What to do when breastfeeding hurts: Breastfeeding can be magical when it doesn’t feel like someone took a razor and made micro-cuts on your areola.

For your first child, the challenge is the initial latch. Having your newborn latch can feel uncomfortable. Even with a proper latch, a bit of scabbing is standard.

Light soreness followed by scabbing was my experience with both of my sons. With my second son, I had even less scabbing than my first.

Latching for the first time was annoying with a newborn but not unbearable. I made sure to follow what the lactation expert said. I kept my baby’s head lined up correctly and had his head propped up with either a pillow under my arm or a boppy.

In addition to this, I used a natural nipple cream to help the healing process. I continued to breastfeed through this while using the nipple cream, and this did not seem to slow the healing.

However, I recently experienced soreness after months of pain-free breastfeeding!

What To Do When Your Nipples Hurt From Breastfeeding

As I mentioned before, I had gone months with pain-free breastfeeding when, all of a sudden, my nipples became chapped and sore. 

The pain was excruciating to the point I went to the doctor to make sure everything was okay. Fortunately, nothing crazy happened besides a potential structure shift in my son’s mouth or poor latching.

I had pain when he would initially latch, and then afterward, I would be fine. However, unlike the painful latch of a newborn, the painful latch of a six-month-old is of a different caliber.

I began to fear having to breastfeed and would wait as long as possible to feed because I knew the pain that would come with it.

Despite this, I wanted to continue breastfeeding, so to get through this, here is what I did.

Three things to help you continue breastfeeding with sore nipples:

 

1. 1. Get a nipple cream. I used the Earth Mama organic nipple butter with my first and second sons and have had no problems with it. It’s easy to apply, safe to use while breastfeeding, and provides some relief. It is said to speed up the healing process as well.

1. 1. Get Nipple shields. There are nipple shields you can use to shield your nipples from rubbing against your clothing, as this can hurt and cause irritation. There are also nipple guards you can wear, and instead of your baby latching directly onto you, they would latch onto the nipple shield, and the pain wouldn’t be as severe. However, you must ensure you get the right size by measuring yourself. You also need to understand that the nipple shield does not eliminate the pain if there is already pain; it can ease it, though. I preferred them to protect myself from irritation from clothing. When I attempted to use it while breastfeeding, it did not provide enough relief for me to continue to use it while breastfeeding. But it is worth it when wearing clothes.

1. 1. Pump and breastfeed. Pumping allowed me to continue producing milk while controlling the latch, so it was pain-free. It also got my areola and nipple ready for breastfeeding, so as soon as I stopped pumping, I breastfed, and somehow, the latch did not hurt or was very minimal! I have the Momcozy breast pump.

Honestly, this is probably the worst experience when breastfeeding and very discouraging. Breastfeeding with extremely swollen nipples can have you feeling alone and ready to give up breastfeeding.

If you ever go through this, I want you to know you are not alone. Keep going if you wish to continue, and others look at you confused. This stage will pass.

If the pain is too much and you don’t want to continue, you are not alone, and thank God for formula!

The best baby is a fed baby, and the best mom is a healthy mom. Ensure your mental and emotional health is where you want them to be.

You got this, Mama!!!