Expert: ruth kraft - 3/30/2011

Question
Hi! I have a 3 week old baby girl and have been breastfeeding as much as possible. She was born 1 month early so the dr told me to supplement with formula because the baby didn't know how to suckle properly yet. I have stopped giving formula now and I have a good milk supply. The only problem I have is that it has been hurting when I breastfeed. Its not my nipple that hurts, but my areola. I feel pinching and grinding when the baby feeds. Am I doing something wrong? I thought it was only supposed to hurt for a few seconds and then get better.

Answer
Because the baby was fed with bottles for the formula, it sounds as though she has nipple confusion. You can do a google search on that alone and come up with what seems like what you have going on. The best way to fix this is to get the latch fixed so that the baby is no longer nipple feeding but breast feeding. You can also do a search on "how to get a good latch for breastfeeding" and follow those leads. You can go to www.drjacknewman.com and watch very good videos on latching as well as improper latch and why it hurts etc. This way you can get a visual to see what should be happening. If those don't help, you can find someone local who does breastfeeding counseling who can help you fix the latch. Typically it is a VERY easy fix so you wont have any pain at all. Breastfeeding should not hurt at all. Even at the first part of the latch :)

I hope that helps!