Start and stopping breastfeeding

[LoveandPeace_]

Only at a day old, i started out breastfeeding, went well for the first few latches, then my nipples became cracked and bleeding. I couldn't take the pain and switched to bottle feeding which baby does not like! I really want to breastfeed again when my nipples are better. Will this be possoble?

 

[missk1989]

I know its hard but you have to keep baby on if you want to bf. If you dont the lack of stimulation will mean you will have a very low supply and struggle to feed. If you apply plenty of nipple cream (lanisoh is amazing) it will help to heal but unfortunatley bottles will do you more harm than good at this stage if you are using them for more than 1-2 feeds a day.

 

[BigAl]

Tbh you just gotta work through it. Once they heal and you try latching again, you will probably just have the same oroblem again. Plenty of lanisoh helped me, make sure the latch is correct too. Your breast really need constant stimulation at this point, to bring your milk supply up to speed, so you may find it impossible to switch at such an early stage.

Always worth perservering if that's what you want to do, some bf better than none.

 

[Zephram]

As the other ladies are saying, you kind of just need to keep going through it. It's important to have baby to breast as often as possible at your LO's age. Get the lansinoh and apply, apply, apply! It really does help.

 

[NoodleSnack]

Get the latch checked, some ladies find nipple shield helps, use lansinoh and air your nipples to help them heal faster. Your milk will come in soon, after that you need to feed her or pump to maintain your supply, but the best way is to feed on demand.

 

[icklemonster]

If the latch is OK and you're using lanisoh, I promise if you can get through to night 5 then things will become a little brighter and it will start to hurt less. I used to find after counting to 20 the pain would subside a little - during which time I'd think of the pain of a contraction and how I had got through that.

I used nipple shields from week 3 until about 9 and they didn't affect my supply so may be worth a shot, and definitely better than substituting with formula if you really want to breastfeed. I was warned bf would be painful initially, I'm glad people were honest with me. I haven't met a real life Mum (they seem to exist on here though) who hasn't found breastfeeding painful to start with. I promise it gets sooooo much easier and will soon become totally painfree (until teeth, we're going through that now lol). Good luck and congrats on your new arrival xxx