frustrated!!!

[@llli*dvdfad002]

Hi There!!!

I just need a few words of motivation to keep me going....my little man (7weeks) is being EBF..but since he has been born we've had latch issues. My poor nipples have been cracked and bleeding.

At about 5 weeks we manage to master latching on the right breast- feeding is now a dream on.that side.

My problem is the left breast...He never seems to latch on properly no matter how many time i take him off and put him back on. The latch always looks great- but never feels great. My nipple has a horizontal crack right across...and after feeds i notice red shiny spots on the left hand side of the nipple and sometimes underneath....possibly the way he sucks it raw?

I've just been told to persevere and that it will come right eventually....will it?

[@llli*mommal]

It will, I promise! The fact that you've reached the point where feeding is "a dream" on the right tells me that you're not too far from the point where you'll see that crack heal up and your problems disappear. Often what happens is that there are small anatomical differences between nipples- maybe one is more flat than the other- and that makes it harder to latch on one side. But babies grow fast, and a bigger baby with a bigger mouth can achieve a better latch even on a flatter nipple.

FTR, I had awful deep cracks for 4.5 months with my first baby, and despite that I am still so glad I stuck with nursing!

The shiny spots sound like they could be little broken blood vessels under the skin- the equivalent of hickeys. Sometimes when a baby's latch isn't quite right, you end up with too much friction/suction in the wrong spot.

[@llli*blue2000]

Hang in there. I have one side that is definitely less comfortable than the other, and it seems to be getting better. I'm sure you've tried a million things, but one that helps us is that if his latch is really poor, I'll latch him in the orientation as the other. So, my left is the side he struggles with. I nurse him in cradle or cross cradle on the right, then football on the left, so that he's basically facing the same direction for both breasts. Does that make sense? It seems to help us.

[@llli*dvdfad002]

I think there are differences in my nipple shape....the left one appears much bigger and far rounder than the right- I am sure that is a contributing factor.

Will definitely try a different nursing position. Always nursed him in the cradle position-hopefully that helps

Thanks ladies for the advice

[@llli*molufs10]

Yep. Dont give in!! You can do it! Both of my kiddos seem to have preferred my right boob over my left n i had more issues with my left as far as cracking and stuff goes. Some people are against it however i used a nipple sheild just to help them heal quicker.