Day 5 breastfeeding - need some more help please. - UPDATED

Update - I just wanted to say we have had a brilliant day, she has latched on straight away for every feed and it hasnt hurt. I presume my breasts were just too firm last night with my milk coming. Today has been so different. 

Thanks for your help, fingers crossed tonight goes better!!

I is now feeding about every three hours during night, she seems to go longer during day but still early days.  I stopped trying to wake her and let her lead me. 

Last night was fairly hellish though. I have been pumping some milk off before I latch her, which has been better and she seems to latch onto my right not too bad. But it still takes a while of her going on and off. 

My left one has been problematic! I was in agony everytime last night. The inital latch is torture, when she gets going its not too bad but not pain free. I know this shouldnt be happening but I actually think her latch looks good so I dont understand the pain. She takes a long while to latch on and spends a good ten minutes fussing. 

My nipple are not cracked nor bleeding, when she comes off though they do look a funny shape. I managed to feed her lying down last night as my boobs are so sore, when she get cross she just kicks them like crazy. I couldnt deal with that pain either. 

Any tips of how I can make things easier. It was really tough at 4am this morning. I had expressed some milk off and put it in a bottle. I got to point last night and asked H to give her that to calm her down. That made her more cross! 

I am going to ring someone today to come out and see me. The lady I spoke to on saturday was rubbish, so could someone give me some other numbers to ring?

TIA

Feeding lying down might be better left until she is a little older.  I found I needed to get the hang of feeding in an upright position before I could comfortably feed lying down.

It could be something subtle wrong with her latch or positioning so it probably is best to call someone.

Here are the numbers I was given:

Association of Breastfeeding Mothers: 08444 122 949
Breastfeeding Network: 0844 412 4664
National Childbirth Trust: 0300 330 0771
La Leche League: 0845 120 2918
National Breastfeeding Helpline: 0844 20 909 20

If your nipples are a funny shape on coming out, she may be slightly wrongly angled. Have you tried the rugby ball hold on that side, so she latches in the same way as she does on the right? Re the bobbing & fussing, if you're spraying milk everywhere when she does it, she's probably getting a bit overwhelmed. You lying back when feeding helps that, as gravity slows the flow. If you're not leaking a lot, she'll be trying to stimulate more let down, which might mean you're pumping off too much before the feed. You should really only pump off enough so that the nipple & areola feel soft, not the whole breast.

If the nipple pain continues, have a look in her mouth to see if she has white patches that don't rub off, or if your nipples look a bit pink & shiny. They are signs of thrush, which will need treatment from the GP. If you think you might have it, it's better to get treated just in case than to leave it, as if it gets deep into the breast, it's really painful.

You're doing really well, the first weeks are very demanding, but it does get easier - promise!

I had that same pain for the first couple of weeks but in my right breast not my left. It does settle down, promise! If your latch is good and you don't have cracked nipples then the pain will go away in a few days. It is your let down that you are feeling and yes it does hurt a bit! Also initial latch will be a bit ouchy but again, it will go away in a few days.

I found a couple of things helped a little - ibuprofen throughout the day (you not baby!!!) and feeding lying down.

Jensen is now 7.5 weeks and still prefers to feed lying down. He is also a fequent night waker and only has 2 feeds during the day. Some nights he has me up every hour

1

where in the country a are you? I found the local bfing group at my childrens centre the best thing (i first went when lo was 6 days and not feeding).

at 5 days your milk is probably still comming in ? i found expressing a bit off helped izzy latch. if you can i would avoid giving a bottle so lo is at the greast which will help to regulate your supply (you could freeze the milk if you wanted, it keeps fot at least 3 months in the frezzer).

Have you tried a 'rugby ball' hold with lots of cushions for you both? I found this worked best when iz was very small.

well done for keeping going, I does get easier!

x

Do you have a breastfeeding clinic or counsellor based near you ?  From what you say about the funny shaped nipple it sounds like your latch might need tweaking and that can be solved really quickly (alternatively give the ABM / LLL a call and they can help find you someone to help)

I found that for the first few weeks the first few sucks were toe curlingly uncomfortable but that it then settled down - if its more than that then you definitely need someone to have a look and check you both out

I found that in the early days I need a pile of pillows in bed to feed - it was a while before i could feed lying down (I didn't want to have the latch slip either) - can you spend a day together in bed and sleep when she sleeps and feed and generally just cuddle and eat cake ?  I found that really helped in terms of giving me rest that I needed and letting us find ways to feed together

updated

Fab news LT! Glad you've had a good day x

Great news! Keep an eye on it and make sure you get some help if it comes back - if your boobs get too firm again you can try expressing a little bit (by hand or pump) to soften them a bit or try reverse presure softening: http://www.kellymom.com/bf/concerns/mom/rev_pressure_soft_cotterman.html

Oh hun thats fab news. Its a learning curve for you both, so well done.

Glad to hear you're doing better. Is it pain when the milk starts to flow (letdown)? I had pain during letdown for the first few weeks but it got easier and went completely in time.

Otherwise Cath at Baby Cafe will certainly check your latch and positioning tomorrow if you ask her - there's a private room for this. And if you go, tell her I said hello and I'm certainly missing my morning tea, biscuits and chats!

Fantastic - well done.  I had problems with over-supply for a long while on and off, so often had to express a bit before we could get going properly - well done for identifying it so quickly.  Oh, and for the whole time I fed, we had to do the 'normal'/cradle hold on the right, and the rugby ball on the left (not quite so easy when out and about!)