Should breastfeeding be this painful (and is it really thrush) ??
I’ve been told my pain was from thrush, even though my 4 wk old has no white spots in his mouth. My nipples are shiny and flaky, and BURN when I breastfeed. There is a sharp pain that feels like heartburn that radiates through my chest and into my back and shoulders. I have a high pain tolerance… but feeding my baby is making me cry and curse!! My dr. told me to just pump so that my nipples could heal… but I miss breastfeeding and the pain is getting worse instead of better. We (my son and I) are using Nystatin (in his mouth and applied on my nipples). Does anyone have any ideas??? I want breastfeeding to work so badly but don’t know how much longer I can stand this. Please help!
I know that I can help! I went through this same thing, but a little worse. My daughter was tongue tied, and she would latch with her gums rather that her lips! OUCH!!! I was bleeding and all! Okay, your Dr. is right, you should alternate, just for now, between nursing and pumping to allow your nipple to heal. I did this also. And I know how you feel, I love breastfeeding as well, so I hated to give my daughter a bottle! But, if you want to keep breastfeeding, you have to help yourself, and that means get healed! After nursing, apply some of that cream mad efor healing your nipples (I’m sorry, I forgot what it’s called!) It will help with the flakyness, which is probably due to dryness. If your Dr. has confirmed that you and/or baby have thrush, make sure to wash your breast after each feeding to stop it from transfering back and forth. By the way, based on the shiny flaky nipple alone does not mean you have thrush. I also had these same problems, and it burned as well when I nursed my daughter, but I had no thrush, confirmed by my Dr.
I remember I dreaded her feeding time. I would sit on my rocker with my Boppy pillow and an ice cold glass of water, and I would inhale and exhale, and I kid you not, sweat woudl drip down my arms! I new what was coming, and I was not happy!!! During the entire moment, I would curl my toes, and I would stare at the time desperately wanting it to go by faster. Honestly, I never thought breastfeeding would work, but I never gave up! And you should do the same! That is, if you want to.
After about 4 weeks, it did start to get remarkably beter. My nipples were still very sore and severely cracked, but alas she had learned to latch properly.
Another thing that needs to happen is that your nipples need to toughen. This too takes time. Just hang in there, I PROMISE, it will get better! After all, it can’t get any worse right now! lol Don’t give up!! Hope everything gets much better very soon! Congratulations on baby!
By the way, I stopped giving my daughter bottles because of this whole breastfeeding thing, and my now 5 month old daughter will not take bottle, so I HAVE to be with her at all feedings! That means, no take her so that I can go out for a bit, or take her tonight so that I can sleep. Nope. All me, me, me! It worries me. I don’t want her to have to be so dependent on me.Sooooo, give your baby atleast one bottle a day. Just a suggestion.
P.S. That Nystatin stuff is expensive isn’t it? My daughter had to use it also as ger DR. thought she had yeast. I changed Dr.s’ after knowing she didn’t !
Bastian’s Birth – Part 9
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