4 weeks today

[Shannon]

Originally Posted by camperjen I'm assuming you have blister or a scab on your nipple? OUCH!! I had that for over a week when my son was a new-newborn (he's 3.5 weeks now).

WEll it's not acually a scab. I had scabs on the other nipple at the beginning(it started out as the bad side ) but those have cleared up. If it was appropriate I would show you a pic of what it looks like, however I don't think that would fly No, it's on the bottom right side of my nipple..it started out as a crack but it's an open sore now. I WISH it would scab up so it could heal but it's too deep and just doesn't have the time to heal between meals The pain is getting more and more manageable but I wish it would just heal up NOW!

I'm going to try the football hold tonight and see if trying a different latching position helps. Worth a shot I guess. I am suppossed to go back to the Dr in a couple weeks so I hope it's clear by then!!!

[tararaboomdeea]

The football hold might help you! I had to do that with Noah for the first 4 months because his latch in the cradle position was so painful. And it just worked out that when he got too long for the football hold, either my nips toughened up and/or his latch was great, and no moe pain.

I hope it heals! Is it as painful if you pump? Maybe just nurse her from the side that's not sore and pump from the other so it can heal?

[Mamatoto2]

I had terrible pain with DD#2 and it was much worse on one side than the other (she had latch issues which damaged my breasts. Then I was given a nipple shield which did lessen the pain but only made her latch and the problem worse. I too had "fissures" on the nipple which would re-open with each feeding and awful throbbing/stabbing pain for hours following nursing -it's Reynauld's Syndrome) It's horrible and I feel for you. The LCs kept pushing antibiotics saying that it *could* be thrush especially since I'd had a c-sect and had been on antibiotics then. In my case, latching had been a problem for DD from the get-go and I had pain/bleeding, fissures since day 2 so the thrush theory made NO sense to me (and it wasn't thrush).

Anyway (sorry to say) the pain lasted for about 4 months before getting better. What I did to cope was to stop nursing on the painful side. I just nursed from the "better" side and pumped as needed from the bad side. When the better side began to hurt as a result of increased nursing, I'd just tough it out through a nursing session or 2 on the bad side. I also changed positions. I could nurse her in a cradle hold on the better side, but football hold was better on the bad side.My personal theory is that there was something in DD's oral-motor development that was causing nursing problems. She ould do a strange tongue-rollig thing when nursing, and I would have sworn that she had a razor blade on the tip of her tongue when she nursed. As she grew, I think her oral-motor stuff got worked out enough that she could nurse efficiently on either side in any position. Nursing is 100% painless now and I'm glad I stuck with it. It was AWFUL going through all that pain and at times I wondered if it would last forever. It doesn't (although four months felt like forever at times). Good luck and GOOD JOB, I know the four weeks of pain you'v endured are just a reflection of your comittment to give your DD what you know is best for her.