Can you have a good latch but get injured/sore still

[cupcaker]

I had an awful time BF my son, and I stopped by around 6 weeks (and that had pushed me to the VERY limit). He had a tongue tie, but it got snipped at 4 weeks, but alas nothing seemed to improve and I just found it SO incredibly painful. Latch etc was confirmed as good and he gained weight etc superbly throughout this. I had mastitsis at one point too, but there were painful problems way before that.

I had my daughter just shy of a week ago. Although I feel more able to cope with a bit of pain feeding this time ( I have no other pains like stitches etc making it harder) I am still concerned. She had a tongue tie snipped after birth, so I feel I have gotten off to the best start this time. The latch has been confirmed as good (I also think it looks good) but it is still very painful, mostly at latch on which i know can be normal, but i still have bloodied parts on my nipples and sometimes love bite style bruises. Despite the pain, I do really shove her as far on as I can to get that good latch and it honestly, as others have said, looks "good" even if it makes me want to black out at first.

so will I toughen off?! Can it all be going swimmingly but regardless, some people need to toughen their skin a bit? Feeling hopeful yet spooked by last time around I had two babies on gas and air and don't consider myself a wimp but this is crap.

ETA and update: well around day 11+ things have improved. she's two weeks old now and I don't think about painkillers (I took painkillers in first week at least) or "dread" the feed so much. SO much better than with my son, I think it will actually work out this time, or I'm at least more optemistic.

 

[minties]

I had excruciating pain with Sophie (and Thomas). Cracking nipples, blood blistered and I wanted to scream when she latched. I hated breastfeeding and dreaded it. The pain was just beyond anything. C-section recovery was easy...breastfeeding sucked.

I have no idea what happened but on day 9 it hurt a lot less. Day 10 I was pretty ecstatic. On day 7 I had called my midwife in tears so it went from terrible to fine in a short period of time.

 

[tinymumma]

I found the first week or two quite uncomfortable, to say the least! Now however, the only owchies are when he initially attaches, when he triggers a let down and when he gets distracted and turns his head, pulling my nipple with him It honestly gets better by the day though xo Hang in there mama

 

[lucy2013]

Yes, I had initial soreness which only finally went away after 3 weeks and I had it confirmed latch was ok and bubba gained weight well.

It does irritate me a bit that you are lead to believe if it hurts then something is wrong...this isn't always true. Our poor nipples do need to toughen up! I was feeding my lo up to 20 times a day in the early weeks and my nipples simply weren't used to it!

I also had some painful letdowns and occasionally it is still uncomfortable now. I am 10 weeks in

 

[caitlyn2009]

This thread has helped me tremendously! I am only 2 days in, but everyone says baby's latch is fine, but oh am I sore. I am glad to hear that if I tough it out, things will get better. The lactation consultant gave me a nipple shield, but I haven't decided if I want to use it or not.

 

[Eegee]

Jasmine had her tongue tie snipped at 5 days old, but breastfeeding has been painful throughout - she's 11 weeks today. It turns out that the ENT at the LGI who snipped the tie doesn't believe in posterior tongue tie so only snips the really obvious bit. Numerous midwives, health visitors and NHS breastfeeding people have watched me feed with a 'perfect' latch, but I finally discovered she had PTT from the one HV who had been trained to spot it. She wasn't convinced it'd be having an effect on feeding but I saw a breastfeeding advisor from NCT yesterday who said it is affecting feeding and that's why I'm still in pain.

As others have said, feeding might get easier so I don't want to come across as really negative, but with you saying that your son's feeding didn't get better it made me wonder. I would definitely look into it as a possibility - if I'd have realised sooner I could have saved myself months of pain!

 

[MommyJogger]

I agree with Eegee. I would consider whether all the ties have been released properly. You sometimes have to really vet who checks and performs the revision because a lot of doctors won't spot the less obvious ties. Bf is uncomfortable in the beginning, even painful, but damage is an absolute sign of latch problems. I know some kids can overcome it themselves as they age and their mouths get bigger, so it won't necessarily be a problem forever, but you might could get relief sooner than that by seeing someone. Local mom's groups on facebook are a good place to ask for recommendations for someone who can spot a ptt. You could even contact an excellent doctor just outside of your area and get a recommendation for someone closer to you. We called a Canadian clinic and they were able to help us find appropriate bf specialists with experience in our unique challenges all the way in PA.
If you can see yourself approaching a pain limit, get help asap. Dig the well before you're thirsty.

 

[noon_child]

A latch can 'look' good from the outside but it is really difficult to tell what is going on inside. My LO has an ENT consult for tongue tie but they said 'No', but despite this my daughter still used her gums instead of her tongue a lot of the time.

How your nipple comes out after a feed is usually a good indicator of what is happening in LO's mouth.

Yes breasts are tender and hot from hormones and milk production, and discomfort is normal but if you look at a diagram of where the nipple should be inside their mouth when they feed you'll really understand why a lot of people say pain is not normal. The end of the nipple shouldn't be squashed or flattened or bleeding because it shouldn't come in to contact with any part of LOs mouth, it is supposed to be in a 'gap'.

I believe my LO had a combination of small mouth and incorrect tongue use and it was sooooooo painful despite everyone looking and saying they didn't know how to improve it. As she got bigger it improved but I think upright feeding positions and my reluctance to unlatch her (it was such a struggle to get her on in the first place that I gritted my teeth through the pain and really messed my nipples up) contributed to my problems. I'd recommend as many support groups and breastfeeding counsellor visits as you need to feel supported and empowered to get to a point where you are happy to keep breastfeeding.

 

[AK89]

Ooh I'm glad I've found this section of the forum! I've been breastfeeding my 6 day old and have found it quite challenging at times to say the least.. It's the evening feeds that get me. I'll quite happily feed all day long, and then it comes to evening and she pretty much constantly wants to be suckling and my poor nipples just can't take it! It's felt a bit better tonight so not sure if it's just getting better with time, or if I'm just concentrating on my latch a bit more 'cause last night was so excruciating that my OH ended up googling it with me for a while to calm me down! I didn't realise the latch had to be asymmetrical, in that they're meant to get the whole of the areala beneath the nipple in, and the nipple (obviously!) but then much less if not none of the areola from above. I think it's better now I'm making sure this is happening, although it is still quite sore, especially when she first latches on.

I think we should all give ourselves a pat on the back for persevering though! I told my midwife today that I've been struggling and she was like "Are you topping her up then?" and I was like "Errm...what?" haha.. and she was like "With a bottle? Are you topping her up?" and I was like "Noooo no!" and she said that's really good 'cause a lot of mums tend to settle for doing that. So pats on the back all round!

Hopefully it'll get better with time..

 

[sue_88]

My LO had a perfect latch an I got sore and cracked. Something is sucking on your nipples for hours, then they dry then go again...of course that's going to get sore! I was in agony!!

But day 7-10 really eased, then after that was a breeze. Perseverance is key!

 

[newlywedtzh]

I have posted so much about my painful/sore nipples and painful nursing. I also had mastitis a couple weeks ago (Awful). Two lactation consultants said my latch was good (not right after birth of course). Babies mouths are very small and I think it takes a good 6 weeks for them to learn an efficient latch/ their mouths need to get a little bigger. It takes dedication to get through the first 6 weeks I think. I read everywhere that after 2-3 weeks bfing should be going well. I think that isn't necessarily true for everyone, I think it takes much longer a lot of the time. Nursing is no longer painful for me and my nipples seem to be healing finally at 7 weeks. Hang in there ! I was so stressed but glad I stuck it out as it seems like second nature now.