Mummies help !

Question

Im 3 days PP tdy. Been exclusively breastfeeding since day 1. And so far, so good.. despite the every hourly demand latching, Baby has been latching well. Till both my nipples super sore and torn. I do apply the nipple cream as and when i can but  because my baby might even latch every 30mins-60mins, my nipples couldnt heal properly and thus resulted in more pain. Yesterday i realised, my both boobs gettimg engorged eventho i latch my baby often and for long each time. The engorgement doesnt seems to subside.. i wonder why.. is baby not drinking at all or...? Every 10-15mins she ask to be latched. With the pain getting even more painful, i had to feed my baby formula. My 3yrs old formula milk bcos i hadnt had the chance to buy a newborn formula yet. I feel guilty. What will happen if a newborn drinks a 3yrs old fomula milk? This is the first time i had to do this. My nipple pain is soo unbearable and baby was fussing, crying non stop asking for milk. And, what can i do now? With this nipple pain (cracked nipples) and both boobs engorgement... Pls pls advise! Urgently need help!

Priscilla Goh · Answer

Firstly, I think you need to go get newborn fm instead of giving nb your 3yo fm..the nutrients are totally different and there might have some things inside that nb cannot process and breakdown in the body yet. If you can’t go out, you can get someone to help you get it. It’s just off the shelves from ntuc or any other supermart. Secondly, why not try to pump out your milk for the time being while letting your nipple to heal and to prevent engorgement? Baby is drinking but that doesn’t mean you won’t get engorgement. You can pump it out manual or get a breast pump. There’s no need for you to set a rule that you must breastfeed your nb directly. When you are in distressed, your nb will feel it too.