Had Enough!! :(

[pookied]

Really feel like giving up Breast feeding.. its been 3 weeks tuesday and nipples are saw.. she refuses to latch correctly No matter how many times we go back to basics skin to skin.. nipple to nose, nice wide mouth etc i still end up giving in and sitting there in pain.. she seems to get one illness after the other i was under the illusion my milk would help with this she is also growling and reaching and being sick (not much) after feeds I feel like im failing.. part of me feels like i have done my bit now and it would be much easier with formula!!
How can i make this easier also is the reaching and constantly wanting to be sick something i have eaten or drunk?

 

[Ingodshand]

I so feel for you! The first month is so hard. My ds had awful gas and it really helped when i gave up dairy. You could start there and see if you notice an improvement. Had she been checked for a tongue or lip tie? Those can make latching very difficult. Maybe meet with a lc? I noticed a huge difference once Evan reached 6 weeks. You could also try to pump for a feed or two just to give yourself a break. This really saved me!

 

[bdb84]

Yes, *please* have her checked for a tongue or lip (or both!) tie. It makes nursing so painful even if they still are getting enough for their weight and urine output to not be affected.

I would have your pediatrician refer you to a pediatric ENT.

 

[Rags]

As pp's have said, check out the lip/tongue tie. DS's was noticed very quickly by a midwife who then advised me to express and drip feed him with a syringe until it was clipped. As has also been said, it can take a month or so for you nipples to settle. If one side is particularly bad try giving it a couple of feeds off or even only using it once in 24hours for a wee while to let it heal. Also try gently expressing a small amount of milk at the end of a feed and covering the nipple in it as this should help with healing.
It is hard work at the start, which is what you are going through at the moment, but honestly, once you've both got the hang of it it is so much easier, and cheaper. Good luck.

 

[Maxy1]

I am with you on this! And this is babe number two for me. I fed my first for 22 months only stopping when I was pregnant so thought this would be easier to start up agin since my nips only had a few months off!! Wrong

I too am feeling like stopping. DD has a lip tie, same as her brother which is getting lasered on Friday. So I am hanging out to see if that improves things for us. It made a big difference with DS immediately so hopefully it will be a reprieve. The other thing we are working through is my Raynauds which is severe this time with DD being a winter baby.

Same as other pp's I recommend seeing an LC and get all the mechanics checked over before you give up if BFing is important to you.

If the latch is not quite right your bubs might not be getting enough hind milk which will upset her tim mad give her bad gas. I found taking out orange juice is a big thing to help both mine settle better tummy wise. Stay away from the typical things that will give adults gas and limit dairy. I don't recommend excluding it until you have talked with a health professional and had your latch checked though.

 

[Novbaby08]

The first month is the worst (it gets better after the first baby though), with my oldest I spent 5 weeks with raw nipples going through agonizing pain everytime she latched on. She acted like I was torturing her every time I nursed her. It was horrible, eventually it got better and before I knew it that time I struggled so much was over and felt like such a short period of time.

 

[hakunamatata]

The first 6 weeks are the hardest. The pp's had good suggestions too. Hang in there!

 

[readynwilling]

I had to give up dairy and caffeine for my LO. Both gave him terrible gas and vomiting. Now at 10m I am starting to reintroduce it and find it's not causing him issues the first month is really hard. But once the nipple pain goes away (and it should) and she gets the hang of it, it becomes SO EASY (most of the time...)