Breastfeeding
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1 thing... nipple shields! Use these for a few months till your milk supply settles and then try to wean baby off of the shields and onto your nipple. It works amazing
Do you have a good nursing pillow? My Breast Friend nursing pillow really helped me get a good latch and maintain it! It is so hard to get baby into a good position without support to have a good latch. I have very large boobs, so I fed my baby in the football position with the pillow and pinched my nipple to angle upwards and shoved her mouth on it as I aimed my nipple towards her nose. Trying to maintain a good supply while JUST pumping is very difficult and stressful
I had a very hard time and my nipples we’re always bleeding so after a month i exclusively pumped. I felt sad about it but it was so much better for me because of the pain from breastfeeding. I made sure to pump every 2-3 hours while on maternity leave and now my baby is 6 months and I continue to pump while working full time as much as I can. I pump a lot throughout the night. He’s never had formula which is something I’m very proud of and if you do exclusively pump I would advise to be proud of yourself for providing breast milk!
It took about two weeks for the pain to go away for me. But after the two weeks it was fine and good. But don’t feel guilty about not having her on your breast, you’re still pumping and giving her your breast milk. Maybe after pumping, try letting her on your breast for a little so she doesn’t get too comfortable with the bottle.
What positions have you been trying?
Speak to your midwife as soon as possible, there’s loads of help available and they’ll make you a feeding plan and work through the latch issues. They came out to me the same day and I had a lactation support appointment the next day which was so helpful. They really don’t mind you calling the midwives number if you’re struggling and are usually really keen to help.
@Haili cross body, football hold
@Paula I dont have a midwife but I have an appointment on Wednesday with a breastfeeding consultant
Also just to say, 6 days is still really early for both of you. I am 3 weeks in and we are still learning, it will get easier!
Hey! Firstly sounds like you’re doing really well and well done for sticking with it despite the pain! My little girl is 1 week 4 days now and I had the exact same, it was excruciating and I felt so lost. I found absolutely coating myself in lanolin really helped (I use lansinoh) and switching up positions. I had a c section and was told to try the rugby ball but it was super uncomfy for me so switched back to normal and I’ve been fine since. You’re doing fab, and it is gonna get easier 🤍
I was in a similar boat. It took a good month plus to get a latch that didn’t just burn and feel like being stabbed with needles. My baby was born on the smaller side, so part of it I think was just natural given her size. It did get better over time!! I definitely used pumping and bottle feeding as a relief for me and gradually was able to transitioning to breast only. At two months, I never have any pain now. Some things that helped were giving her a quick bottle snack before breast so she wasn’t so desperate, using a nipple shield, and trying to wedge my pinky in there a bit to open her mouth wider. But honestly it just took time and gritting my teeth when she caused me what was sometimes intense pain
I went through the same thing with my girl. First few weeks were torture for me , I literally held my breath sometimes while she was latching and sucking for milk to come down. My nipples were so sore and chapped that my only choice was to pump and bottle feed until they healed up. Eventually found out she had a small tounge tie that was preventing her to have a deep latch and since getting it cut breast feeding has been a breeze and now she rejects the bottle lol If your baby doesn't have a tounge tie you can also change out her paci and bottle nipple to something with a wide base to promote a deep latch. I use ninni pacifier and the Evenflo Feeding Premium Proflo Venting Balance Plus Wide Neck Baby bottles - made all.tgw difference for me Even before she got her tounge clip, just changing those two things improved her latch so much! But besides allllll of that- as long as baby is fed don't feel guilty!