Hi ladies, I had my daughter 6 days ago. she was 5 days overdue. When she was born she latched onto my breast 15 minutes after she was born. It was not painful to start with but as the day went on it got slightly more. When i returned Home 13 hours after she was born, She wasn`t feeding properly off the breast. I went to feed her at 3 in the morning and she wasn`t having any of it. i started paniking cause i tried for hours. So now i have had to put her on formula milk. I want to try breast feeding or expressing but she has split my nipple and its very painful. Has any body else had this trouble before because i feel ever so guilty for changing her food around?!? thanks. Ashley And 6 day old Emba x

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Hi, I had to stop feeding my daughter by breast (Shes 17 now) due to an infection in the nipple - it was soooo painful. This time around (daughter aged 14 weeks) I went staright to the bottle. I understand that u prob had high hopes of doing it the 'natural' way and its a disapointment that it didnt work out. As for feeling guilty, its not worth it, firstly, you have a healthy babe, thats something to be thankful for, just because shes taking a bottle as opposed to breast its not really the end of the world, your no less of a mother. You tried and through no fault of your own you had to cease. Like I said I have a 17 year old that was fed on formula (I did find her on only home cooked food as a baby/toddler and will do that with this one) and shes now about to apply for uni to study Law so yes, maybe breast is best but really, bottle fed babies dont lose out. As long as your baby is loved and cherished, and you educate her, support, encourage and nurture her then in the bigger picture where her milk originates from is not really that important! Good Luck, Vicky x

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Hi there, with my first child I stopped breast feeding for a week cause of mastitis, I let myself heal then I tried putting her back to the breast and she went back no problem. When you are in severe pain it can be difficult for the baby to latch on cause they sense your stress but let yourself heal and try again, it worked for me. I'm now breastfeeding baby no.3 (6 weeks old) it does get easier I promise.

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i ended up with split nipples and it was so painful i was crying before, during and after every feed! So after 2 weeks i decided it was affecting my bonding with my son, so i switched to the bottle, and we haven't looked back! I did feel guilty for a while but you've got to remember you tried and thats all you can do, they say just a little of the first colestrum is enough, so give your self a break and look at that lovely bundle of joy that you have grown and nurtured for the past night months and think i did that and thats enough, put a bottle on to warm and enjoy ! Plus bottle feed babies sleep through the night quicker yay ! Take care gem and harrison 13 weeks

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lanolin cream! ask your midwife and she should be able to give you a few sachets to try as it's quite expensive. i breast fed for 6mnths until i returned to work and i couldn't have done it without this stuff i tried many others but none worked as well. you apply a small amount to each nipplebefore and after feeding its perfectly safe for baby so doesnt need 2 be wiped off first like some. it even helps with expressing. hope that helps xx

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Hi Ashley, I recommend talking to your midwife about this, and contact your local La Leche League representative (your midwife will be able to give you the details for them), as they will be able to help you. In the meantime, have you tried using nipple shields? These can be good to temporarily protect your nipples from any further damage while they heal, you wear them while you are feeding the baby. And try using that cream that Asha suggested too - it is safe for the baby so you don't need to wash it off before feeding. If you would prefer to express milk until you are healed, I recommend getting the Avent Isis breast pump, it is manually controlled so it is really gentle, and personally I find it very effective for getting milk out. Don't worry if your supply seems a bit low after you haven't breastfed for a few days, your baby is still young enough that you can re-start breastfeeding and your supply will pick up again - breastmilk is produced on a supply and demand basis so the more often you put the baby to the breast, the more milk your body will produce. If you want more advice on how to prevent your nipples getting sore again, and how to get the baby off the bottles and back to the breast, I recommend going to a website called kellymom dot com, it has all the information you could ever need about how to be successful at breastfeeding. Yes you have suffered a bit of a set-back, but that doesn't mean you have to give up forever, there is still a very good chance that you can get your baby back on the breast and successfully breastfeed her once you are healed up. Good luck! Let us know how it goes. Sylv, Thomas 4 & Abigail 13 months

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