u/Catroncatlynn

Exactly as title says. I developed a crack at the base of my right nipple some days ago. About a week after I solved the last discomfort that happened. I can’t figure out how to heal it while pumping every 3-4 hours. The longest stretch I go is 2300-0330/0400 overnight. The crack is about a centimeter long right on the base circumference that gets stretched while pumping, and it hurts insanely bad. It’s the worst for the first 5-10 then isn’t as bad for the remainder, but I definitely still feel it.

My partner asked if there would be a way I could take a day off that breast, but I told him I don’t think that’s how it works. I’m worried my supply would plummet if I stopped temporarily to help heal. LO is 19 weeks Tuesday, and I didn’t want to start weaning from pumping until somewhere between 6-9 months.

What should I do here? Is taking a break possible? Do I suck it up and just hope it heals? Are there better ways to help it than just lanolin and lubricant??

I have a good pain tolerance, so the fact that it hurts so bad and is starting to ache during the breaks between sometimes is definitely getting to me and I’m not sure what to do.

4mo/16wks just began refusing/becoming increasingly agitated at the bottle again these last couple days. He’s been exclusively bottle fed breast milk since the start. We went through this right before 2mo until about 10-12 weeks before getting it sorted again, but it just started up again in a different way. Last time we tried different bottles and ended up changing his nipple flow with the same bottle. Eventually he started eating again and we were able to get him from 24oz a day to about 28-29 a day consistently for the last three or so weeks. He’s been doing 4.5-5oz a bottle up until now, sometimes bottles took upwards of an hr but he was still taking them. Two-ish days ago he started getting very very fussy/agitated once he hits the 2-3oz mark. I’ve been able to sooth him down mostly, using paci and rocking/bouncing until he calms enough to take it again, this sometimes takes twenty depending on how upset he was, and sometimes I just have to try to get him mostly to sleep to take the rest—but once he takes it again he’ll finish most of the time. I’ve still been able to get him to hit 28.5 the last two days. I take most of his feedings when I’m home just due to it being easier, and I work overnights so he’ll have one with dad and two with sister overnight. Today is my first day of work this week since he has started to fight again and dad couldn’t get him to sooth enough to take bottle. He started to fuss/become agitated and cry after an oz to the point of making himself spit up most of that oz. I’m unsure if he was able to settle to finish because I’m writing this an hour after him telling me about the struggle at home. Lac doesn’t believe he has a tongue tie and from what we’ve looked at, it doesn’t look like he does. We have our four month next Wednesday so we’ll be asking again if we’re still struggling this bad. It seems like this is a regular occurrence right around that 4mo mark after the big developmental leap, but we’re desperate and really trying to figure anything out. His weight was only around 20% at his 2mo. They had us do an updated 3wk check after that appt because they didn’t like his weight gain and he was about the same, like one percent drop. Since then, he has appeared to be gaining good, has a tiny bit of chunk but is still a lanky boy and not the kind of chunk the peds seem to want, so I just really really don’t want to start to struggle with weight gain again because that was a stressful period and the fight seems worse this time around.

4mo/16wks just began refusing/becoming increasingly agitated at the bottle again these last couple days. He’s been exclusively bottle fed breast milk since the start. We went through this right before 2mo until about 10-12 weeks before getting it sorted again, but it just started up again in a different way. Last time we tried different bottles and ended up changing his nipple flow with the same bottle. Eventually he started eating again and we were able to get him from 24oz a day to about 28-29 a day consistently for the last three or so weeks. He’s been doing 4.5-5oz a bottle up until now, sometimes bottles took upwards of an hr but he was still taking them. Two-ish days ago he started getting very very fussy/agitated once he hits the 2-3oz mark. I’ve been able to sooth him down mostly, using paci and rocking/bouncing until he calms enough to take it again, this sometimes takes twenty depending on how upset he was, and sometimes I just have to try to get him mostly to sleep to take the rest—but once he takes it again he’ll finish most of the time. I’ve still been able to get him to hit 28.5 the last two days. I take most of his feedings when I’m home just due to it being easier, and I work overnights so he’ll have one with dad and two with sister overnight. Today is my first day of work this week since he has started to fight again and dad couldn’t get him to sooth enough to take bottle. He started to fuss/become agitated and cry after an oz to the point of making himself spit up most of that oz. I’m unsure if he was able to settle to finish because I’m writing this an hour after him telling me about the struggle at home. Lac doesn’t believe he has a tongue tie and from what we’ve looked at, it doesn’t look like he does. We have our four month next Wednesday so we’ll be asking again if we’re still struggling this bad. It seems like this is a regular occurrence right around that 4mo mark after the big developmental leap, but we’re desperate and really trying to figure anything out. His weight was only around 20% at his 2mo. They had us do an updated 3wk check after that appt because they didn’t like his weight gain and he was about the same, like one percent drop. Since then, he has appeared to be gaining good, has a tiny bit of chunk but is still a lanky boy and not the kind of chunk the peds seem to want, so I just really really don’t want to start to struggle with weight gain again because that was a stressful period and the fight seems worse this time around.