In agony when I feed on the left boob - help!

[Samemka]

I wonder if someone can help.

I've been breastfeeding my daughter since she was born a week ago. I have no problems on my right boob - but my left one is sheer agony - when she first latches on and starts sucking I can be squeezing OHs hand as tightly as I did when I was in labour It's getting worse now because this pain is throughout the feed, not just at the start, and it's getting to the stage where I feel I can't feed her on the left anymore cos it's so sore. It's like a shooting pain in the nipple - what I imagine it to be like if my poor nipple was in a nipple clamp, LOL! She's positioned correctly and isn't sucking on the end of the nipple, getting a big mouthful etc - like I say I have no problems on the right it's just the left.

Emma does have thrush in her mouth so I'm wondering whether this could be causing me the pain in my left boob, or whether it's somthing else? I've tried nipple cream to no avail and my nipple doesn't look sore or cracked, until you touch it!! I've got a docs appt at 11.30 today as I wasnt given any medicaation for the thrush, so I'll ask about this then - but just wanted to see if any others had a simple problem and what I could do about it.

Thanks girls x

 

[channy3232]

Congrats on your LO!
Does the pain last after you feed? It could definitely be thrush if you already know she has it. I was convinced I had it and my only symptom was pain in my nipple. After putting a bunch of clues together I realized I had a very hard letdown and the flow of milk was so fast LO was clamping down REALLY hard to slow down the flow. Is your nipple flat when you take it out of her mouth? If it is I would say she's just clamping down hard. If it's not and the pain is lasting well after you feed I would think it was thrush. Definitely talk to dr about that.
To fix the hard clamp, you can express a little milk out of that breast before feeding her so it's not squirting.

 

[Samemka]

Thanks for the advice. My nipple is very pointy when she comes off, and the pain doesn't last after I've finished feeding, it stops as soon as she comes off. It's worse when she starts sucking but it continues throughout now whereas at the start it would fade!!

 

[Foogirl]

Me too!

I've tried different positions and it still hurts. I use a nipple shield now and it is much better.

 

[carries]

If you have a pointy nipple and its white where the blood has gone its probably her latch. If its fine on the other side it will probably improve over time. It could be let down pain if it is only at the beginning of the feed, this also gets better after a couple of weeks. I was in tears constantly when I first fed my LO but it got alot better at about 7 weeks.

 

[anothersquish]

I would try expressing just a little milk on the left hand side before having her feed and watch her latch carefully, some struggle more on one side than the other...my sons latch wasnt as good on the left as it was on the right but it also turned out I was producing wayyy more milk on the left and the let down was too fast for him to cope with hence why it ended up being painful for the first couple of weeks.
Course it could be the thrush....hope you have answer from the gp

 

[channy3232]

Sounds like she's just clamping down really hard. That was happening with my little guy too. Now i'll pay close attention to how full my breast is. If it's especially full my let down was too much for him and I would pump a little bit first so I wasn't drowning the poor kid!
I'm not familiar with thrush but if your baby has it, I know you have to be careful you don't get it. That happened to my friend and they kept passing it back and forth even on medication.

 

[Samemka]

Thanks girls.

I don't think I have thrush - I dont have any symptoms and to be honest it sounds more like what you have all mentioned. I'll keep going and hopefully it will improve.

BTW - how does a nipple shield help??

 

[Foogirl]

BTW - how does a nipple shield help??

They don't need to pull the nipple so far back, it forms a barrier between the mouth and the nipple, and it stops them sliding about. It is also good as you can check they are actually taking milk as there will be dome in the shield when you take them off.

It is simply an aide until they get used to it - and if you get sore or cracked nipples they are great.

Word of advice though. Avoid mothercares ones, they are so flimsy, Abby just sucks them right off the nipple. Avent ones work best for me.

 

[Mervs Mum]

Nipple shields are not recommended. If she's latched right your nipple might be longer but not wedge shaped when she comes off.

Are you both being treated for the thrush? You will just pass it between one another if you only treat her/you.

 

[Foogirl]

Nipple shields are not recommended. If she's latched right your nipple might be longer but not wedge shaped when she comes off.

Are you both being treated for the thrush? You will just pass it between one another if you only treat her/you.

Not recommended by whom? They certainly are recommended by the breastfeeding midwives at my hospital.

They can be of great help if nipples are sore or cracked and at the end of the day, if the baby is taking breast milk it makes no difference.

 

[Mervs Mum]

By LCs and BF counsellors. In my BF training we were told to advise against them. They come with their own set of problems. Of course as with all things, it's up to the individual