Baby #2 is 5 days old and I’ve been breastfeeding again. I had a session with the lactation consultant before i left the hospital about whether she was latching well enough. I have fairly flat nipples and shared I used the breast shells with my first born. She recommended I try again to get a deeper latch.

Thought i was doing well and got a little confident to do it without the shells. I have enough supply now as I’ve been using a manual pump on the opp breast to catch the let down and have been storing about 3oz+ a day.

Baby will nurse anywhere from 30-60 min each session between both breasts every 1-4 hours. I could have sworn she would have caught up on her weight by now but she is still down 8% when we checked in with the pediatrician today.

Anyway latching is still painful initially but usually gets better. However i dread the initial and feel like my little one is like a little dinosaur ready to chomp on. The pain radiates from my breast down to my arm and i have to re-latch or just take a break at times. My nipples are so sensitive and there are some small scabs.

So my question is........ keep on keeping on and it will get better (maybe to back to the shells?). Supplement with formula (save my stash?)? Or bottle feed some of my breast milk to give my boobs a break and keep pumping?

I was able to exclusively breastfeed my first born until 11months. Was hoping to wait on bottle feeding until 2-3 weeks.