4 weeks and needing BF help...

genkidesu

DD is 4 weeks, and BFing still hurts like a mo-fo. i DREAD doing it every 2 hours. some days i'll think it's getting better, but then nope. still hurts at the next feed. i went to a LC, but she didn't really have much to say. she said her latch is good, and the only suggestion she had was to keep switching BF positions so DD isn't always sucking in the same spot.

today, it seems like her latch looks good from the outside, but her gums still close in on the nipple on the inside. does anyone have any tips for keeping her gums/mouth more open? it's KILLING me. i want to keep doing this, but the pain is still absolutely awful. 

Vive

Take a dose of painkillers before you feed (say half an hour before) to take the edge off the pain? Apparently it's what my mum did...

Other than that... No real ideas sorry. I hope you can work something out. 

thumper11

Are you keeping your nipples dry in between feedings?  I leak A LOT so I wear disposable pad and change them often. You should also express some milk and rub it all over your nipple, or lanolin.  I like the milk because it doesn't effect my baby and I don't need to wipe it off before I feed.

For the latch, you can mess with her jaw.  When she latches pull her chin down a little, don't detach her but try to make sure she is wide.

GL! 

peeper72

The LC I've been seeing for Gram showed me how to splay his lips once he's latched and it has made a huge improvement on the pinchy-ness of his latch. Normally, he rolls his upper lip in over his gums. I literally have to reach down and pull his lip out of his mouth. Also, and this is the most frustrating, is waiting for him to open up wide - like, really wide - before moving his head onto my breast. Otherwise he makes this tiny "O" with his mouth. Noway my nipple can fit in that tiny space!

 

Jcrab

I know it is super frustrating that the first LC wasn't helpful. Can you ask around for the best LC in the area? I would definitely go for a second opinion since you are in so much pain. What if a different LC is able to help? GL!

rdgove

peeper72:

The LC I've been seeing for Gram showed me how to splay his lips once he's latched and it has made a huge improvement on the pinchy-ness of his latch. Normally, he rolls his upper lip in over his gums. I literally have to reach down and pull his lip out of his mouth. Also, and this is the most frustrating, is waiting for him to open up wide - like, really wide - before moving his head onto my breast. Otherwise he makes this tiny "O" with his mouth. Noway my nipple can fit in that tiny space!

 

This. Helped me immensely.