First-time Mother seeking advice on Breastfeeding Pains

kmgirl1

Hi Guys, I'm the proud mother of an 8 week old and most things are going really well Especially in terms of his sleeping patterns and feeding and thank god my body seems to be healing up pretty well. My only real issue is that nipples are in constant agony. They're raw and cracked and extremely painful from breastfeeding. What do other people use to soothe this? Do the nipple creams (mulitmam etc) actually help? If so, which one do most people recommend? Thanks in advance :-)

scarepanda

First thing you should do is make contact with a qualified breastfeeding consultant. You'll find a local list through le leche league or cuidiu. They will be able to advice and guide you to being able to feed your LO without issues.

But the hospital recommended multimam to me when I had my LO. From memory the treated breastpad thingy was the best (sorry I can't remember it's actual name), but breastmilk itself and air are also very helpful. If you need to give your nipples a break you can use nipple shields, but be careful neither yourself or baby gets to dependent on them as they can affect feeding and supply (10 months later I'm still using them as I got to dependent on them and my LO now doesn't really know what to do without them). The nipple shields will provide your nipple with a bit of protection while still allowing you to keep feeding.

shesty

Oh gosh yes!Do look into some help just to see if you could do anything to relieve that.And for immediate relief, lanolin ointment is the business.Worth every penny, only tiny amounts needed so one tube goes a long way.Used it on both of mine.Lots of time out in the air too, and if needed nipple shields can help give them a break too :-)

jlm29

As above! Multimam and lanolin are great.
There's an ointment called APNO which can be prescribed if you need it, but I've never used it, so I don't know much about it.
8 weeks in though, you should be over the worst of the cracking etc, unless there's a latch issue that is preventing them from healing up. Look for an ibclc, or find your local cuidiu or LLL groups.
Have a search on YouTube for flipple technique too, that video might help!

bp

The multiman pad things are great. I used to cut one in half. I would speak to someone about the pain - I went back to holes st with mine and once the latch was fixed it was so much easier

Little_cub

I have a 3 week old and have been suffering with painful, cracked & bleeding nipples too! It's the worst. I found getting a lactation consultant out to the house really useful, she diagnosed posterior tongue tie and showed me how to improve the latch with positions etc. She also recommended breast angels silver nipple shells, these are quite expensive (about €50) but have made an incredible difference and after 24hrs use the cracks are really starting to heal! You hand express a few drops of breast milk into them and wear them inside your bra, I didn't believe they would work but was desperate so thought I'd give them a go. Cannot recommend them enough!

kmgirl1

Thanks for all of the above ladies! It's a huge help and also amazing to know that I can rely on here for quick and well-thought out advice Will definitely try a combination of Mulltimam, lanolin oil and those breast angels sliver nipple shells. I know they might be a bit expensive but honestly, I'm intending to breastfeed for as long as I can and feel pretty determined in-spite of these occasional road bumps with nipple pain. I'm sure it will be worth it in the end :-)

mrsmags16

The Lansinoh lanolin went on me after every feed from day 1 and I'm one month in now with no problems. I have a little purple tube lying in every room! Also amazing as lip balm!

ncmc

I found the multimum nipple balm amazing. But I think it would definitely be no harm to get in touch with a lactation consultant or your local cuidiu bf group. By 8 weeks, I would have expected the pain and cracked nipples to have abated. I would suspect there could be an issue with a shallow latch so the baby is only getting the end of the nipple in rather than the whole thing. A LC will be able to help with that.

Well done for persevering despite the pain, it can't have been easy.

Lolococo

Those angel shields are worth it. I developed a cracked nipple that got infected while bf no1, the pain was so bad I had to give up bf. The same happened for no. 2. For no 3 I got the shields and had no problem. There is no need for cream when you use them. Make sure you get the phn to check you out, I percevered with the pain on no1 thinking it was normal and ended up with an infection. The correct latch means everything. Congrats on getting to 8 weeks, remember everyfeed counts.

bonnie_

Just another recommendation here too for the breast angels they worked great for me. I would also second the advice to see a lactation consultant or other professional. Looking back now I can see that we had latch issues for the first 3 or 4 months. I persevered thinking it was "normal". It sorted itself eventually with the help of the flipple technique as jlm29 mentioned too but I wish now I had got help earlier.

Marz66

Congratulations and well done.

Multimams are meant to be amazing.

Just to repeat though that those things really only treat the symptoms and not the problem. There must be something a little off with the latch to cause the pain. It may be something v small that can be fixed by adjusting the latch slightly. You could google flipple technique.
But would you consider ringing a trained volunteer from Cuidiu or LLL for advice? They can ask the right questions to get to the bottom of the problem.
Or you can get a private lactation consultant to your house who can look at the latch in person and advise you. It costs 50-100 and can often be reclaimed on health insurance.
Good luck

kmgirl1

Hi Ladies, Thanks again for all the above This is really great! So glad I came to this forum now :-) I definitely agree with Marz66 as regards the pain/nipple soreness being a symptom rather than the actual problem. I've booked in to see a consultant next week. In the meantime, I've stocked up on some Multimam so fingers crossed there. I ordered online for convenience sake this time round (I'm exhausted) but going forward can I just ask where is the best place value wise to buy their products? Are there ever any offers in Boots etc? I'm based in South Dublin :-)