Breastfeeding 1-2-3

Pain during Early Breastfeeding

by Angela White, J.D., breastfeeding counselor on July 26th, 2008

Here I am, mother of three, with nearly six years of breastfeeding experience, a year-and-a-half as a breastfeeding counselor, and nearly two years writing this blog. You would think I would know how to prevent any and all breastfeeding problems. Really though, the problems I have dealt with over the years are the reason I became a breastfeeding counselor in the first place. And this time around, while I could not prevent problems, I knew better how to deal with them.

1. Painful latch. For the first few days, I winced as the baby latched on. I checked for a good latch, and everything seemed okay. I could tell she was transferring milk well (jaw movement, swallowing, and subsequent wet and dirty diaper output). The pain also lessened after the initial latch, and improved when the transitional milk started coming in.

I used expressed breast milk to heal the one crack that appeared on my left nipple. I would have used Lansinoh but it never got that bad.

2. Painful letdown. Unfortunately, when the milk came in there was an overabundant supply. While I suppose I would rather deal with oversupply than low supply, it comes with its own set of complications. One of them is an intensified feeling of pins and needles as the milk lets down. It’s temporary and fleeting and I can deal with it (now being familiar with the sensation). I also recall that this feeling goes away when my milk supply regulates in a couple of months.

3. Painful engorgement. When my second child was born, I didn’t have to deal with engorgement because my first child was tandem nursing and she quite efficiently drained my breasts anytime I started to feel over-full. This time I am not tandem nursing, and I have had to hand express when I start to get engorged. Then I ice my breasts to reduce inflammation and slow milk production. I know some women swear by cold cabbage leaf compresses, but they never worked for me.

I have also been block nursing — nursing on one side per nursing session. That helps drain each breast fully, ensures that my nursling does not develop green stools, and lowers milk production overall.

4. Painful plugged ducts. When I spiked a 102.5 degree fever on day five after the birth, and I started to feel cramping and back pain much like labor, that was too much for my body to handle. In the kick-you-when-you’re-down tradition of breast infections, I developed a plugged duct that eventually became red and inflamed. I rested, got plenty of fluids, and nursed, nursed, nursed on that side. I also tried a couple of remedies that I think help — but I am not a doctor and I have no proof these work at all. File them under “can’t hurt, might help.” I took cranberry supplements (I figure if they help fight the bad bacteria that cause bladder infections, they might do the same for breast infections) and drank diluted grapefruit seed extract. All I know is, the next day the red and inflamed spot was gone.

It’s day 8 as I write this, and I feel good. Everything is under control again. Perhaps the benefit of all that breastfeeding experience is that I know that with time, any problems do resolve, and perseverance is rewarded many times over with a successful nursing relationship.

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