Nipples still sore after 5 weeks

ChloBub · April 2013

For mobile: Nipples still sore after 5 weeks

My LO is 5 weeks old today, and I have been EBF. Unfortunately, my nipples are still very sore, cracked and raw. Her latch seems to be okay; she opens very wide before latching on. I've tried cross-cradle and football holds and I don't seem to notice a difference. I am using lanolin all the time and air drying when I can. I have continued to nurse through the pain (and will continue) because everyone assured me it gets better, but most people said it would get better in 2 weeks, maybe a month. Here I am at 5 weeks, and the pain is still searing - I even cried through a session last night. Any suggestions? Will it get better?

tokenhoser · April 2013

Has she been checked for a tongue tie or lip tie?

opaque1997 · April 2013

Is there anyway you can be seen by a lactation consultant? Or get to a LLL? Its really hard to evaluate without seeing.. my baby appeared to have a good latch by most standards - but she was giving me blisters, cracks, etc - she had some ba

ChloBub · April 2013

My LC checked her latch in the hospital and said it looked good; perhaps I need to be seen again? My nipples are flat and small too, so I know that doesn't help things. Thank you for your quick responses.

tokenhoser · April 2013

Definitely you need to be seen somewhere again! Things can look okay on the outside, but if you're still in this much pain and have this much damage, something isn't quite working right.

If you can get in to see a IBCLC-certified lactation consu

ChloBub · April 2013

tokenhoser:
Definitely you need to be seen somewhere again! Things can look okay on the outside, but if you're still in this m

oneyedsally · April 2013

I was in pain for weeks until I got the Medela Soft Shields. They have two kinds, make sure to get the ones for sore nipples. Before that I tried lanolin, hydrogel pads, air drying, everything! We had a good latch, no ties, I couldn't figure out why it

ChloBub · April 2013

oneyedsally:
I was in pain for weeks until I got the Medela Soft Shields. They have two kinds, make sure to get the ones for s

OhBaby+2013 · April 2013

Hang in there. I had a very similar problem. I saw 6 different LC's before I got one that could really help me at 6 weeks pp. I also found this we page (sorry not clicky) very helpful as I'm a visual learner. https://www.breastfe

mariahrb · April 2013

ChloBub:
My LC checked her latch in the hospital and said it looked good; perhaps I need to be seen again? My nipples are flat

pmduggan01 · April 2013

I had pretty intense nipple pain for six weeks, just like you described. I had a LC come to our house and she spent 3 hours with us. What an amazing difference! She tweaked our latch (it was very subtle, but made all the difference). From there, I quic

SweetPeaK26 · April 2013

Mine lasted the whole 6 months I nursed. I saw three LCs, all said everything was good as far as latch. There were no signs of thrush either. It was very frustrating to be told by several of my BFing friends that it shouldn't hurt, and to have LCs tell me