Breastfeeding Essentials To Help Manage Discomfort

After going through Painful Breastfeeding as a New Mom with my first baby (there were lots of tears), I was scared to nurse my second. I am happy to report, though, that this second time around has been much better! With a few breastfeeding essentials on board, I have been able to manage the discomfort and pain.

I still experience sore and painful nipples this second time around, but it has never gotten anywhere near as bad as it did with my first. This is because I knew what to do from the get-go and had the right breastfeeding supplies.

This made breastfeeding during the newborn stage A LOT less stressful.

So let me share the breastfeeding supplies that have, and continue to help me on my breastfeeding journey.

Please note that I am not a healthcare professional or lactation consultant. I share my personal experience with breastfeeding here for informational purposes only. All questions regarding individual concerns should be directed to a healthcare professional.

My Favorite Breastfeeding Supplies To Protect Sore Nipples 

With my first baby, I did not know how to properly protect my nipples in between nursing sessions, and this aggravated my already very sore and cracked nipples. Everyone told me to just apply nipple cream and that it would work wonders. Unfortunately, I did not find that nipple ointments did much for me. 

Whenever I would leak colostrum or milk, it created a sticky residue and my nipples would stick to my bra. So when I would hastily pull my bra down to breastfeed, it would painfully take cracking and delicate nipple skin with it. Ouch. 

So with my second baby, I did some planning and research beforehand regarding products to help protect and heal delicate nipple skin between breastfeeding sessions.

I utilized the following;

• Silver Nursing Cups
• Cooling Hydrogel Pads
• Nipple Shells

Silver Nursing Cups

I used silver nursing cups daily for the first 2 weeks of breastfeeding my newborn. The cups provided much-needed protection in between feeds, allowing my nipples to heal and find some relief.

Now, 3 weeks into my breastfeeding journey, I only need these cups when my nipples are starting to feel particularly sore, which happily isn’t that often!

While I don’t know much about the particulars of the science behind these cups (supposedly the silver has antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties), I do know that they provide a nice barrier between sore nipples and any potential sources of friction. 

So in my experience, these silver nursing cups have been essential. I wish I had them when going through painful breastfeeding with my first baby because they made such a difference this second time around. Aside from their function, they are small, simple to pop on and off, and easy to clean.

I am diligent about keeping them clean with soap and warm water between uses, and I make sure my nipples are wiped clean and dry before applying the cups. 

Cooling Gel Pads

After the silver nursing cups, I found cooling gel pads to be most helpful in the early stages of breastfeeding. Medela makes gel pads that can be reused for a couple of days, and Ameda makes ones that can be reused for up to 6 days.

I can clean them and place them in the refrigerator between uses to help cool and soothe inflamed nipples and provide some protection against friction.

I only needed these for the first week or 2 of breastfeeding. I alternated using them with the silver nursing cups and this made my nipple pain when breastfeeding very manageable!

Breast Shells

Breast shells are not my favorite, but they certainly have a time and place. I used them a handful of times in my first couple of weeks of breastfeeding. Like the silver nursing cups and gel pads, they provide some nice protection from any friction against sore cracking nipples and have the added benefit of having air holes in the cups to allow the skin to breathe. They also come with some foam inserts that soak up any leaking breast milk.

My one complaint about these is that even when I wore a relatively loose but fitted crop top to hold them in place, they still left pressure indents around my nipples. I think this was due to all the swelling and inflammation around my nipples. So I would only use the shells for short periods when I felt like the skin on my nipples needed to air out. 

Before using the shells, I rubbed breast milk over my nipples and let it dry with the shells on. Alberta explains that breastmilk has antibodies in it that can aid with healing sore nipples.

Taking a Nursing Break and Pumping Instead

Whenever my nipples start to get sore, swollen, and or have any sort of lesions, I switch to pumping until things calm down. At two and a half weeks postpartum I am continuing to use this strategy. This prevents my nipples from getting too beat up before they are ready to handle exclusive breastfeeding.

The idea of intermittent pumping to manage nipple pain was first introduced to me by a lactation nurse when I was struggling with breastfeeding my first baby. She said that my nipples needed time to heal before I could continue breastfeeding.

It only took a week or less of exclusively pumping before I started alternating pumping and directly breastfeeding. And I then ended up being able to exclusively breastfeed. For me, the benefit of this was not having to deal with managing and cleaning pump parts and bottles.

I have found it pretty amazing how in the newborn stage and early days of breastfeeding, when nipples are still acclimating to their rigorous new job, just a day of pumping or just a few sessions can help manage nipple pain and soreness.

For example, with my second baby, I exclusively breastfed the first 2-3 days after delivery, and then when she started to cluster feed, I switched to intermittently pumping as well. Those cluster feeds can happen every hour or less, and that can start to irritate nipples.

When pumping, I always make sure to use the right-sized flanges for my nipple size, and I use a nipple balm like Honest’s Calm Your Nip Balm to prevent uncomfortable friction while pumping.

A Good Nursing Pillow To Help With Latch

They say that breastfeeding shouldn’t hurt if the baby has a good latch. I disagree.

Breastfeeding can still hurt even if a baby has a great latch. At least it did for me.

This doesn’t mean though that new moms should disregard the importance of getting a good latch every feed. Nursing will hurt a lot more without one.

Especially when babies are small, the Brest Friend Nursing Pillow is amazing as new moms are learning how to breastfeed newborns. The pillow makes it much easier to get a good position for a proper latch.

Getting one of these pillows was an absolute game-changer for me.

This nursing pillow makes it easy to lay baby on top of it, support his or her upper back with one arm and hand, and then hug baby in close to latch. You can use your other hand to sandwich your nipple to help baby latch.

The benefit of this pillow compared to other nursing pillows, is that it doesn’t leave a gap for the baby to fall in between the pillow and your torso. Especially during the newborn stage, I found this made breastfeeding much easier ergonomically.

When my first baby got bigger, I started using the Boppy nursing pillow, but for newborns, I prefer the My Brest Friend pillow. 

Sharing Our Breastfeeding Stories

Struggling with discomfort and pain when breastfeeding is a fairly common experience among mothers, but it is not often talked about.

I wish I had known about breastfeeding essentials like silver nursing cups, hydrogel pads, breast shells, nursing pillows, and pumping supplies when I first got started with breastfeeding. It would have saved me so much pain and angst!

I was glad to be more prepared for breastfeeding my second child though, however, I experienced new breastfeeding challenges with her (namely milk blebs, and clogged ducts). There’s always something!

Breastfeeding is such a journey, and the more we can arm ourselves with information and tools, the better!

How is your breastfeeding journey going? Feel free to share in the comments below!