A friend of mine just had a baby and said breastfeeding is the worst pain she had ever felt. It got better after a few weeks but, it was awful at first. Was breastfeeding painful for you when you first started?
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The first day or two no but it progressively got worse for awhile. I wouldn't call it the worst pain ever but there were definitely tears involved at the beginning of each feeding for a few weeks. It gets better though.
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It just depends on you and the baby. For me it was a little uncomfortable at first but that's it. Weeks before delivery my doula told me to stop using soap and lotion on my nips and to expose them to sunlight if/when possible. I think that was good advice to toughen them up a bit!
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Luckily I didn't have too much breast/nipple pain. My milk didn't come in right away though. So waiting for it was the painful part.
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I had terrible pain. After only 6 hours after giving birth, my nipples had already chapped. By day 2, they were cracked and bleeding. It was awful. But this was only because LO couldn't latch because she was tongue-tied. Now, her latch is perfect and all is well.
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Yes, so bad that I had to stop. I had a lot of issues because my milk didn't come in, and in the end I just couldn't take that constant pain, which got worse at every feeding.
That being said I'll still try again with my next one. All baby's are different and hopefully the next will be easier on my boobs.
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it did hurt with charlie and i got a cracked nipple, but i pumped a lot to let it rest so it wasn't that bad. with olive i had no pain whatsoever.
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Expressing breast milk hurt for a different reason for me...I had a c-section due to preeclampsia and whenever I would pump for the first few days after he was born, my uterus and my incision site would burn and I would feel discomfort there. Breastfeeding helps your uterus shirk back to its original size.
But I never had to labor so maybe contractions feel worse than this, but that was the worst part of "breastfeeding" for me right after birth -
I didn't have much pain at all. My LO latched like a champ from the beginning - but I've heard some horror stories from friends.
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@BabyBruins: To me, these pains were like little echoes of contractions, but nothing near that pain level. Although I didn't have an incision so that probably made it easier! More like mild cramping, plus it made me happy because I knew my belly was shrinking
So it was worth it.
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Heck yes it hurt, especially with the first child. with my second, not so much at all... barely, in fact... but the uterine contractions caused by breastfeeding were very strong for 4-5 days postpartum. I would wince everytime for every feed those days. I had to do deep breathing too. They were just like labor pains. They get successively stronger with each child you birth, but are temporary.
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It did hurt a bit for me but it was more just the initial latch and first couple suckles and then it was usually OK. Some initial pain lasted for a few weeks but it wasn't that bad for me.
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I had ZERO discomfort. No cracked or sore nipples, no painful engorgement, nada. Everything was easy peasy. I was shocked it was so easy because I know that is rare.
Later on I did have 2 instances of a blocked pore, but thanks to The Nursing Mother's Handbook, was able to take care of both at home pretty easily.
Just like every other aspect of pregnancy, childbirth, and childrearing, there's a broad range of experiences. Don't let your friend's bad experience freak you out. Take a breast feeding class in your last trimester, and prepare yourself as best you can, then just take things as they come.
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it hurt SO much for the first two weeks. i don't really know why, b/c he was latched on ok and all that, i think my nipples were just not ready for such constant action. it was much much worse than any pain i had from 18 hours of labor and c-section recovery.
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Yes, significant discomfort! (But not the worst pain ever, I would give that to labor contractions at 8cm) My uterine contractions while nursing weren't even noticeable. Up until 2 days ago I really disliked the whole process of breastfeeding.
I was very nervous about the whole thing, hearing about so many who had trouble- I took the class, met with every lactation consultant in the hospital, and met with a lactation consultant post-partum too. We did have difficulty with getting him to stay latched on had used a breast shield the first couple weeks.
I was very careful to prevent cracked nipples, constantly applying lanolin, watching his latch very carefully, placing black tea teabags on my nipples- my nipples still felt used and abused for about 3 weeks. Engorgement didn't hurt me, it just felt weird and uncomfortable.
When I woke up literally 2 days ago and my nipples didn't hurt, I'm actually starting not to dread feedings and almost like them- and I hear it only gets better from here!
Just remember everyone has different experiences, all you can do is learn as much as possible and go with what you are given when your time comes around.
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I was lucky - no pain at all. I had 1 tiny scab on one of my nipples but that was it. I didn't need to any use creams at all. LO gets all the credit - was an awesome latcher from the very first post delivery feed.
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I did have some pain the first few weeks but it wasn't awful. I was just so glad that DD was able to nurse that I didn't mind too much. I was lucky enough not to have bleeding or too much cracking.
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Yes it was painful especially the initial latch. Nott the worst pain ever, but enough to make me wince and focus on my breathing every time at the beginning. The LC at the hospital said some of it had to do with the shape of my nipples etc and i used the pump some to help with the latch. It got better after the first two weeks and now things are going great and pain free two months in. It was hard at first but i am so glad i stuck it out!
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It was awful for me! I had 6 weeks of the worst pain with latch. Tears would come out of my eyes every time. Little Jacks had a horrible teeny tiny latch. There was one point where she was throwing up from swallowing blood from my cracked nipples where I was just positive I was going to give up. If that stubborn baby had been willing to take a bottle at all, I would have thrown in the towel then and there. One of the things that kept me going was the "Breastfeeding is Hard" thread over at WB.
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All of this makes me so sad about the state of breastfeeding in our society.... Although I cover when I nurse in public, as a personal preference, if we were all exposed to more breastfeeding and it were more "normal," we would KNOW what a good latch looks like, what to expect, etc. As it is, it's like this big mystery.... Sorry about the rant!
Anyway, like others have said, hang in there and remember everyone has their own experience.
So it was worth it.
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