Hi Ley!
Firstly, well done you for choosing to BF! It is a lot harder than people realise so good for you!
When I first BF I imagined it would be this wonderful, lovely, bonding experience, but like you, after just a couple of days I started to be in a lot of pain and considered giving up many times, but I was determined not to feed baby formula!
My nipples were red raw, cracked, bleeding, I started to avoid feeds and during feeds I would actually cry and wince the whole time. It was not nice!
So I do have lots of tips for you, which helped me...I am still BF'ing!
1. Lansinoh after every feed is a great idea as it helps to "wet heal" the nipple...you dont want your nipples to dry out when they are already so sore.
2. Sleep topless when your nipples are really sore. You will probably leak everywhere, so put an old towel down in the bed. The leaking milk will help to heal your nipples. Your milk is a great healer for your nipples.
3. Remember, babies have small mouths and it may be simply that baby cant take very much of your areola in his mouth. In this case, which it was for me, get yourself some Avent nipple shields. I used these for approx 8 weeks and decided to take them off one day to see what happened, and it no longer hurt when I fed as baby had got big enough that he could take more nipple in. Hurrah!
4. Try different holds so that the baby sucks on different parts of your boob instead of the same one. This may help make it less sore.
5. There is no reason why, if you are in a lot of pain, you cant take a paracetemol from time to time (not ibuprofen as you cant take it when BF'ing)
6. Get comfortable with lots of cushions, use a foot stool to get in a good position, and keep hydrated with lots of water..though it wont stop the pain, it will just make things slightly easier.
7. Remember that you are doing a wonderful thing and it wont always be this painful or hard!
I hope that helps!
xxx