Hi
I'm not sure if anyone can even help me but I'll ask anyway. My lo is 8 days old and I'm bf her. it seems to be going ok in that she seems satisfied but I'm finding it more and more painful. She's only got a little mouth but I'm trying as hard as I possibly can to get as much in her mouth as possible so it's not just nipple but i think it might be her suck that's hurting so much as it's so strong. She sicked blook up the other day and after ringing nhs direct and things we finally realised it was from my nipple! I'm finding that I'm starting to dread the feeds as sometimes I'm in tears because it hurts so much. My nipples are slightly sore in between feeds but not too bad and I'm using cream, it's mainly just when she's actually sucking especially when she first gets going.
Has anyone else had this? Will it ease when she grows a bit bigger perhaps and can get more nipple in her mouth? I really don't want to give up bf this early, it's getting me down.
xx

i had some pain in the first few days of breast feeding and after speaking with my midwife i realised it was because my baby wasn't in the right position. This website is really helpful :

http://www.breastfeeding.nhs.uk/index.asp

I hope you can sort this out..im so glad i did. My baby is now 2 months and im still exclusively breast feeding and really enjoying it.

xx

breastfeeding doesn't hurt so it must be that she isn't latched on properly. make sure the nipple is pointing down her throat and not wedged against her toungue or the roof of her mouth. try pinching your nipple and when she opens her mouth really wide quickly bringing her to your nipple not the other way round ie your nipple to her. after feeds leave your bra undone and your breast exposed for a while so that the air gets to it, this will stop it becoming sore inbetween feeds. also you can get nipple guards (from places like boots etc) which you place over your nipples when your baby is feeding and this helps protect your nipples esp if they have got damaged. mayb try them until you nipples heal up and then try getting her to latch on better once they're not so sore. your hv should help you with the latching on, its their job!! hope this helps hun and you're doing a fantastic job, it only gets easier too!!!
xxx

I had exactly the same experience. My baby 12 days old now and im having to come to terms with the fact that im going to have to bottlefeed. I was told in the hospital that she was latching on fine and by the 1st visit off the midwife but on the 2nd visit my breasts were so engorged I couldn't feed her. I went to the doctors and found out I had mastitis. Look out for any symptoms like having a temperature, feeling generally run down (I no you've just had a baby, but feeling ill) any red patches on ur breats, a red tracking on ur breasts. Look up online for more symptoms but if your babies not latching on properly then u might end up with mastitis. Get your HV round, my mums friend is one and came round last night. She was a brilliant help and I even managed to feed really well of my most painful side. However at 3am and unable to get her latched on I caved and gave formula. I had to have antibiotics or the mastitis tho and its looks like my babies got thrush so try and prevent getting mastitis by getting the support you need from midwives etc..I wish I'd have had more help from mine. Hope this helps xx

Has your baby been checked for a tongue tie? That often results in a bad latch.

Oh, you poor thing. Sounds like hard work. My LO is now 17 weeks old and still bfing her. I had mastitis and remember those first few weeks and how painful they are. I did find that getting baby in to the right position helped. Have you tried the rugby tackle position. Also the best midwife tip I had was once baby was latched on hold her firmly against the boob. That helped to stop her slipping off - that was the cause of my pain. Rather than a bad initial latch it was her slipping off, but still sucking and me not wanting to change her. So, if she does un-latch, make sure you take her off and re-start her.

I called the NCT breastfeeding help line a good few times for similar questions...they were really helpful,

Really good luck. The first few weeks are so hard work, and you're doing such a fantastic job. Keep it up if you can. And things really do get sooo much easier. To the point that you wont even think about the latch on. But I know, those days seem a long way a way now...

All the best xx