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We didn't start breastfeeding until week 3. I'd say it became significantly easier by week 7/8.

For me, it came around 7 weeks. At 6 weeks, I ALMOST quit. I was in so much pain and so miserable and I dreaded every time I had to feed Xander. But I suffered through it, saw a lactation consultant, watched a couple youtube videos, and I think him just getting BIGGER, suddenly things just clicked for us. Once we FINALLY got his latched fixed, things became sooooooooo much better. My nipples healed and I finally started to enjoy breastfeeding my son!

Talking to multiple lactation consultants (and a pediatrician who specializes in latching) was the biggest help to me. I repeatedly kept make the same mistake over and over again (bringing my boob to the baby instead of bringing him to my boob) and it wasn't until I finally stopped doing that and learned how to make Xander latch correctly that things got better!

Now it's super easy. I just put my boob in his face and he latches on perfectly (he's 4 months now).

I think part of what makes it easier is that they go through a few growth spurts and they get bigger, so their mouths are bigger and it's easier to latch correctly. When they're brand new and their mouths are so small, it's hard to get as much of the boob in their mouth as is necessary for it to not hurt!

One thing that I didn't realize until later (after a ton of pain) was exactly how the nipple should be while breastfeeding. I'm not sure if the latch is causing you pain, but I think it's a common problem for most people. I feel like a lot of what I read indicated that the nipple should be fairly close to the upper lips and that the baby should take in more of the aerola below your nipple. That actually didn't really work for me, because my nipple wasn't getting far enough into his mouth to be at the soft palette (as opposed to the hard palette). I had to do a more centered approach so that my nipple was deep enough in his mouth. It should be far enough back that when he sucks, your nipple itself doesn't actually feel much (though there were a couple weeks for me where it would tickle - I have no idea what he was doing, haha).

Not sure if this will help you, but learning about the hard palette vs soft palette helped me figure out that even though his latch might LOOK correct, it really wasn't, because my nipple wasn't far enough in his mouth.

@maybebaby: Oh my gosh, I did that ALL THE TIME!!! They always tell you how you should unlatch him and try again, but when you have a starving baby and are getting no sleep, sometimes you are just like "F it!" and let him drink with a poor latch! I did that a LOT!!! And I was always dangling my boobs over his face and hunching over him to get my boobs in his mouth, instead of actually pulling him TO me. I also didn't realize how squished into my boob he actually would be with a correct latch. For me, Xander's nose is right up against my boob when he's latched correctly. Before that, he wasn't, which is another sign that he's probably not taking the nipple in deep enough.

I didn't have any huge issues other then she didn't open up wide enough most times to latch, so it would take a while to get her on right. But I will still say 6 weeks before it felt natural to me.

8 weeks.. Prior to that we had a bad latch and a lazy tongue, lots of LC visits, used nipple shields, clogged ducts, mastitis, (be careful that you fully drain your breasts when you are using nipple shields because they can cause mastitis) thrush, Rotovirus (which = pumping and feeding with a bottle for a couple of days).... sigh. It was very rough. Then, I stopped using the nipple shields and I guess L's mouth was big enough to latch right. That was right before 8 weeks. We are at 15 now and it is a breeze most of the time, with the occasional sore breast or nipple. Nothing major though.

@maybebaby: They can prevent your baby from getting really effective suction and thus from emptying the whole breast. This can result in plugged ducts and mastitis. I didn't know it was happening and all of a sudden I woke up and my boobs were hard and hot and the next day I had a 102 fever! The LC said, yeah that can happen with nipple shields. They are a wonderful thing but it is good to be aware that they can have this effect. If you are cautious and make sure to check for lumps and pump after you feed, it should be fine. But you'll want to wean off of them eventually. HTH and I promise it really does get better. I was so determined but it was truly hell for me for a while Now I love it.

3 months.

It hurt soooooo badly! I also had bleeding nipples, 30+ stitches in my vag (some that actually needed to be removed) and bled for quite some time.

Once all that cleared up, breastfeeding became way less stressful and way easier.

I'm at 4 weeks and still having trouble, so just wanted you to know you are not alone! It's heartening to read this thread because I feel like I keep hearing how it should be easy by now. I'm not ready to quit but I do dread feedings sometimes.

It's true! I think by 8 weeks it got easier for us bc I eliminated dairy from my diet.

We finally started becoming a team around 8 weeks. I pumped after every nursing session too and had more than enough milk by then.

Congrats on making it this far, it definitely isn't an easy thing to learn!

You know, I just left my Friday morning BFing support group and as I was pulling out of the parking lot I thought to myself, 'I don't think I need to come back next week. I think we have this figured out.' DD is nine weeks old.

It's been a struggle and we also dealt with terrible nipple trauma and a number of other issues that almost caused me to switch to supplementing as recently as last week, but everything seems to have fallen into place now and it's going well. Do I enjoy it? Not particularly, but I'm doing it, it doesn't hurt and DD is packing on the pounds!