How to give one very sore nipple a break? (Baby feeds off of both sides)

Shema N

One of my nipples is breaking down and I?d really like to give it a break by pumping that side. The problem is that LO has been so hungry lately that he feeds off of both sides for a long time. What should I do?

Note that I?m working very hard on getting him to latch correctly so I do not want to give him a bottle or any artificial nipples...

KellersPrag

If you are really against the bottles, you can use a bottle without a nipple and tip the milk that you pump from the sore side into his mouth. It's a little more work, but it's effective. I have also heard that the Calma by Medela requires a proper latch to work, so it is less likely to cause a problem - just a thought.

I'm sorry that you're going through this... at 7 weeks I was finally able to say that nursing no longer caused me excruciating pain. Up until then, I was bleeding, severely cracked and with chunks of skin missing. Hang on and you'll get through it!

Shema N

Thanks so much for your support. It is really hard. I literally dread each feeding to the point of wanting to cry and I hate myself for feeling that way.

Did you just push through the pain/cracked nipples etc. and continue feeding? Or did you cup feed as you noted?

mcanant

I used a nipple shield and APNo ointment to give my nips a  needed break. I pumped some and fed but the NS gave me the quickest relief and allowed them to heal 

jlsimon56

How old is your LO?  I would maybe meet up with an LC to see if your LO's latch needs some work?  Nipple confusion has pretty much been debunked but it's up to you whether you want to give a bottle or not.  www.kellymom.com has some good info on bottle-feeding a BF baby. 

KellersPrag

Shema N:

Thanks so much for your support. It is really hard. I literally dread each feeding to the point of wanting to cry and I hate myself for feeling that way. Did you just push through the pain/cracked nipples etc. and continue feeding? Or did you cup feed as you noted?

I was crying every time she cried because I knew she was hungry. It was really miserable. I saw multiple LCs and we had nothing wrong with the latch or anything... it was incredibly frustrating.
I managed to push through and mostly dealt with it. But since I too had one very bad side and one side I could deal with better, I pumped the bad side and just kept her on the more manageable side. I would do this for multiple feedings because I did not want to introduce a bottle when our problems started. But my MIL has cup fed many infants that she watched when they would not take bottles.
There is a light at the end of the tunnel though. It really did just kind of "magically" get better pretty suddenly.

KellersPrag

Shema N:

Thanks so much for your support. It is really hard. I literally dread each feeding to the point of wanting to cry and I hate myself for feeling that way. Did you just push through the pain/cracked nipples etc. and continue feeding? Or did you cup feed as you noted?

I was crying every time she cried because I knew she was hungry. It was really miserable. I saw multiple LCs and we had nothing wrong with the latch or anything... it was incredibly frustrating.
I managed to push through and mostly dealt with it. But since I too had one very bad side and one side I could deal with better, I pumped the bad side and just kept her on the more manageable side. I would do this for multiple feedings because I did not want to introduce a bottle when our problems started. But my MIL has cup fed many infants that she watched when they would not take bottles.
There is a light at the end of the tunnel though. It really did just kind of "magically" get better pretty suddenly.