Breastfeeding- Swelling & Pain

Yes what your explaining is normal and it will get better here soon for you might take a couple weeks , I’m not sure about the blood Altho when I was pumping and my nipples were cracked and sore I did have blood in my milk but it had a pink colour not so much spots of red

It is not uncommon. Your nipples are going through a stress that it never had to face before. I had scabs forming on mine while I was breastfeeding. You can use lanolin cream to soothe. It is safe for the baby to ingest. You could also use nipple shields temporarily while feeding. But rest assured it does get better with time. Your body will adjust to it eventually

Sounds like your milk just came in hard for the swelling and then relief after he eats. As long as the latch is comfy and not pinchy or shooting pain it should be alright! If his latch seems crappy and you getting shooting pains see an LC. It does sound like maybe the initial latch is a little shallow though. Keep your Nipples hydrated so they don’t get too dry or cracked to help with any bleeding. Cold cloths help inbetween too

It’s honestly normal the first two weeks and then it gets much better. As long as she does have a good latch and she is draining your milk it should be good! Use nipple cream it’s honestly worth the money in my opinion that first little bit to help with the pain

I'm wondering if you have a clogged duct. Is it still painful between the feeds like some kind of a burning sensation? I don't know I which province you live, but I think you should call your Happy Beginnings hotline (service offered via 811 with another phone number.) It's meant to support families with babies aged between 0 & 2 months. Book an assessment with a lactation ASAP. A lot of them offer the first phone assessment for free. *it is worth the investment, believe me! It's about your comfort and your baby's nutrition and health!

@Stéphanie - Doula It is only painful between feeds if I touch it, but not so much like burning. I live in Ontario, I will give them a call right now. I tried to contact a LC earlier but i had to leave a message and I’m still waiting to hear back. Thank you!

I had a nurse come in aggressively in the morning after giving birth (not even 24hr pp) and she made me latch improperly, shoving my baby on my breast as soon as she opened her mouth, while supporting her head to my breast. I did it to please the nurse. Cuz she was already pushing formula as soon as she came in due to my baby being 5lb12oz at birth. And she said if she didn’t like my latch she’d bring formula in for me.. so I was terrified. But I took a bf course and it says breastfeeding shouldn’t hurt, shouldn’t cause chapped, cracked, bleeding nipples. Will they be raw for 1-2 months, oh yeah, your body isn’t use to having a baby suck on them every 2hrs. But they adapt. After getting discharged I left with 1 of my nipples cracked and bleeding a little. I then bf the way I learned and knew what was right and it went away, but not soon enough, it was excruciating having a cracked nipple. You might be having engorgement? Just painful pressure from being too full..

But it could also be mastitis? That’s my only other guess cuz you mentioned your areola as well? Swollen could be mastitis, but hard is normally what happens when your engorged. I use to have to pump after feeds. But yeah, if you have a clogged duct due to mastitis and baby is sucking hard to get milk out that might be what the blood is too!

@Kendle I just watched a few more videos and tried. It feels better when he initially latches now, I think it was a shallow initial latch like someone above said. The swelling I’m still figuring out. I will try and attend one of those classes as well. Hopefully online and soon so I can sort this out lol Thank you!!

I did a online one, it has a app login. It was the Thompson Method. I thought it was really informative. There’s lots of old research around bf, some of it works some doesn’t. I personally found the worse thing you can do is what the nurse told me to do! (Hand on the backside of baby’s head, sandwiching my breast and shoving her face into me) There are a lot of free resources out there and there are a couple Thompson method videos on YouTube. When I bought the course it was a lot cheaper.. I’m pretty sure I thought what the heck, it’s $25 dollars for some of it. But I just looked again and it’s like $100 for the full thing.. that’s crazy. It’s kinda highway robbery. Hopefully it’ll just take time and being more comfortable, but it there is anything more then engorgement, I’d probably bring it up at next baby apt! Here’s one of the videos! https://youtu.be/kZuSAzivTB4?si=Shn-l6LEYBhtWNbJ This is kinda the jist, but she actually live demonstrates step by step.

Sound like mastitis? Pumping helped even though I was extremely painful for me. I couldn't even use the milk for my son cuz he has a dairy allergy. So doing it just to get it out so I wouldn't be in pain. No one explained to me that you needed to do that. Something else that really helps is actually put a hot eating pad on your boobs and massage them. That made a huge difference for me. It helped to break it up

@Kendle you’re a life saver!! Thank you!!

@CS thank you!

I had shooting pains and it was due to a shallow latch. It caused vasospasm. Thrush can also cause shooting pains. If it is mastitis, pumping can make it worse. True mastitis requires antibiotics. If you catch it early and it is clogged ducts then it is an inflammation of the ducts, ice, advil, and Tylenol should work. If you really need, a light lymphatic drainage massage. Don't feed extra, pump or apply heat, it can make it worse.

Blood for the first couple weeks is totally normal I was told. Sounds like your milk came in and you experience engorgement. It will regulate soon!