Cracked nipple agony :-(

[darlin']

Hello all

I have just had my second baby 5 days ago and all was going really smoothly with feeding until I got massively engorged on day 3. Since then I have developed cracks in both nipples and even though the wonderful Oakwood midwives have been able to help with re-positioning, the cracks have worsened and I'm now facing nothing short of pure agony every time I put her on.

Have any of you experienced this and what did you do that helped? There just doesn't seem enough time between feeds to allow them to start healing. Currently feeding one side every 3 hours and absolutely slathering on the Lansinoh in-between times, but to no avail.

Thanks in advance!

[GinaG3]

I too experienced this, I feel your pain. I also found nothing helped, just kept applying Lansinoh for the duration. I suffered for 2 months of horrible bleeding and blistering nipples, my daughter had terrible problems latching. I could never see it healing, but once we had the latch perfected totally they did begin to heal. Keep applying Lansinoh whenever you need to, its fine to breastfeed with it on. Also try laying a cold flannel on yourself to soothe the pain.

Are you confident with your babies latch now?

[apenn]

A friend of mine with a similar problem said that nipple guards really helped. Only problem was that she got used to sucking on the plastic and then had to readjust to real skin after a while.

-A

[MrsP]

This is my memory of starting breastfeeding. I picked up a good tip from a nurse on the special baby unit at Kings. She gave me some gauze that was somehow covered in vaseline, apply to cracked area and leave on until next feed, feed, then reapply. I can't remember the name of the gauze, you may be able to get it in a chemist, but I easily made up my own. The key is to ensure that the nipples do not get dry. If you have scabs on your nipples (and I did!) it hurts even more as every time baby feeds the scabs get pulled off - don't worry it doesn't do the baby any harm. So keep your nipples moist and smothered in vaseline or lansinoh. My were so bad my baby was actually drinking my blood. It hurt like hell. It will get better!!!

[Fuschia]

Just wanted to send my sympathy... I agree with keeping moist with lansinoh as the best way to help it to heal. Trying different positions (like rugby ball hold) might help avoid opening up the scabs each time you feed

xx

[Countjc]

A friend of mine had similar problems with twins and found something called jellonet to help. Apparentely you can buy it behind the counter at a pharmacy and it is normally used for burns. I have no experience myself but might be something to look into or to ask midwife/GP about?

[Ann]

Have you tried hand expressing for 24 hrs whilst giving you nipples a rest? They can recover considerably in a relatively short period of time. It sounds like your going round in circles but it's early days so stick with it.

[buggie]

jelonet is vasaline soaked gauze so prob the same stuff that MrsP used.

Have seen silicone breast pads (?brand name is lilypadz) these might also help as they won't stick to your nipples (can imagine gauze pads ripping off each time - ouch!

[grecian girl]

Have you tried applying a little hand expressed breast milk? I found this really worked, along with whole cabbage leaves-

sort of make a cabbage bra with the whole leaf! Hope you feel better very soon.

Just remembered also in some cases, that the first few seconds (and minutes) are like hell but if you manage to continue the pain somehow lessens. gg

[nicolemodesti]

Found Kamillosan better than lansinoh in this case.

[gwod]

This happened to me to - my toes are curling just to remember it!

Just to second what Ann said - feeding with expressed milk can really give your boobs the chance to recover - also I think it can help with the latch because while you are in so much pain, it is very hard to get it right because of the wincing and reluctance to take the baby off the nipple and reposition if the latch isnt perfect. The midwives dont seem to suggest this - I wonder if they feel it is the slippy slope to bottle feeding - but for me it gave me the respite I needed to recover (physically and mentally as I was so upset)and start afresh. There is lots of talk about nipple confusion but all babies in special care start feeding like this and many go on to be successfully b/fed.

Best of luck

[Clarey999]

ONe thing - LANSINOH cream. Put it on all the time - an absolute god send.

Also go and get help with the latch at a breastfeeding cafe (there's a good one at the Peckham Pulse) or try seeing the breastfeeding counsellor at Kings.

[bli]

Just to echo others - if your pain doesn't get better soon please do see a breastfeeding counsellor. I was told constantly that my baby's latch was perfect, yet suffered simlar nipple pain (Lansinoh worked better for me than expressed breast milk which just seemed to dry them out more). Found out after six weeks of struggling that my baby was tongue tied - the cause of the problems. This was despite lots of input from midwives and counsellors, so worth seeing someone who specialises in feeding if the problem persists...

Good luck, it will get easier

[ludoscotts]

hi I would def reccommend nipple guards. one of my breasts was fine while the other I would literally be sat there feeding and crying with the pain! there was nothing wrong with my position or the babys latching on just one of them was cracked and like you kept opening up at each feed no matter how much cream I put on. I very nearly gave up as it was distressing me so much much a friend arrives with nipple shields and I was instantly relieved. It turned out one of my nipples wasnt pulling into the right postition for feeding and the nipple guards helped form the right lenghth and shape needed for feeding. I used these for about a week then I was healed enough to feed without. I then used the opportunity to introduce 1 bottle a day as she had got used to feeding with and without the shields and it worked perfectly she was taking bottle and breast from 3 weeks old with no confusion. Think it helped that while she was feeding from me with the shields she was still getting the closeness and smell from me etc yet feeding from plastic nipple so she adapted fine to the bottle after this.

worth getting some and give them a try the link for them is below.

nipple shields

[katie_on_tour@hotmai]

NIPPLE SHIELDS!!

Absolute the best remedy , almost pain free!

I used the Avent ones, and still do, eventhough I no longer have cracked nipples.

Hope you feel better soon and that you are able to breastfeed again without the pain.

Kate

[ClareC]

Ouch! I know exactly how you feel! I got this two weeks after my daughter was born - Ive yet to meet someone who hasn't had sore nipples at some stage when breastfeeding!

I found that the breast pads made it worse, constant damp environment! I stopped using them at home, used shells when at home (prevents bra / clothes rubbing) and applied breast milk and lansinol(?)

Cleared up pretty quickly!

[alieh]

I had this. In my case it was because of a tongue tie (baby not feeding properly so shredding my poor nips!) and was easily resolved after a visit from a lactation consultant. If yours doesn't improve quickly, you might want to either pay to have someone visit privately (I can recommend my lactation consultant, or there are others recommended on here) or get to see one of the infant feeding specialists at Kings.

To deal with the pain in the meantime, these were the things that helped me:

-Jelonet (sp?) dressings - literally round dressings they make for open wounds. My lactation consultant gave me a note to give to the GP so I could get these on prescription. Keeps the area moist and so soothing. The old advice about letting them dry out does not apply for severely cracked nipples. You need to keep them moist until they heal to a certain extent, otherwise they crack again every feed.

-Nipple shields. Couldn't have kept up breastfeeding without these. I tried to use them sparingly (like maybe start a feed without them, but put them on if pain was bad). It was easy to wean him off these once we got the tongue tie sorted.

-Silverette nipple cups. These are little silver cups that keep your nipple protected in between feeds and supposedly the silver has healing properties. These really made a difference for me. http://www.breastfeedingheaven.co.uk/breastfeeding-products/silverette-healing-cups/prod_138.html

-A dummy. We introduced a dummy at 3 weeks to give my nipples a bit more time to heal between feeds.

Not sure if any of that will help, but I hope something does because remembering the pain of this brings tears to my eyes nearly 18 months later! I ended up with severely lacerated nipples because I waited to long to get help. Hope yours aren't this bad!

[MrsMc]

Nipple pain still a recent memory for me :-( Nothing new to add given the excellent ideas above. just hope you're feeling better v v soon. I was in despair with the pain and really dreaded feeds at the lowest points but now it is gone and I'm really enjoying feeding my little boy. Try to hang in there xxx

[Smiler]

Ouch, poor you.

I found tea bags run under the cold tap and held to the nipples really good, though the tea stains fabric, so don't wear any nice PJs!

As others have said, changing positions, nipple shields and expressing also good.

Hope you heal up soon.

[Fi from West Dulwich]

hello, suffered similar agonies with my baby and all midwives said was latched on correctly but i just knew it was wrong, and when i took him to see a craniosacral therapist (search for mctimony chiropractors - much more gentle technique - and ask for one who is trained in infants) she said his jaw was misaligned from ventouse delivery and the nipple trauma was because he was suckling madly but without satisfaction and positionning inside mouth was wrong. fortunately she fixed it and my nipples recovered, albeit with much use of lansinoh as well. so glad i knew to take him as otherwise would have jeopardised breast feeding, which we have continued to do briliantly and he is now 12 months. good luck!

[darlin']

THANK YOU!! everyone. You have been invaluable sources of information, experience and advice as usual. I love this forum :-)

I am going to try out lots of these tips and continue with the Lansinoh and careful positioning. I have seen some improvement over the past 2 days in that now the pain lessens after a couple of minutes and becomes tolerable until the end of the feed.

With my first baby I had this for nearly 4 months and it was just unbearable. I have no how I kept going in retrospect, which is why I've been so disappointed that it is happening again. I wish I had used this forum back then!

Thanks again

x

[Fuschia]

Kepp us informed! Hope to hear in a week or so that this is a distant bad dream...

[alieh]

That's wonderful. I think when it gets to the phase of just hurting for the first 30 sec or so, you are on the up. It is when it gets worse as the feed goes on, and you are dreading every single feed, that there is a major problem.

Forgot to also say that paracetamol 30 mins before a feed also helped in the really dark days.

Hope it gets better. Oooohhh I feel sick thinking about that pain. Much worse than the pain of c-section recovery for me.

[iaineasy]

when Anna had a desperatley hard time at the start, we got a counsellor called jill dye to visit and she was great, it will get better, stick with it and drop me a pm if you need her number!!

hugs.x