Areolas too large and swollen to get a good latch, help please

[Beadle]

I am having such a hard time getting DD to latch now that my milk has come in, I had troubles to begin with because my areola is rather large, like almost palm sized, and my breasts are large as well, 38DDD, and both combined make it very hard to find a good spot for DD and make it hard for her to latch. But now that my milk came in today my areolas swelled up and now she can't latch onto anything but the puckered nipple, which hurts like crazy and causes too much air to get in so she has bad gas pains.

I have tried pumping to see if that will reduce some swelling so she can get a latch but it doesn't really help much.

Is there anything I can do? Or should I just pump to feed her and hope that after a few days it shrinks down enough for her to latch again? Sometimes I can manage her to latch onto the right side, but that's not too often and only if I can find a way to prop her up while using my hands to clamp my areola/nipple so it's small enough to fit into her mouth, and that's not comfortable for either of us.

 

[Katteh]

Have a look at this page: https://kellymom.com/bf/concerns/mother/rev_pressure_soft_cotterman/

It details reverse pressure softening which will help reduce the swelling and help your little one latch on. Hope it helps xx

 

[keese22]

I had this problem and my nipples ended up almost flat. I used nipple shields for a few weeks to help lo latch. As te enforcement went down and lo got older and his suck was stronger he was able to latch without them

 

[Bluewings]

This happened to me as well, and while my breasts and areolas aren't quite so large they are large for me and my size and made latching really difficult and painful when they were engorged.

Honestly it just happened for a day and a half and now we are back to latching normally. I hand expressed on each breast to relieve some pressure and to allow the nipples to actually be pliable.

 

[Beadle]

Thanks so much everyone, I found a variation to the football hold that helps a little but only works when I'm sitting in an armchair or a couch with a lot of pillows on one side. I'm trying the techniques on that link so hopefully it'll work soon so I don't have to keep juggling everything so much lol