Posted: 3/16/2011 8:32:34 AM EDT
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Hello
The wife is out taking her grandmother on errands and that leaves me alone with my newborn. (He was born 03-11) The love of my life is in terrible pain when she breastfeeds and I got her an electric breastpump and it works slowly but surely but the pain is still there. Will this pain subside or what because it kills me to watch her feed our son and I feel so helpless!  I don't want to feed him formula because 1) scientists aren't as effective as nature and 2) i'd have to rob the US mint to be able to afford it
I'm trying to help things out as much as possible and have been doing Googling trying to find out solutions to everything and take some of the stress off her but, like all new dads, I think I'm retarded and feel combat-ineffective. Please help a guy that is out of his element! 
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| Have you checked into the symptoms of mastitis? Google it. They always told me that if your breastfeeding correctly it shouldn't hurt. I disagree. It always hurt a little right when they latch. She can always call a lactation specialist to come to your home and make sure she is using the best positions and getting a good latch. |
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Check out the La Leche Leauge . They're a wonderful source for all things breastfeeding.
When I had my first baby, it was hell breastfeeding for the first few weeks. Painful, my nipples were practically shredded, and I was sure it would never get better. You have to remember, it's going to be tough until mama and baby figure out what they're doing. It just takes a little while for it to click sometimes. She should definitely see a lactation consultant so she can be shown the proper way to hold the baby, plus the proper way the baby should be latching and sucking. It's just not as easy as you'd think, but it will get better. |
| Definitely look for a lactation consultant or get in tough with La leche league. What sort of pain is she experiencing? If it is primarily nipple pain, it is probably a problem with his latch. You can find tubes of lanolin at babies r us and places like that which will help if the nipple skin is chapped or cracked. |
I breastfed all of my kids. You don't need a professional consultant, maybe just someone with experience. First babies seem so complicated! I could write a book about the dumb things I did with my first. Thankfully they are pretty resilient.
As to breast feeding...Having the baby "latch on" correctly is pretty critical. If she is engorged with milk, the baby will chew the nipple up. Been there, it really hurts. She needs to get as much of the areola (sp?) into the baby's mouth as possible. She might have to take a little off the top before feeding, if she is really full of milk. The pain I had early on was on initial contact...that little mouth looked like a shark coming at me the first few days after birth! After nursing for a minute or so it didn't hurt at all. I would avoid a breast pump at this point...it's probably going to hurt more then the baby. |