Breast Pain - Williamson,GA

Hi L.,
I can relate to that pain ... it was awful when my baby 'bit' a 'hole' in my nipple. The only relief was to use Breast Shells (mine are from Ameda) to hold all clothing off the nipples and allow them to heal. They really needed that comfort. Then, I discovered that a few drops of breast milk were the best healing solution there is. Within a couple of days of applying breast milk and using the shields, the 'hole' started to close over and heal.
Hope this helps you.

The lactation consultant can help you much more than the doctors.
I know what you're going through. It may not be the best thing to pump instead of nursing, but if you do it for a few days and use expressed milk and lansinoh afterward, they should heal. You may have gotten off to a bad start, causing the pain, but even if your baby has "learned" how to nurse, it will take forever to heal if you don't rest your nipples.
With my first, I started pumping early and healed right away. With my second, I waited to pump until she was 2 months old and lived with that pain for the whole 2 months, but healed right after I started pumping.

Contact your local lactation consultant. You can find them either through your hospital, WIC office, ob, or just find the local chapter of LeLeche League. Unfortunately most obs and almost all pediatricians are VERY short on answers and real solutions about getting a baby to successfully latch on and on encouraging moms to seek out the correct advice. Great for you in toughing it out and looking for answers instead of thinking you can't get through it. Also, the first two weeks are always the hardest because you're still recovering, hormones are going crazy and it looks like you have two other little ones tugging at you too. Keep it up, you'll get through it just make it a priority to get to a lactation counselor or LLL so you can get on with enjoying your new little one and continue giving your son the best with your milk.

First off, congratulations on your new baby, and for breastfeeding -- YOU GO GIRL!

I developed "pimples" on the vertical sides of my nipples while breastfeeding -- my pediatrician had a Newborn Specialist that was also a Lactation Consultant, and I showed her at one of my baby's appointments. She said they sometimes form because your main "vent" tries to form other "vents." I had to increase my pumping (he was almost weened at 15 mos) and use lots of lasinoh and "pop" these areas daily. It took several weeks for them to go away.

Or perhaps you have developed an absess? http://www.askdrsears.com/html/2/T022300.asp#back

Or maybe you have a hard letdown and your baby isn't nursing properly to make this small trouble? Can you self express easily? Or like me, can you hit a quarter at 8-paces? :) Perhaps self-express before the feeding and combine the "large-mouth-latch"? Yes, LLL can help too:)

It's never one thing and easy, is it? Good luck:)

Have you tried nipple guards? I have a friend who had to use them all the time, but they worked great.

What about a clogged duct? Those can be painful.
Check out kellymom for more information.

http://www.kellymom.com/breastfeeding/index.html

Hi,
You need the support of your local La Leche chapter. LLLI on the web and follow the links to your area. Those ladies will help you. Just pile the kids in the car and go! There is no financial obligation and you can attend as many meetings as you like. It's the best support for nursing and mothering our babies!
Hang in there,
Holly

I had a similar problem with my second who is now 3-months-old. After working with a friend of mine who is a Le Leche League leader, we determined I had an over active letdown reflex and that was causing the baby to practically choke when she latched on. So she would break the latch and chew on me rather than latch and suck. I had huge scabs and was bleeding as well. So I pumped for 2 days and used the lanolin to let myself heal and it's been better ever since. If you're getting shooting pains in your breast and you have ruled out thrush, over active letdown may be the cause of your problem. You can hand express some milk or pump for a few minutes before you nurse the baby and this should keep her from getting that choking rush of milk that is likely causing her to nibble and break the latch. Good luck.

Yikes! I'm so sorry for your pain! I had a similar problem during the first 3 weeks of nursing. I thought that it was normal, and I just had to suck up the pain, which I was willing to do for my son. However, I talked to a lactation consultant, and she told me that breastfeeding is supposed to be pleasant not painful! She gave me some tips on proper latching and since I was allergic to wool, therefore lanolin, I was told that I can just express a little breastmilk and rub it on my nipples after each feeding and allow them to air dry. The breastmilk actually helped to heal my nipples. I did buy a breast pump and pumped on one side when one of my nipples just couldn't take it anymore. However, it resulted in my son developing a favorite boob and I am a bit lopsided nowadays! Oh, well, I'm told that they will even out eventually.

Remember that every child is different so I suppose nursing is a different experience with each baby. Good luck and don't give up because it's obvious that you're doing a great job!

www.kellymom.com is an AMAZING online resource for everything you could possibly want to know about breastfeeding and attachment parenting. I think they have directories for finding local lacation consultants (IBCLCs).

If you live near Alpharetta, I can recommend an IBCLC, Dr. Kute. (She's also my son's pediatrician.) Northside Hospital (in Atlanta - I don't know where you live) has a number of lactation consultants, and I can tell you Dee Dee and Sandy are both WONDERFUL! (I wish I knew their last names).

Someone also mentioned La Leche League, which is volunteer-based, so you can probably call one of the folks in your area that could help. (Those LLL moms are pretty passionate - I'll bet they'd bend over backwards to help you.)

L.--I too did not have trouble breast feeding until my fourth and last child. I got mastitis (that was MRSA) and had split and bleeding nipples and the whole mess. I took so may antibiotics I would have been a giant yeast infection--so I was avoiding all sugar. That was also a trick. Hang in there. I took lethicin, absolutely get yourself some lansinoh cream and that will help. I had a terrible time, but we got through it.

I, also, during that time especially, got my husband to supplement with formula. We used the avent bottles and did not have nipple confusion. I needed sleep, and a break from the pain of nursing. Although sometimes I feel I could wet nurse an army of clones, I do not feel that Michael has been adversely affected by that decision. I would have NEVER decided that with my first or second child. So I am glad I had a bit of 'momma' experience and let what needed to be--just be and we both rolled with the punches and I got well, and he figured things out and we are all still here to tell the tail. You will be just fine!!!!

Hi L.,
I went through this with my second as well - but my problem was that I was not ensuring that the whole aeorela (sp?) was in her mouth. I was allowing her to suck mostly nipple with just a bit of the breast. I thought it was right, but my neighbor came and made me get her mouth really wide and get as much of the breast as possible. I don't think my son sucked as hard, so it was not a problem. It took two weeks to heal (spraying with warm water and drying naturally and coating with cortizone and neopsorin after (making sure to wash my breast before feeding again).
One other thing you might try is to pump one feeding and nurse one feeding to get your breast a chance to heal. Try only to pump every other one because it may decrease your supply. Keep your water intake way up.
This may not be the issue for you, but short of getting a lalache mom to come over and ruling out a bacterial infection, that is all my experience allows.
J.

I would suggest finding a lactation specialist/consultant. I nursed my 1st daughter and with second thought "I know what I am doing", but met with the consultant anyway while in the hospital. I was very glad. She was latching fine, but not with enough of the breast and it was becoming painful. Also, I remember being more sore this go around also - but after the first month (and your half way there) my body had adjusted along with her "figuring out" more so what to do and I was feeling much better. She is now 5 months and we are grooving together smoothly (and have for a while). So, I would suggest meeting with a lactation consultant. If you have already, maybe try a different one who may have different suggestions/tips for you! Stick with it! Congratulations on your new baby!