Latching and pain feeding

[Lara310809]

I've always been confused by latching. With my first baby I thought we had latch issues and that's why I couldn't BF her,'but this time around I've been putting her on the same way as with my first and been told by the midwives it's a good latch.

I said it still hurt and they said that perhaps I just has sensitive nipples and that was why. I have been able to push past the pain most of the time and eventually it settles down enough to be comfortable.

Last night she was feeding every 5mins for 6hrs;'I figure if my boobs could handle that then it must have been a decent latch. But tonight she's feeding less frequently (every 2hrs ish, but from both breasts, sometimes twice each). And it hurts more. I had her on my right breast for about 20 seconds and had to take her off again because it was like a knife to my nipple. Perhaps I didn't give it long enough for her to settle down though; she starts off really intense and then chills to a slower pace.

Do you think it still be painful if she is latching properly? I get really worried that I'm latching her wrong and doing myself more damage in the long run, but she looks like she's latched fine. I'm confused

 

[lisaf]

Does it hurt between feeds at all? Or immediately after?

Its possible you are still in the adjustment period, many women experience sensitivity that ranges from discomfort to pain so bad they cry in anticipation of each feed. It usually lasts about 10 days.

However thrush can also cause pain but that usually happens when you're not feeding too. If you or LO got antibiotics during the birth that can increase the chances of thrush. I'm not sure how old your LO is, but if you're still within the first 10-14 days, I'd probably guess its the initial sensitivity.

Has your LO also been checked for tongue-tie? It can cause pain with latching even though it looks good. Thats one simple thing to check.

 

[Lara310809]

She's 2 days old. She hasn't been checked for TT but she doesnt stick her Tongue out either so I might ask about it. The pain usually goes after feeding; certainly within 10 mins the sensitivity is gone.

 

[lisaf]

2 days its very likely its just normal sensitivity... though it SUCKS.
Its very easy to get checked for tongue tie.

I will share my story though... we had a lot of trouble latching at first, when we finally got it down it hurt it sooooo bad. I had him checked for tongue tie by everyone because of the pain and that he wouldn't stick his tongue out past his gums. It really felt like he was just clamping my nipple between his gums. We tried a nipple shield but it just hurt worse and my nipple would come out pinched flat like it was the only way he could hold it in his mouth.
Finally one day he got hungry enough (we had to hold off feeding him for a medical reason) and he stuck his tongue out and the tip went heart-shaped... classic sign of TT. I got him to an ENT doc who at first probe said there wasn't a tongue-tie, when I told him what I'd seen with the heart-shaped tip he probed more and found something to clip.. clipped it and it was AMAZING. We still had some discomfort due to a lip-tie which we eventually got clipped... but it went from excruciating pain to moderate/mild discomfort when the TT was clipped.
So I just wanted to share in case you have someone tell you its not tongue-tie but it just doesn't feel right.

For now, just get it checked, if they say there isn't a tongue tie, just give it some time... if after a few weeks it still hurts really bad, get another opinion.

 

[Dorian]

With my second baby I had painful latching too. I couldn't figure out what was wrong, as it looked right by me and mw/nurses. But my nurse sister came to visit, and she suggested that my breast wasn't all the way in babies mouth...even thought it looked like it. So when baby latched on, I just gentle pushed a bit more of it into her mouth withe my finger, and that helped tremedously.

Good luck