My baby was born 4 days ago and I started breastfeeding at the hospital. Everything was okay until the 2nd day, I started bleeding, cracking, etc. I had a lactation consultant help me out and it was a little less painful. (my nipples have always been extra sensitive) Well, after a while, it became so painful that I couldnt take it anymore. I got a pump thinking I could pump it into bottles and he could still at least have the breastmilk that way. The pump was too painful..I couldnt do it. He started getting mad because my milk wasnt in yet and he was so hungry so we gave him some formula. I gave my breasts a break for a day, then tried again yesterday morning..and it worked with only a bit of pain! I was so happy, but by the next few feedings, I couldnt take it anymore. He has such a tiny mouth and my nipples are large. Maybe this has something to do with it? Any advice or ideas....I really want this to work out and Im getting depressed about it.
How long does it take for nipples to toughen up?

Try to do soft massage after you put a warm wet towel on your Breast, will help the milk come easily out. After you feed the baby, wash your breast and put some good cream on it.

Honey, check with the lactation consultant again... this is not really a part of breastfeeding... it is a latching on problem, in which the baby is not latching on correctly and that is the source of your pain. If you are washing between, keeping them dry, etc.. then you should not be having this problem. Sure there are creams and such, but they only treat the symptom and not the cause.. it's the way the baby is latching on... please, check with your consultant again.. hang in there!!

Let's start with... That is all normal.
I don't know if nipples "toughen up". Try some lanolin for your sore cracked nipples, I believe the best brand name is "lansinoh". Make sure he is latching on properly, he needs to be getting most of your areola in his mouth, not just the tips of your nipples. Keep trying, it is worth it. The lanolin cream will help with soreness and cracking and getting all of your nipple and areola in his mouth will help.

I remember this feeling ALL too well your nipples need time to toughen up and it can take up to 6 weeks... just stick with it trust me its free and ultimately healthier for your baby! Use lots of ointments like bag balm on your nipples to help soothe them make sure your nipples are getting enough air to dry them off completely between feedings otherwise you can develope thrush which will make it even MORE painful for you. Your colustrum is providing more then enough right now and if you keep baby at breast the stimulation will help bring in your milk... I wouldn't pump right now unless you're seriously engorged and need some relief putting baby to the breast more is the better option to get a good solid milk production in. The first 6 weeks are the most crucial to your breastfeeding relationship and giving bottles can cause nipple confussion to the baby and he may reject you afterwards just due to laziness as bottles flow right away with little work on their part where as breastfeeding requires a little more effort for them to get to your let down. Keep up with it its an amazing experience I promise! It's very easy to get depressed I almost dreaded putting my nipple in my daughters mouth at first and then one day it just stopped hurting and became absolutely amazing!

The same thing happened to me. Turns out that my daughter's tounge was 'flat'. I went to one consultant and she didn't help fix the problem. Well, b/c I was having so much trouble my milk didn't come in for forever. I ended up having to go to the hospital to have a 'lactation study' done to see how much milk my daughter was even getting. The nurse was so professional. Much different than the lactation consultant that visited me in the hospital. Anyway, this nurse told me exactly what the prob was and showed how to fix it.

Beleive it or not, she actually suggested we visit a Chiropractor that specializes in infants and feeding problems. We did, and she nursed perfect within about 1.5 weeks.

As far as your nipples, I don't mean to be gross, but mine were so beat up I actully lost about 1/3 of my left one. Everythign is fine now, but they never 'toughened up'. We just had to get the tongue thing fixed. Hope this helps!!!

You have to wait it out... I know it is sore, but you will get over this hump and then it shouldn't be painful at all. Use those tips that the lactation consultant gave you to keep your nipples moist and clean in the meantime and just wait it out. It's a big adjustment for your nipples to be sucked on all the time like that... give it time. It can take a week or two sometimes. Don't hesitate to call the lactation consultant again if you need to for more ideas and support. Breastfeeding is hard work but stick with it!!

The problem isn't that there is something wrong with your nipples or that you are over sensitive, the problem is that the latch is not right. No matter how "textbook" the latch is if it hurts you or the baby isn't getting milk efficiently it isn't working. And this isn't even a matter of pain the latch is causing physical damage to your nipples -how much clearer can it me.

#1 if you have to give formula DO NOT use a bottle. Have someone show you how to cup or spoon feed the baby. Obviously you must feed the baby but a bottle will just make teaching him how to latch that much harder.
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/pumping/alternative-feeding.html

#2 I could give you links to all the latching web pages in the world, and it won't help you as much as someone knowledgeable who works well with you in person. Please get that help, in person and get it today. With proper help the pain could be gone in as little as 24 hours. I had nipples that were about to crack and so painful I thought I was going to die, this was after a few days of nursing going ok. It took one visit to a lactation consultant to fix that problem and my nipples started healing and were better in no time. *lol* Until the next problem, what can I say it takes some moms and babies longer to get things right ;-)

Get a lactation consultant, or a La Leche League Leader, or another breastfeeding mom -or better yet get all three. You'd be surprised how much moving your baby's position a half an inch can make.

Ok my computer is apparently dying the website for La Leche League is http://www.llli.org sorry I can't link to the right page.