Sore nipples / How much breastmilk does a 2 week old drink?

S

Shenzhennifer

Registered User
I`m in the beginning of my breastfeeding saga with my newborn and it`s not going the best, particularly on the right side - in fact it`s excruciating. I`m on the mainland so cannot get a lactation consultant - things aren`t so easy on this side for stuff like that.
I`m now wearing a nipple shield on that nipple just to give it some breathing space and protection. My son freaked out when I tried to get him to nurse and practically gummed my nipple off. He`s been having hungry spells in the evenings it seems, and it`s starting to get really hard.
The other problem is, I know his latch is not good, and despite reading about it til I`m blue in the face, and trying to get him to latch on correctly, it just isn`t working. And sometimes when I pull him off to try again, he just gives up but will then scream for milk a short time later. I`ve just been withstanding the pain until now but it`s getting very bad, but I don`t want to give up.
So today I expressed some milk into a spoon and fed him a bit like that. he didn`t take much, but then again, I don`t know how much he should be taking.
Does anyone have any experience with this? Or in general any encouraging ideas and advice to help me continue this?
Thanks...
 
is there anyway that you can get yourself and your baby to hk to see a lactation consultant?

there might even be a LLL meeting in your area.

is the problem with the nipples that they are tender? or are they cracking? or maybe you have a blocked duct?

there could be a few different problems if you dont' have a proper latch going on....hard to advise without seeing you/baby.

sorry!
 
Hi
Hope I might be able to answer a few questions for you. Had a similiar experience with my daughter and felt so desparate.
1. sounds like nipple trauma from feeding. Common as boobd toughen. Most new mums favour one side more than the other, so not uncommon to have in one side. Also, it takes weeks for nipples to toughen up, well mine did, so don't despair.

2. Try expressing every second feed or every feed if you have to on the affected breast to give it some time to heal. It's also a good indicator of how much milk your bubs is getting too and how much you are producing. I used the medella electric pump and thought it was great.

3. Buy some breast feeding lanolin (available at bumps to babes from memory) or online. It heals nipples cracks and fissures and can help with the pain. The brand is "lasino?"

4. For amounts ml's I used to look at the book "Baby Love" by Robin Barker as it gives a size and age guide to feeding quantities unlike others which go by age.

5. Check to make sure it's not nipple thrush. Really common in breastfeeding women, but normally it would be in both breasts and visible redness and plaques inside the baby's mouth. The pain is normally descibed as intense shooting pain on feeding that continues after the feed. If it is, then it needs to be treated (normally a cream on the nipple and acidophilus does the job and possibly a gel for bubs)

6. Look to see if there are pinches on the nipple (looks like a line running down the nipple) after feeding. If so, bubs is not attached properly. Happens when they're tired and slipping off the nipple. Don't allow it to happen, pull baby off and re-attach to prevent trauma and pain.

7. Mouth maturity and lazy feeders. I'm told that baby's don't develop true mouth matruity where they latch on with 100% effectiveness until they are around 8 weeks in age. So, it will get better with time thank god!

The last thing the mention is check to see if baby is putting on weight, weeing and pooing regularly (6-8 wet nappies day is standard from memory) and this will ease your stress. My daughter was a quick feeded, so I would leave her on for the suggested 20minutes each side when infact she had finished in 5 minutes and I was traumatising that way! I persisted and she became a great feeder and weened herself at 20 months.

Good luck, I know it is so stressful and feel free to PM if I can gove you any other help.
 
Poor you, it must be hard with no LC nearby. Hopefully someone from LLL will answer your mail here with some info on help on the mainland. As Cara says, if you could get across the border to Fanling, perhaps a HK LC could meet you there?

In the meantime, here is a great site that has video clips on it showing the correct latch and tons of helpful hints. Maybe something visual will be more helpful than reading.

http://www.drjacknewman.com/Breastfeeding-help.asp

I also had terrible problems and ended up expressing and feeding via one of those medela feeding spoons to ensure she was getting enough in the early days. Maybe focus on direct feeding on the left, expressing on the right until you crack the latch?
 
Thanks for your help, ladies.

Carang - we don`t have a passport for the little one yet so we`re completely stuck here. And they don`t have LLL here either. I tried emailing them to see if they did home visits to SZ but they didn`t reply to me:( Both nipples are tender, the right more than the left - no cracking, though I did have a blocked milk duct on the right as there was a milk blister until today as I have been super pumping it until the milk came through there.

Sea Princess - I have been expressing from the affected breast since yesterday bc I couldn`t handle the pain anymore. So I gave him milk only from my left and when he was done I manually pumped (Avent Isis) from my right - I get anywhere from 20-60mls after about 20 min.
I have Medela Lanolin ointment - not sure what it`s helping but at least I`m not cracked and bleeding.
Pretty sure it`s not thrush, but not sure about the pinched nippled thing. If I pull him off too far into the feeding, he just gives up and then cries for more soon after.
8 weeks? Oh dear, another 6 to go!
I just use the nipple shields in between feedings for extra protection to my nipples. They seem to be helping. He won`t feed if I`m wearing a shield - I tried.
As for his weight, I will see a doctor this week to get him weighed and looked at. His cheeks are pudgier than when he was born, and he`s constantly pooing and peeing(and very strict about having a clean diaper too). I hope he will be a good eater like your daughter, lucky you!

LeahH - yeah, unfortunately no passport for the baby as of yet - otherwise I`d be there in a flash. I saw that site before too - recommended from a friend - the videos are a help but I so wish I could have one of those LCs!
I have been feeding exclusively on the left, but I still feel he`s not getting enough as he has been searching for food more often and it`s getting exhausting. I relented and gave him the affected right breast and withstood the pain for a bit until it seemed more manageable. He is now sleeping soundly, thankfully...

Anyway, I will keep it up and try to crack this problem. But sometimes it feels so hopeless and today in my sleepy haze I had exasperated thoughts of bringing out the bottle.... But I will continue to try my best.
 
just so you know, it can seem that newborns, which is exactly what your baby still is, are always searching for food.

i'm really sorry that i can't help. i only know what i know through bf my own two kids, so i'm not an expert or anywhere near...

i do wish you luck, but remember, you are a great mother whether you continue to breastfeed against all the odds or whether you resort to formula.

good luck!
 
Sore Nipples

Shenzhennifer said:
I`m in the beginning of my breastfeeding saga with my newborn and it`s not going the best, particularly on the right side - in fact it`s excruciating. I`m on the mainland so cannot get a lactation consultant - things aren`t so easy on this side for stuff like that.
I`m now wearing a nipple shield on that nipple just to give it some breathing space and protection. My son freaked out when I tried to get him to nurse and practically gummed my nipple off. He`s been having hungry spells in the evenings it seems, and it`s starting to get really hard.
The other problem is, I know his latch is not good, and despite reading about it til I`m blue in the face, and trying to get him to latch on correctly, it just isn`t working. And sometimes when I pull him off to try again, he just gives up but will then scream for milk a short time later. I`ve just been withstanding the pain until now but it`s getting very bad, but I don`t want to give up.
So today I expressed some milk into a spoon and fed him a bit like that. he didn`t take much, but then again, I don`t know how much he should be taking.
Does anyone have any experience with this? Or in general any encouraging ideas and advice to help me continue this?
Thanks...
Click to expand...

I'm so sorry to hear you're having such a tough time right now. It's good to hear that your nipple soreness has not got so bad that you have cracked or bleeding nipples. You sound very determined in wanting to continue to breastfeed your lovely new son and you sound like you're doing fantastically, so don't worry about if he's getting enough milk because you say he's pooing and weeing all the time (min. 6 wet nappies & at least 3 bowel movements in 24hrs); then he's definitely getting enough; we just need to sort out your poor nipples!

Sore nipples does indicate latching issues. Someone else suggested the Jack Newman website, which IS very good, so hopefully that has been some help.

It is a matter of reviewing the basics:

- make sure your arms and back are well supported.
- your son's body should face your body so he doesn't have to turn his head to the side to feed.
- remember 'nose to nipple' - hold your son at the level of your nipple with his his nose in line with your nipple, his head should be slightly tilted back so he can latch on chin first and take in more areola and breast with his bottom jaw than his top. His lips should be flanged out and relaxed.

Experiment with different nursing positions in case you find one easier over another.

If you have larger breasts you may find it helpful to support your breast with one hand at the start or during the whole feeding.

To help with the soreness you may find it easier to feed him more frequently so that he's not as hungry and, therefore, won't suck quite so vigorously.

If you need to break his latch, to try again, do make sure you break his suction first to avoid further nipple trauma.

I hope you've found this helpful and do let us know how you are getting on.

Good Luck :o)
 
I found that even with a LC telling me my latch was perfect, I found that the first 4 weeks were excruciating.
I dreaded feeding.
Everyone else told me that if I'm doing it right it shouldn't hurt, which wasn't very helpful.

My LC was fabulous, she recommended I apply a combination of a cream called Fucidin, which is an antibiotic steroid, and Daktacort, which is an antifungal steroid. Apply them both together after a feed, but remember to wipe it off before feeding.
Also use Lanisoh regularly.
I know people say that you shouldn't use anything, but they truly were a lifesaver.

After 4 weeks I used Lanisoh for a while but then didn't need anything.
At 7.5 mths he's still BFing strong.
 
Sore Nipples

I've always found using Lansinoh alone is enough if you use it liberally and after every feed and after bathing. Plus, this way, you don't need to worry about having removed every scrap of another cream that you don't want baby coming into contact with.
 
I was using Lansinoh from day one, and it didn't help the soreness at all.
I'm sure it was great at preventing cracking, but did nothing for the pain.

I was very close to giving up BF, but thankfully didn't need to in the end.
 
Last edited:
I have been using Medela pure Lanolin ointment. Same with Matty, it doesn`t help with the soreness but I haven`t got any cracked nipples yet. Also, Matty, was your combo cream for the soreness? Where did you get them? I can send my husband out for a hunt the next time he goes to HK.
I watched the website videos recommended earlier on this thread and have applied some of the ideas, like better positioning, having my baby search for the nipple (which is hilarious), and my favourite, using compression. I think I must have also had a slow stream of milk. I have found that with using compression, I have heard more swallows, he has fallen asleep less and has been more able to nurse on the other side directly (but not all the time).
My nipples still really hurt, but mostly for the first few minutes, particularly as my son is in search of a good latch, and if he is somewhat successful, most of the pain will subside after that.
I also wonder if I have particularly sensitive nipples (which worked out well for me before the baby came ;) ).
Breastfeeding has always been my #1 mission for my baby, so I`m very pleased with the small progress we have made. I hope I can talk like you other ladies who overcame your BF problems.
 
All the advice that's been given here is good. All I can add is that I hope that you will be able to find other breastfeeding moms nearby so that you can have a support group. For me, that really makes a huge difference --i.e., the support (be it from professionals, other moms, or simply family and friends).

I wasn't able to exclusively breastfeed my first one for various reasons, but I was determined to do so with my second one. Despite having mastitis (2x), cracked and very sore nipples, and having had a hospital stay due to pneumonia, I stayed the course. 21 months and going, although I want to stop now (but that's another story!). I was able to keep at it this long greatly due to the 'support' that I mentioned, especially in the early months.

Good luck. :)
 
Shenzhennifer,

The creams were for the soreness. They had a soothing anti inflammatory effect. There was still sorness, but it definatley helped.
I was able to buy them over the counter here at a pharmacy.
When it got too much, I also expressed and bottle fed.

I had the same problem with a slow let down. Other friends were spurting milk while I just dripped.
My supply was fine, even though I was convinced it wasn't.
My baby put on 1.5 kilos in the first 4 weeks!
I found things balanced out in week 4. My let down increased and my baby went from taking over an hour to feed to about 20 mins.

Hang in there. x
 
Shenzhenjennifer,

I don't have any new earth-shattering wisdom to offer you beyond what has been said but just want to add my encouragement! Hang in there. You really can get through this. It all eventually does get better. You are doing a fantastic job so far.

As someone previously said, if your baby has plenty of wet diapers and otherwise seems happy, that is the best indication that things are working so don't worry too much.

Also get as much support as you can - maybe on the phone or email since you are over the border. Give a HK LLL leader a call directly - call Maggie or Sarah. They both have saved me multiple times. Also you can probably PM any one of us if you just need some moral support when things seem too tough. Most of us have been through one form or another of this! I for one would be happy to cheer you on!

I had a really rough start also - many dark nights where the pain felt unbearable. My LO is now 10 months and she is still breastfeeding strong despite various painful nipple issues over the last year. In the end, I think my problem also is just sensitive nipples. I have tried it all but the best part is reaching the point where you really enjoy the breastfeeding relationship and its all worth it.

Good luck and again, hang in there.

Cathy
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top