Shallow latch & lipstick nipple

[Nixilix]

So my baby is 9 days old however he has only been on the breast since day 6 due to a stint in NICU. Those first 6 days I pumped and caused a lot of damage including cracked bleeding blistered nipples.

The cracks are healing, However... The initial latch is so sore to the point I want to scream (and often do!) then after that its slghtly better but having large boobies mean I have to support then or it slips and it stings. My nipples are quite flat but not completely.

When he releases (and I tend to have to take him off cause he stops without releasing latch) my nipple is shaped like a lipstick. I'm now developing tiny blisters which are making this worse. Ive tried all the holds but nothin improves this. I know nipple shields aren't recommended but I may have to use them until I can get to/build up the courage to go to a group.

Any suggestions on getting a deeper latch? Is it cause his mouth is just too small??

 

[dollyemi]

Ouch, I don't have experience of this but when I was having bf difficulties I went to my local bf support group at a sure start children's centre and called the bf helpline at nct. Don't suffer in silence, the support is there, call your health visitor or local children's centre and they will tell you where to go for some support, plus its free!

 

[staybeautiful]

I had a similar problem with the blistering and cracking due to expressing while LO was having trouble with his suck reflex (even had trouble getting him to take a bottle of expressed milk or formula) and one of the midwives in the hospital gave me little sachets of Lansinoh to see if it helped, and it honestly does. It's on offer in Boots just now (£6 something rather than £10) for a full sized tube of it. I still get a nip when he first latches on, but it's definitely not as bad as it was when I had little blisters and scabs on the end of my nipples.

 

[Nixilix]

I'm half way through a tube of lansinoh and it could be helping! Just tried nipple shield and he wouldn't take it so going to have to soldier on til tomorrow. Ouch!

 

[PerpetualMama]

are your breasts too full when you start to nurse? Sometimes mine would get so hard the nipple would be too hard too for baby to get a proper latch on. I used to express a little by hand just to soften the nipple a little, then pinch the nipple slightly from in back of the areola to help it protrude and when the baby opens their mouth (make sure it's wide enough and) stuff the nipple in as far as you can. After a while they get the hang of it. If the baby is latched on too shallow break the suction with your finger in the corner of his moth and try again. It gets a little frustrating sometimes until they get the hang of it, but hang in there if you can! BTW, Nipple is always a funny shape after nursing. I used warm tea bags on my nipples to relieve the blisters. Oh, and never just pull the nipple out of his mouth if he stops nursing, always break suction first. If I recall the first few weeks until your let down gets established I always remember a little pain on latch and let down, it does go away.

 

[patooti]

Lansinoh will help but also important to fix that latch. I ravaged my nipples the first few days with the same issue and trying different positions helped. I switched to side lying for a while as it was easiest to get him to latch deeply enough.

If using a football or cross the front hold make sure that the baby is really really close to your body and able to tip head back to get the lower lip nice and low on the areola, that should lessen the pinching and then will let the lansinoh help to heal those cracks. Also, be vigilant to break the latch any time you feel that pinch. There will be some residual pain from the existing cracks but it should just be tugging you feel not pinching or there is some damage going on and it will just reinforce to baby that they can feed that way.

Also good if you can have someone show you in person. For me, another thing I was doing was scooping baby up over nipple instead of pushing him straight on and also I was using my hand to move breast to baby instead of just baby to breast and all of these contributed to my pinched nipples.

Good luck resolving this, the pain is really hard to take so I can certainly empathise.

 

[chattyB]

Check LO for tongue-tie. My LO managed to completely destroy my nipple in 3 days and the first thing I noticed (before the cracking/bleeding/blisters etc) was lipstick shaped nipples and intense stinging and pain. His latch looked perfect on the outside and both midwives and breast feeding support couldn't work out why I had so much damage, until his mouth was checked. He had it snipped on day 8 and have had no nipple damage since.

 

[New2Bumps]

I'm still having problems with LOs latch. Sometimes it's great other times it's v. shallow. It's so frustrating. I do the same each time! If I take him off he relatches poorly again or not at all so I'm reluctant to take him off.

 

[Nixilix]

my breasts arent full - far from it. DD was tongue tied so i made sure that was checked first. The mw today and breastfeeding support both said it looks perfeect but like i said - it cant be or it wouldnt hurt. They said i might have sensitive nipples and also we are a bit lost as he is a day 10 baby on day 5 of bf due to his special care stint.

So who knows - i think i may try one more help group tomorrow and if no signs of improvement i may have to sucome to the fact that its just not for us. That will break my heart though. After failing with DD due to un-diagnosed tongue tie i really wanted it to work this time

 

[keela]

Do not give up. If your nipple is lipstick shaped then there is a problem with your latch. His mouth may be too small and this will fix itself as he grows or there could be another problem. Shallow latches can also be caused by upper lip ties.
Look online at videos on how to latch and keep trying.

Having a latch problem is a good thing. Latch can always be fixed.

 

[minties]

I still have lipstick shaped nipples and my baby is 13 weeks old (no pain since day 9 and she's a big chubby girl). I also have large breasts and flatish nipples.

I had lipstick nipples with my son too, even when he was a toddler. I just thought it was due to the large boobs.

 

[Twinkie210]

I don't have any advice, I just wanted to say good luck! My son did the same thing and I never could get him to latch deeper (I suspect a upper lip tie). I ended up switching to EPing because he was mangling my nipples and not gaining weight.

 

[SheIBCLC]

Lipstick nipple shape is showing that he is latched too shallow. If you have large breasts try having a small pillow underneath them to support them and have your hand in a C shape around the areola. Help him to put more of his chin into the breast and his nose up like he's sniffing. This helps create the asymmetrical latch which is nice and deep. You can also try laid back nursing where you are in a semi-reclined position and he comes across your stomach on his belly. Having him laying on your stomach with his hands on your breast helps him to find the nipple and have a deeper latch.
As for the cracked/soreness try some gel pads. You can order them on Amazon or maybe your local superstore has them. They are INCREDIBLE! They are little squares of gel that soothe and heal your nipples. You can reuse a pair for up to 6 days, just rinse and dry them between uses. The only problem is you can't use creams. So no cream with the gel pads, but they are totally worth it!
Good luck and hang in there.
-She