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@Adira: Oh I LOVE the same Xander! We had latch problems at first and ended up using a nipple shield which helped hugely, although we weaned from it at eight weeks pp. I think that if the latch issues are getting better, it could just be your nipples 'toughening up' and getting used to being sucked on all the time. From what I've read, some pain in the early days is normal, and we certainly had some. Breastfeeding honestly does get better though. For us, I stopped hating it when I saw how much it comforted her, and even though we've had plenty of issues with it, that's what keeps me going. Big hugs, breastfeeding is HARD but it WILL get better!

It took me six weeks to be okay with breastfeeding and not to be in pain, even though we were doing everything right and I was meeting with the hospital's lactation consultant 3 times a week at the breastfeeding support group! After six weeks it was great though. If breastfeeding wasn't difficult there wouldn't need to be support groups for it! Hang in there!

I had pain for about 3 weeks. Then it got a lot better. Now it's bad again (but not as bad as it was). Sorry I know that doesn't offer much hope but try to hang in there. LO is only 5 weeks so my shirt term goal is to make it 6 weeks. But those first weeks I just had to force myself to make it to the end of the week. LO has a high palate so his latch is always shallow, which contributed to a lot of our issues early on, but then we just kind of fell into a groove. Now though I think the issue is his latch has improved on my right side but worsened on my left (larger) side so I have a clogged duct and those suck.

Do you have access to a lactation consultant? Those helped a lot in teaching me little tricks here and there. I had to also play around with positions to find the one that would give him the deepest latch (currently football hold) and switch things up from time to time.

It does suck sometimes still but it's really so much better than it was in the early days. I was always in tears, afraid to feed, I was a mess, LO was a mess... It was just a mess. But now it's just something we do. It's not perfect but it's tolerable and sometimes enjoyable (I love the bonding and sometimes he grabs into my shirt and its so precious). And I love that in doing something for him that's making him grow so fast and be so healthy.

You can do this!

It took me about 6 weeks to stop hating it and I really enjoyed it starting at 3 months!

My nips were cracked and bleeding, it was awful!!! I felt like I couldn't go on but I had a fantastic LC. She told me to try a mix of hydrocortisone and neosporin after every single nurse and wash off before nursing. It was a pain because I felt like I was constantly washing my boobs but helped soooooo much. You can do it!

The first couple of weeks are hard! I think it was between 2 & 3 weeks it got better for us! You guys will get there!!

It was a light switch for me at 8 weeks! Went from dreading feedings to loving it! It does get better, promise! My nipples just really needed healing time and it took her awhile to get latch down.

At 8 weeks I realized we had gotten a groove and while I didn't love it, it wasn't the worst thing ever. By 6 months I loved it. Time and bull headed stubbornness got me through. Well, that and a lactation consultant for the first 3 weeks. Take it one feeding at a time, and before you know it the days and weeks will fly by.

PS- Love the name Xander!

I hit the BF glory days at three weeks. But that followed tremendous I'm quitting tomorrow pain and three LC consults. It does get better. The pain is normal in the beginning. I had only ever used my nips recreationally and then all of a sudden they were in the spotlight.

You can do it. I was ready to quit and then just as my nips got used to the abuse her mouth got bigger and was able to latch better. Now I barely feel it when she latches on.

@Adira: yes! Night time was the worst, so tired, but that little rascal was still hungry. My LC had me use a nipple shield at first, then only at night because it was hardest then. Soon enough you'll be able to get up and do a night feeding without fully waking up! It gets easier with time!

This will make you smile- A friend just said on FB this morning, "I wish my baby monitor had a snooze button."

Gah! I'm at this point now too where I am needing to see the light at the end of the tunnel. K just had a marathon feeding session and I wanted to cry from the pain through most of it. Six weeks sounds like sooo long at this point. Only good thing is I actually live the closeness and bonding part of bf'ing but my nipples want to go on strike!

Are you using lots of lanolin or lotion. I put it on all the time and I think it helped some. But till it was completely pain free took several weeks. Hope you feel better!

I think most people begin to like it around 6 weeks or so when everything regulates. That being said, I have a friend who EBFed her first son for a year, and he second son is 6 months and going, and she hates it. She only BF's because it is nutritionally better but she doesn't enjoy it at all.

You are NOT doing anything wrong, but pain isn't normal. Have you had him investigated for tongue tie? That can cause a lot of pain even with an optimal latch.

It's took about a month for me. Bfing was very painful for me, but now I love bonding with dd

i am absolutely sure that you will have a better experience than me, but i kind of hated it (and had a lot of pain) until about 3.5 months :P. my nipples are weird. and not a great latch

With my first, I hated it for the first several weeks and made a goal of "making it" to 1-month... then it got better, so I set a new goal of 3-months... and by 3-months I ended up really LOVING (can you believe I went from hating to loving???) breastfeeding. We ended up breastfeeding for 11-months, and I was a little sad when we weaned.

Now with my 2nd, I am back at the "I hate breastfeeding" phase and constantly have to remind myself that I felt this exact way with my first. I'm trying to focus on "the light at the end of the tunnel". Like others have said... it gets better as you stick it through and you and Xander figure out a rhythm that works for you. He's learning too!! As he grows, a lot of things get better!

I had "toe curling pain" the first two weeks. Then all of a sudden, it became painless. Hang in there!

@Adira: Wonderful to hear. I will remember that when the time comes