Help - boobs :(

[TORino]

My norks are KILLING me.

I've been trying to feed Tilly today and struggling, she keeps bobbing on and off them and getting upset.

I think my milk has come in as they are rock hard.

What do I do?

 

[Kayelle]

I haven't experienced it personally, but been told if they are hard to try and express some, and / or use a warm damp flannel to massage them a bit . I'm sure some experienced ladies will know!

 

[Maria1977]

When you are latching her are your boobs engorged? It might be this that is causing her to latch on and off. It depends on your let-down rate and baby's reaction to it.

Maybe try expressing just the top off to relieve the pressure on your boobs, then latching baby on? This way you know baby is defo going to get to the hind milk also, rather than struggling to get past the fore milk xxx

 

[TORino]

I think they are engorged

I got a pump but it made my nips bleed!!

I don't know what to do

 

[BevG]

lube them up, hand express a bit if necessary. if u can get tilly to drink from them n massage them a bit as she drinks it might help. a hot bath will relieve them a bit if all else fails. is your pump manual or electric? might be too hard a suction for your poor nips

 

[TORino]

It's an electric one bev. I can't face it again. I struggle with hand expressing cos they are soooo painful.

Theres nothing easy about this breastfeeding lark is there?

 

[Maria1977]

When you hand express are you pushing on the boob part only? Not the areola? Can you try hand expressing from the top down towards the areola but don't go that far? See if that is less painful?

A pump defo shouldn't be hurting you, I used to find it a bit of a weird sensation though, but only for a moment.

Only other thing I cna think to do is sit in a warm/hot bath and your boobs should start to leak quite a bit, that might help relieve them a bit.

xxx

 

[TORino]

Thanks ladies I'm gonna try the bath and pummelling them a bit to soften them up and hope for the best.

 

[BevG]

pump is deffo too strong if it hurts u hun, mine has to be on lowest setting to start with and massage seems to help milk flow better. hand expressing shouldnt hurt either, just start high n gently squeeze down towards nipple with hand in c shape kinda way. hope the bath helps. i spent the first week almost crying with cracked n bleeding nips hun, slapped lansinoh on them constantly and i found after day 5 it started to get better. its hard to know if they are latched right but it shouldnt hurt after the initial latch on unless they are on badly or your nips are too damaged. i had to give 1 nip a days break and only pump off that side. i think the pump helped mound my nipple to a better shape tho so i cant see why yours hurts u. what pump is it?

 

[TORino]

Thanks bev, I have a Philips avent electric pump. I might try again on it tomorrow but I managed to get some out in the bath and Tilly has latched on (after a fight) and is going good so far so fx for a good night tonight!

 

[BevG]

thats great hun, fingers crossed for you x

 

[TORino]

I'm getting her on but finding it really stressful. Ive had to wrestle her onto my boobies all day today, to the point where I'm just jamming it in her mouth when shes upset so her she's got no other choice.

She's head butting me and all sortd

 

[Sleepy sue]

Sometimes they get that worked up that you have to console them another way eg bath we had this the other night.
Have you tried diff positions to feed ? Also are you holding the back of her head or her neck? If it's her head she will push against you as they have to feel free to move head off due to gagging.
Are you using a pillow everytime? Trust me this makes the experience better for all concerned

It's not easy Hun and trust me I've come close to quitting a few times. I'm hoping to reach the two month mark and then combination feed just to give me some time (selfish I know)

Good luck Hun you're doing great x

 

[TORino]

Thanks hun. It's so very hard all of this, I knew it would be but I never thought it would be as bad as this. Baby does not settle after feeds either which makes it worse!

I keep her head free yes, but she keeps getting on the boob and spitting it out/bobbing about and then getting angry, it's only happened today like this really so I'm hoping it is connected with the milk coming in somehow.

My poor OH is trying to get her asleep now

 

[Sleepy sue]

I so feel for you with her being unsettled, I take it infacol hasn't made a difference yet? We are only just getting to the point where s will settle for a few hours before now we were co sleeping ( not planned trust ne) but it was the only way to get a few hours sleep
Is she tongue tied? May be it's worth looking at that.
It's worse today because your milks come in. I was on agony to the point where I couldn't wear a bra so at night I just leaked everywhere and slept with towels on my boobs (not the most glamourous look).
Hang in there I know it's tough x

 

[pinkyprincess]

I think Sue has made an amazing suggestion that I totally forgot that I ever did. My pillow was my saviour! I just used my feather one from the bed as it was mouldable. It was great because if Tyler fell asleep (which he would!) I could hand the pillow over to OH and give myself a break. When he got older and bigger is use my pillow under my elbow to help support my arm when holding the lump! Lol! Anyway I don't need it any more but it was amazing. I love my pillow!

Really hope things go slightly better today!

 

[BevG]

oh god yes couldnt do without a nice big fluffy pillow to hold LO in a good position. they get so heavy after 15 mins or so feeding lol