the fact that the sharp pain goes away is a good sign, but I always looked after they were latched on to make sure that neither lip was tucked under because that can make the latch not deep enough.

 

I was SO SORE the first few weeks of nursing my singletons. Their mouth is so small and your breasts are usually engorged and that makes latching hard. The soothie gel patches were a lifesaver for me! And lots of lanolin!

 

I don't know why the LC would say that to you because I've never heard of a mom who did not have pain in the beginning.

ITA with the pps, and especially with: 1) even if she is latched properly, you are still healing so it's still going to hurt until you are completely healed 2) you really have to check each latch and reposition her if it's not a good latch. I know, no one wants to interrupt a nursing baby!! :hug: Make sure she has enough in her mouth, she should be so smushed in there it looks like she can not breathe. She'll unlatch if she's uncomfortable. Compressing the areola, not the nipple, is what causes letdown and makes your milk flow 3)your breasts went from not nursing to nursing every couple of hours, there is an "adjustment" process, for lack of a better word. It's hard!! But, again, I've never heard anyone say they didn't experience this 4) getting engorged between nursing sessions does make it so much worse. A few things you can do - nurse frequently enough that you don't get engorged. When you're sore you don't look forward to nursing sessions, but I found nursing frequently enough to not get engorged does help, hot showers/compresses. If engorgement is a problem a cabbage leaf in your bra will help - be careful not to overuse because they will reduce supply. 5) let your own milk air dry on your breast, the antibodies in your milk will heal you faster than anything else.


I really think you need to look longer than two weeks - many moms take 6 - 8 weeks to really feel they have the hang of it and not have any pain. I loved nursing my girls and I promise you the pain is a newborn thing. You are in the hardest part - and sore and exhausted. KUDOS to you, Momma!! Hang in there!!:youcandoit:

 

I had nipple pain with all of my kids, and it sounded very similar to what you described. With the boys it took a long time to subside because their latches were too shallow. I think with my daughter it was more typical soreness, and I also had a problem, which I think was related to her size. She was also very big, and someone suggested to me that bigger babies can often nurse more vigorously in the beginning, and they tend to want/need more milk to maintain their weight. I was putting her to the breast every time she was hungry, and around day 3 she nurse so many times one night I was bloody. She was taking her tongue and grinding my nipple against the roof of her mouth.

The nurses gave me some nipple cream, and I swear what did the trick was hydrocortizone and antibacterial cream, applied 3 times a day. After a a few weeks I went form wincing pain to almost pain free. I swear by the hydrocortizone; it is also what finally allowed my nipples to heal with the twins.

 

It really sucks that the LC would tell you that and I think that's why some women give up. They think they just can't do it and really there is just that period of time that you have to bear it before it gets better.

I've nursed 7 babies and it always hurts for the first 3-4 weeks, just as you described. Sharp pain at the beginning (toe curling was a great description!) that dulls into a slight pain. It will get better though, promise!

 

I never had on-going nipple pain with any of my kids. :escape: I did have engorgement problems where my my nipples would disappear into the bowling balls that became my breasts. I'd need to express a lot of milk to get to the point where my nipple was latch-able but the nipple never actually hurt.

If I did have a moment of nipple pain I would break the latch and make the nursling start over until it felt okay. Sometimes this would take a few trys. I still do this with my 3.5 year olds when I start to feel their upper teeth poking into me.

 

I've heard that from LCs, too. I think it's a myth, though having a good latch certainly makes it less painful. I have heard (and in my non-scientific polling, it seems to hold some weight) that the lighter skinned you are, the more likely it is to be painful. Maybe that's complete hooey, but seems to be true for many of the women I know. Spencer is 18 months and I went through a really tender period a few weeks ago, where it hurt quite a bit. It had been my experience that whenever they're teething, I get sore. Not from biting (though if they do, that certainly hurts), but maybe from change in acidity in their mouths or something?

With my oldest, I was prepared for it to hurt. My mom had told me about how hard it was at first, but was very supportive about getting past that point. I was shocked though, when it hurt with Trey. It had only been 5 months since I stopped nursing Sage and I knew what I was doing this time. But it still hurt for a few weeks. Adam was a champion nurser. I never got engorged and he had gained 8 oz by the time he was 5 days old (they used 2 scales to double check that because they were so surprised). And it still hurt a little at first, and whenever he was teething.

Sometimes nursing hurts. If it never gets better, or if you're cracked and bleeding or something, then there's a problem. And since you sound concerned, I would let an LC you trust watch you nurse. It's a bit of a private moment, but that really helped me figure out Spencer's latch. He was my 6th and I was really surprised when I couldn't figure out how to get him latching right. It hurt quite a bit and he wasn't gaining enough weight. But she helped me with a few exercises for him and pretty soon it got better.