Breastfeeding help!

[MamaAtkinson]

Good morning,
I am a mother to two. I breastfed my first until he was 9 months old. He is now almost two years old. I recently gave birth to my second child ( just over a week ago). I thought breastfeeding with my second would be abreeze since I had breastfed for so long with my first child. Not the case at all! My second is "creasing" my nipples when he feeds. I am not sure exactly what I am doing wrong. I have seen the lactation at my hospital several times and it always seems like he does well when I am with the LC, but when we get home he starts to crease again. Both his lips are flanged out, the only thing I can tell might be a problem is that he is not opened up wide enough. I wait until he is open as wide as his little mouth will go, but it seems to not be wide enough still. Does anyone else have this problem? Do I need to just grin and bear it for the next few weeks until his mouth gets bigger? My nipples on both sides are now bleeding to the point where I am getting blood all over him when we feed. I don't mind going through the pain if I know it will either eventually get better on its own, or if there is something I can do now to correct it. If I could just get some tips from you ladies on how to relieve the pain and/or fix this problem it would be much appreciated! Thank you so Much!

 

[kerrie24]

Hi,
I thought it would be easy on my 2nd child too,but it wasnt.I had terribly sore bleeding nipples and thought about giving formula a few times.I knew it didnt last long with my daughter so I gave myself a goal of 3 weeks,and it had gone by 2!
Everyone tells you it shouldnt hurt if youre doing it right but countless women find it still hurts at the beginning and are reassured their latch is fine so I think it just takes some getting used to.
The blood wont hurt him,although it looks unsightly.You can try lansinoh cream on them and try letting the fresh air get to them too.
It will get better as his little mouth grows.

 

[CeriB]

I agree with Kerrie - it will get better, once he grows a bit more. Erin used to sick up my blood, which was scarey, but docs assured me it would hurt her.

Good luck and congrats!!

 

[Rose_bud]

It will get better, I had the same with Matthew. It took us 3 weeks to get better. Try nipple shields, different positions and kamillosan ointment they all helped me. It seems like a long way off but once you've got through this you'll barely remember the pain. You're doing really well though!

 

[stephwiggy]

Oh hun how distressing for you, I would suggest some nipple shields too... but try a few brands maybe, some are stiffer than others and bubs may struggle with the size. I'm still learning so to speak, but u will always find great support here. all the best hunn x

 

[minibeast]

this happened to me aswell, when i went in to talk to someone at the maternity ward they showed me how to use a rugby hold, and it was a lot better, from she was getting a good mouthful so my nipples weren't being pulled out at the top and they started to heal.
i found this thread were someone's taken pics of how to do it.
https://www.babyandbump.com/breastfeeding/251144-having-problems-rugby-hold.html good luck xx

 

[MamaAtkinson]

Thank you everyone for the support! It is good to hear that there is light at the end of this long dark tunnel! LOL I will let you all know how it goes over the next couple weeks. Thank you again for the words of encouragement!