So we are three weeks into this journey and although things have been up and down i can honestly say they are mostly up.
Well all is mostly up...just one thing is seemingly still really stressful and frustrating.
BREASTFEEDING!!!!
Now i know it is a process and i think ours has been longer and harder than most lol. First we struggled with his latching correctly. For the first week he had my nipples tore up. After a day or two of pumping my nipples healed and we were back to the breast.
His latch was doing great. Nice big mouth covering all it was suppose to...yadda yadda yadda! Even the lactation consultant said he had a perfect latch! I was thrilled to hear it.
Just when i thought we were doing good week 2 brought us a battle with thrush. So 3 days of treatment with Gentian Violet, 2 purple nipples, and a purple baby mouth later we were thrush and pain free. Back to nursing again!
Now week three and although his latch is perfect about 90% of the time my nipples are back to being tore up after a rough patch of bad latching.
I am frustrated to say the least. After 2 whole days of pain free nursing follwed by one day of struggling with latching i am so sore i cant even put him to the breast without cringing in pain. I am just at a loss for words or even actions.
How long is this going to continue? How long before he has his latch down so well that he quits tearing my nipples up? I know using the bottle on occassion has probably aided in this processes but he seems to know the difference between bottle and breast. Like i said 90% of the time he gets the latch right and it is just that 10% of the time that he doesnt that leaves me frustrated and in pain.
So help me out here! Breastfeeding mothers i call to you to help a fellow feeder!
How long did it take before your nipples were toughened up? How long did it take your baby to perfect their latch? How did you keep your baby awake long enough to make sure they were getting full (he is horrible about falling asleep after 5 mins and then waking up starving 10 mins later)? How long and how often did you feed your baby? What positions did you use? Anyone who had latch problems and torn up nipples; how did you make sure you were completely healed? Did you pump for a few days and then put baby back to breast or did you just grin and bear it?
I really need your help here! Any advice at all even if it isnt for a question i asked. I dont wanna give up trying breastfeeding but i am so frustrated with this back and for cycle. I enjoy this bonding time so much and i just feel defeated sometimes.
Please if you are not a breastfeeding mom but know someone who is, direct them my way. Maybe they can help to answer my questions.
(Yes i have talked to a lactation consultant about all of this but i just want more info from women who are going through it right now or recently went through it. More learning never hurts and i am all about having as much knowledge as possible right now.)
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3 comments:
Hey hun ! You have no clue how proud I am of you for sticking with the breastfeeding first off. Secondly I wanted to tell you maybe you should try a nipple shield. My friend had a really hard time like you are and the nipple shield was a life saver and before you know it she didnt need it anymore. I also was going to point you in the direction of my best friend Jessica. She is still breast feeding her now almost 2 year old daughter(but is about to start weaning) and she is going to be a lactation consultant and I really think she could help you. She helped me so much not with just breast feeding but with ANY needs baby related. She is a reasearcher lol. So yea I can give you her website or you can just go to it from my page. Its the one that is called Life of Mommy she is the best and really sweet too.
Hi Courtney! Congratulations! www.kellymom.com has a lot of really good information including a page on healing sore nipples.
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/concerns/mom/nipplehealing.html
I also like this latching link for asymmetrical latch.
http://www.pumpstation.com/pumpstation/dept.asp?dept_id=3228
HTH-
I had sore nipples for about a month with both kids before my nipples got used to having something sucking constantly. Lanolin was my friend. I never did bottles because I was to afraid of nipple confusion or my milk production slowing. But if he already seems to know the difference I wouldn't worry about it! :)
My son was such a natural nurser that I don't remember a latch problem. But with my daughter it took about three months for me to not be constantly taking her off and putting her back on correctly. She is four months now and I finally don't have to do that every time.
I never timed or planned on a time to nurse. I just feed when she is hungry/needs comfort. My son sounds like Sione. He was more of a snacker. That is how we ended up cosleeping with him. I never would have slept otherwise! Now my daughter is totally different. She only eats every couple hours and is just fine in her crib. Just remember every baby's needs are different!
I don't have much advice other than keep doing what you are doing! It only gets easier. By the time he is 4 months this will all be in the past :)
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