Newborn - Sore nipples etc

[brunettebimbo]

I had my son yesterday at 2.25am. He is quite good at BF but his latch isn't quite big enough. I can't seem to get his mouth open enough. Today my nipples are really sore. Any tips on getting him to open his mouth wider please? I BF my first son until he self weaned at 18 months and never had that problem with him.

Also he is sleeping pretty much all day and awake every hour in the night. I'm having to wake him up to feed in the day which can be really hard!

Thanks in advance.

 

[caitlyn2009]

I learned very quickly to sandwich my nipple in my hand so that as he latched I could help guide more of my breast tissue into his mouth. Also, don't he afraid to unlatch and reposition as needed to get a comfortable latch. As the sleepiness, try changing him before every feeding in order to get him woken up and ready to eat.

 

[Missyann]

I had the same sleepiness issue with DS for the first couple of days. He just needed the sleep and within a couple of days, he was eating every 2-3 hours, even at night. No need for me to do the waking.

 

[eyemom]

A couple of things I did early on:

Kind of brushed my nipple against her cheek to try to take advantage of her rooting reflex.

Sometimes I'd gently guide her chin to open wider.

In the meantime, you can try letting a little breast milk dry on your nipples to help heal. I preferred that over lanolin and ointments with DD1, but don't be afraid to try those things too if it comes down to it.

 

[brunettebimbo]

My husband nipped to the chemist and the only cream they had was Bennetts. I applied before bed and it's amazing! The redness has gone already and I've been able to feed from both sides during the night!

I've been changing his bum before each feed and leaving his babygrow open whilst I feed him which seems to be helping.