Breastfeeding

A few weeks I think. But my little girl had tongue tie. Painful and cracked nipples aren’t something you have to put up with, they’re a sign of a shallow latch which can be due to a tongue tie but can also be other things. It would help you to have baby assessed by an IBCLC who’s trained in tongue ties. You can find a list if you google Association of Tongue Tie Practitioners. Sadly most midwives, paediatricians and even infant feeding team at hospitals can spot a really obvious tongue tie but not a posterior one. I know this from experience. If I didn’t go private, my little girl would have kept struggling to put on weight or we would have gone to formula. Best hundred or so pounds I ever spent, getting her assessed and treated there and then. Formula is not cheap either.

Pumping and feeding may increase your supply so may make you feel fuller. If you breastfeed only in the early days your baby will dictate how much they need. Also will give your nipples a break. Do you have nipple balm? The soreness will improve really quickly.

For me it felt like months to stabilize but I believe the worst of it was over by 8 weeks. Do be careful with pumping because you can create an oversupply which is a vicious cycle with engorgement. Just express enough to relieve the pressure - I found a Hakkaa really helpful for this. I leaked for a long time, nearly 8 months before I could stop wearing nursing pads but this definitely isn’t the case for everyone. Have you heard of silverettes? I honestly think they and nipple butter are what helped get me through those early weeks with cracked nipples. I know the beginning is SO hard but it really is worth it and gets so much better if you can get through it. Congratulations by the way!

Oh also you’re not meant to pump for the first 6 weeks, just keep feeding baby on demand. If you pump as well you are telling your breasts to produce more milk than baby might need, leading to more engorgement. You’re doing really well asking for help, breastfeeding isn’t easy initially, but it gets easier. I’d recommend La Leche League, and Breastfeeding and Lactation Support UK forums on Facebook. Really helpful, evidence based advice without any BS.

There are also breastfeeding peer support groups that might help you if the shallow latch could be due to positioning. You could ask your midwife / health visitor for the details of the local groups. Children’s Centres usually run them for free and they’re a drop in.

So I was advised with pumping to use a bit of coconut oil with the pump to help adhesion to the breast but also it will stop my nipples cracking. Has worked wonders so far. I do currently also have the issue with engorgement. I think my problem was that initially I was having to pump for about 30 min to get anything and then it drastically improved as soon as my milk came in proper. I've been trying to reduce the pumping time. Taking ibuprofen and paracetamol and sunflower lecthin to avoid clogged ducts. Hot and cold compresses should help with the engorgement too. I did ring day unit for a bit of advice as my right breast was staying solid even after pumping and they advised I sit in a warm bath for a while as it should encourage my breast to leak and reduce the engorgement a bit without stimulation

My little man is 2 wks 1 day old and today my boobs have been much more settled compared to yesterday, was worried I was losing milk but he seems to be OK feeding, and my nipples are still painful but only for the first 5 seconds of latching then they feel fine, I've been using nipple cream too try and use it straight after a feed so it gets time to absorb and work, it's safe to feed baby with it on too if you buy one that says so

Doesn’t answer your main question but I can swear by Mam nipple shields - they help with the latching when my nipples are/were cracked and midwifes approve of them. Luckily my boy easily latched onto them but sometimes it can take a while, it can however give your nipples a little bit of a break😌

They stopped being constantly engorged around 2 weeks. If you need to, hand express a little for comfort but I wouldn’t pump as you may get temporary relief but you’ll make the problem worse in the long run. It’ll get better x

I am 9 months postpartum and I feel like my supply still changes daily and weekly depending on what I consume! I definitely notice a difference if I don’t eat and drink enough. I am a low supplier, so keeping my supply up as much as possible is really important to me. I’ve found a combination of items from Avery’s Lactation Station to be really helpful for my supply and stabilizing it! It sounds like you don’t need help with increase, right now, but it if you ever do, definitely keep it in mind! In regards to your cracked nipples- I found the honest bran nipples cream and the silver nipple shields to be SO helpful! I would cry every time I fed and this combo helped me heal in about 2 days!