New to breastfeeding..a few questions

[WanaBaba]

I sympathise with you so much - I had dreadful nipple pain with my first child and many nights crying over it. It sounds like it's the cracking that us causing pain now - does it hurt all the way through the feed or just for the first few mins? I remember dreading feeding and crying out with pain when she latched onto my bleeding nipples. Once I had corrected the latch it took a couple of weeks for the cracks to heal completely and from then on in feeding was so easy. There is light at the end of the tunnel. Gang on in there, you're doing a great job xx

It hurts SO MUCH when she first latches then the pain lessens a little but still hurts and then when she sucks really hard and takes big swallows the pain goes up again. Can not wait to be able to feed without being on edge and actually enjoy breast feeding!

 

[WanaBaba]

LC came out again today, she is also a midwife so has taken over my care so she can also assist me with the breast feeding. She checked latch and said it looks right but to go by the feel/level of pain. Asked about tongue tie and she said she doesn't think my baby has this as baby is really good at latching, opens her mouth wide, latches on herself in the lying down position etc. She thinks the clicking is because I have a really fast letdown and the flow is so much for LO she sometimes looses suction. So when I hear the click I have to first try and move her head down a bit before I resort to taking her off. I find it hard to get her back on properly though without taking her off, will this get easier?
LO was on my right boob for 4 and a half hours last night without any breaks, half the time she was just doing little sucks. I think she was cluster feeding? I then tried her on my lrft boob before putting her down in her bed and she had about 10 minutes. My left nipple hurts the most it has a huge crack in it which has scabbed over and it terrifies me outting her on it but I'm afraid that I will only get milk in my right if I carry on is this right? I have been pumping a couple times a day for around 10 mins on my left boob and have actually been feeding from it just not as much as the right because the pain scares me and I'm so worried about making it any worse!

 

[WanaBaba]

Midwife weighed baby and she is almost back at her birth weight which is apparently good so hopefully I'm doing something right

 

[besty]

I had this with my first baby. The midwives and lc told the
Latch was right ect but it did turn out my first had tongue tie
But was only diagnosed with the lc putting her fingering my daughters mouth and having a proper feel under her tongue. It's awful when you dread feeding. I've since had another baby and feeding this time has been a breeze. Get your babies tongue thoroughly checked out

 

[irish_cob]

Do you think you have fast let down? Fast let down usually results in the baby coming off the boob spluttering and milk shoots out of your boob half way across the room.

Clicking and feeding for hours and nipple pain are all classic signs of tongue tie I'm afraid. Just because your baby can latch on herself it doesn't mean she isn't tt. Your LC who is also a mw doesn't seem great to me. She doesn't think it's a tt? Basically she doesn't know? I doubt she's an IBCLC. To save your bfing relationship you really need some qualified help, not just from someone who has taken a couple of day courses in breastfeeding. Whereabouts are you? Could you look into an IBCLC or an ent?

I agree with the previous poster, had alsorts of trouble with dd1 who was tt, she couldn't bf at all, I got fobbed off by midwives etc until I saw an IBCLC and then a paediatric ent specialist who separated the tongue tie. Too little too late though, she was formula fed from 4.5 weeks. Dd2 I've not had a twinge of pain from day 1, even though she's slightly tt. Her latch isn't amazing but it doesn't hurt and she's thrived for the past 8 months so that's good enough for me.

I don't agree with all the people who say bfing always hurts at the beginning, I'm living proof it doesn't always and it really shouldn't. I know you probably feel like loads of people are nagging you and getting at you but we really can see what's going on from the outside and all signs point to tt/ latching problem xx

 

[WanaBaba]

Yeah I definitely have a fast letdown.

I've been looking online at tongue tie and going from the pics it doesn't look like my LO has it? I also read that baby wouldn't be able to stick her tongue right out of her mouth?mmy LOs tongue does come out.

We have had a good day today, nipples are still sore but don't seem to be getting any worse! And my right one actually looks a lot better just very sore still. I have discovered that the lying down position is my fave as it doesn't hurt, only for the initial latch on but then barely after that

The midwife seemed to think it was ok her coming off when the milk was flowing so fast? Is this not normal?

Feeling a bit worried now about tongue tie.

Would things be improving if she had it? They seem to be, only problem is the pain but nipples are still so sore.

 

[bdb84]

Have you checked in a lip tie? I'm not trying to imply that one of these *is* her issue, but I just know of too many ruined nursing relationships that could have prevented by a simple clip because the problem went misdiagnosed.

 

[bdb84]

Oh, and a tongue/lip tie doesn't always mean a ruined nursing relationship, but it usually means a very painful nursing relationship and that, for me, would ruin nursing altogether.

 

[irish_cob]

Yes it's fine for her to come off when your letdown happens if it's too forceful/fast for her. Grab a cloth/towel and let the milk flow into that until it has stopped gushing then relatch lo.

Tt isn't always so extreme that the baby can't stick her tongue out, any slight restriction of the tongue can cause issues because baby uses her tongue in a wave like motion to feed.

I'm glad things are getting less painful for you xx

 

[WanaBaba]

Does anyone know how to upload a pic from a phone onto here? HTC one. Can't seem to do it x

 

[cait]

If it hurts after the initial latch that's not a good sign - but if it's ok after the first few mins when you're lying down then I'd stick with that position as it sounds like the latch is good in that position, and should hopefully give your nipples a chance to heal.
I don't know anything about tongue tie or lip tie but just going by my experience with cracked nipples that once we had perfected the latch it only hurt (but hurt loads) when latching, and then once they healed it didn't hurt at all. Keep using nipple cream and/or breastmilk on the cracks and air drying.