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Struggling with breastfeeding

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Category: General Chat
Forum Name: General Chat
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URL: https://www.ohbaby.co.nz/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=44254
Printed Date: 21 August 2025 at 6:24pm
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Topic: Struggling with breastfeeding
Posted By: Hannah151007
Subject: Struggling with breastfeeding
Date Posted: 27 August 2014 at 3:43pm
Hey guys,

I'm new to this.. I have a 3 week old & am struggling a little bit (although everyone tells me I'm doing great, I don't feel that way)! Have had trouble with sore cracked, bleeding nipples & although they were starting to heal, have now got thrush & a possible staph infection.. Great!

I've wanted to exclusively breastfeed, but after not being able to feed my girl as much as she needed when my nipples were at their worst, we were at our wit send & decided to mix feed with formula. Hopefully temporarily.
Am also sometimes pumping & feeding her this & also using nipple shields..
I just want to be able to feed her without all these aids! Have gotten her back on the boob for the most part now, but what's bugging me now is she can feed for sometimes up to 2 hours & still be hungry afterwards & needing a top up, which can sometimes be as much as 100ml!

I've tried spotting whether she's mucking around, but from what I can see she's sucking & swallowing etc..
Am so frustrated! Wish they had a gauge so we could work out when they'd had enough! Sometimes I also can't pump 100ml in a sitting & have to too her up after the breast bottle feed.

Am super frustrated, I just want to be able to feed her from the boob & have her satisfied.

Has anyone else had this problem???



Replies:
Posted By: Mushroom
Date Posted: 27 August 2014 at 4:27pm
Hi Hannah - sorry you're having problems!

I got thrush in my milk ducts due to cracked nipples. I needed to take an oral thrush tablet to clear that in the end (was a ilfesaver on the breastfeeding front as it was starting to be agony).

Have you been to see a lactation specialist? My sister went to one and found them really great. Normally feeding is around 10-15 minutes a side, so taking longer than that sounds like there is an issue with something, plus it's obviously hard wear on your nipples. With my son we found he had silent reflux (non-vomiting, swallowing anything that came up secretly), and found that made him comfort suck for aaaagggeees as a way of soothing his throat. I also think that sometimes babies can get used to bottles (they can be less work to get milk from), so might need to stop using them once you're fully healed so she's prepared to put the work in. A specialist though can observe and see if she's putting in a decent effort or just enjoying the suckle and give you advice on this though. My experience with any changes to routines is that there is 2-3 days of complaints from bubs, and then things settle down. 


-------------
Me: 35, PCOS, endo, DH: 34, severe MFI
6+ yrs TTC#2
M/C 2012, clomid 2013, IVM 2014, IVF 2015, M/C 2015
2016 FET#1- BFP - MMC - Emergency D&C
FET#2 - BFN
Jul 16 - stage 3 endo removed.
Oct 16 BFP


Posted By: Scarlett's Mama
Date Posted: 27 August 2014 at 6:50pm
Hi! Thanks heaps for your reply!

Aw that sounds horrible! A pill sounds great though, I am currently using Viaderm KC & a gel for the thrush. Really hope my nipples toughen up soon, these last 3 weeks of screaming/crying in agony most times that I feed has been intense to say the least!
Have been to see a lactation consultant yesterday and she didn't really tell me anything I hadn't heard/read already! She said Scarlett was latching fine and seemed to be feeding well with no sign of a tounge tie etc. So really don't know what the problem is, at the moment all signs really point to the fact that shes getting too use to the bottle and not having to work as hard. And possibly not liking the nipple shields as she is once again having to work that little bit harder.

Will work on trying not to bottle feed her when possible and hopefully this will help.

When you say she should be feeding 10, 15 minutes etc.. this sounds AMAZING! I really hope we get to this stage, which no doubt we will. That would be amazing instead of having to put aside 2 hours etc to feed her!


Posted By: Mushroom
Date Posted: 27 August 2014 at 7:38pm
Awww, you've got it tough. *hugs*

Seriously recommend getting a family member to pick you up the thrush pill - you can get it over the counter at any pharmacy. It's not prescribed when you're breastfeeding, so doctors just give the gel which does nothing if the thrush has gone into the milk ducts. They actually give the pill to babies born with AIDS, as they are born riddled with thrush (even in their brains), and the pill is the only way to fix it (so it's pretty safe). I used to find the first let down excrutiating with thrush, and it would slowly ease into more manageable pain. Tried gel for a week and it did nothing, had the tablet and noticed a difference the next day, with huge improvement over the next week. Will treat your daughter too via the breast milk, as she'll have oral thrush if you have it (you pass it back and forth if you're not careful), which can give some sore white blisters in the mouth that could effect her feeding too.

I liked the natural papaya gel for cracked nipples too, plus letting them 'air dry' after feeds for a bit (rather than putting the breast pads straight on) to help make a less moist environment for thrush/other nasties.

From memory I think it took me around 6 weeks to be confident with knowing I was doing it all ok, and by 8 weeks we were working together like pros. It is hard work, but if you can get it to be a nice relaxing time together then it's well worth the effort - many, many months of snuggle feeding time to look forward to after all the first unpleasantness is past.


-------------
Me: 35, PCOS, endo, DH: 34, severe MFI
6+ yrs TTC#2
M/C 2012, clomid 2013, IVM 2014, IVF 2015, M/C 2015
2016 FET#1- BFP - MMC - Emergency D&C
FET#2 - BFN
Jul 16 - stage 3 endo removed.
Oct 16 BFP



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