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I hated breastfeeding until around the 6 week mark. Whoever says it isn't painful, lies. I had a very painful let down in the begining.

But magically around 6 weeks it got so much easier. DD wasn't feeding quit as frequently and it wasn't painful anymore.

Great job sticking with it, it should get easier soon!

It's definitely easy for me now...but I was feeling the same way you did when LO was 3 weeks. I don't think it started getting better for me until LO was about 6-8 weeks. I would be stuck on the couch with an aching butt, starving, and tired when she was eating so often...plus my breasts would be killing me because her latch was crazy in the beginning.

It does get better! I was in despair and crying and felt like giving up until I asked this same question on my FB and many of my mommy friends who BFed gave me so much support and told me that they had the same issues and to not believe the books and "mother earth" crap about how awesome BFing is, because for some of us it's not as easy as 1, 2, 3 in the beginning and it sucks. But at 6.5 months I love it and my LO is a pro now.

If you want to continue BFing stick it out for a few more weeks...and if it doesn't get better and you want to make the switch to formula or bottlefeeding pumped milk, that's good, too! Happy mom = happy baby.

I would say by around 5-6 weeks it got easier and now at 4 months I love it! It's so nice to not have to worry about taking food for her anywhere or heating up bottles, and she's a pretty efficient eater...usually only 5-7 minutes per session (though occasionally she still does a marathon one in the evening.)

It does eventually get easier. Then it gets a little more difficult and then it gets easier. You just have to take it hour by hour/ day by day. We have made it to 18 months and will be going until 2 years old (due to medical situation).

Know that there is formula or even pumping and bottle feeding if you need a break. The neat thing is we live at a time where there are options. Knowing that helped me not to stress out which helped me be able to breastfeed better.

There are 3 growth spurts during the first 12 weeks which are some of the hardest times because all baby wants to do is nurse constantly. The neat thing about them is that they do end and if you feed often, they end in just a few days. Look up growth spurt weeks and wonder weeks knowing when they were helped me mentally prepare for them and then I could physically prepare.

I HATED breastfeeding in the beginning. I'm pretty sure it contributed to my PPD and I started to resent LO for it. But, like other posters, it got better around 6 weeks. Now I actually enjoy the time with her, though I still struggle with not being able to be away from her or the pump for more than 4-5 hours.

Between one and two months I got more comfortable with it and it got easier. Giving yourself time to come to terms with every transition is a chief challenge in this parenting business. LO is two now and we're still going, so have faith that it does get easier!

Also I feel like bottle feeding is more work than BF, if you can EBF or mostly not pump. Pumping is a lot of work. Is it wrong to admit that I EBFed because I was lazy and tired? Because that was definitely something that kept me motivated when things got hairy. So there you go, breast is best for moms who can't cope with more stuff to clean!

I have heard 6-8 weeks.....cant wait....!!! Here`s hoping anyways!

@mrskc: thanks for opening this question up...I have been so ashamed to admit that I hate bf!! It's so hard and it's such a pain right now:( but I'm determined to keep going. I am so so glad to hear that it will get better. That gives me tremendous hope. Right now I'm an engorged, sore, uneven, leaky mess that walks aroud with a nipple shield in her pocket 24/7. I can't wait until it becomes 2nd nature!

@honeybear: I had to pump during nights for first 2w to heal my nipples and *that* was less work than bfing..but it's not suppose to be that way (that goes to show you the kind of time I'm having BFing. Ah

It took me at least 8 weeks to really get the hang of BF-ing, but I had a really rough time (mastitis, thrush for 6 weeks, nipples that bled/cracked for a month).

@mrskc: today is actually better because nipples feel good but man...are you having a tough time with night feedings as well? I need night vision!

@TurtleDoves: I hear (and commend) you! At some point or another I had cracking, clogging, and general discomfort, but fortunately nothing serious and everything passed quickly. I might have thrown a few pity parties for myself anyhow. (Try not to follow my example there--I have to say they weren't particularly satisfying or constructive.)

In any event, the two important things to keep in mind are 1) even when everything goes swimmingly there are lots of changes in the first couple of years (okay, in life, really--but we don't need to get too philosophical here!), and just because something is a certain (frustrating) way now doesn't mean it will be that way for long; and 2) you don't have to go it alone. If you're feeling frustrated, sad, or just kind of off, find someone encouraging to talk to, even if it's just one of us here on HB.

Don't give in! I spent the first 3 weeks exhausted and in pain because of a poor latch. I pushed through and now it's second nature, it's so easy and now during the day I get 3-4 hours between and at night 5-9 hours in between feedings. I promise it gets better and you will thank yourself later that you didn't give in to formula feeding!

Hang in there!! Everything with a new baby seemed hard for the first month. BF got easier around 6 weeks. Each week was a little easier than the last and then one day I realized its not hard, just a little time consuming.

I've been reading the "Breastfeeding Naturally" book and thought this graph was encouraging. The book also focuses a lot on the stress of the first 40 days - after that, life is supposed to get easier. Hang in there.

Yeah like everyone else..all our problem happened before the 6 week mark. Then is was nice and steady and closer to 3 months LO became super efficient and feeding would last max 10 minutes and I could nurse anywhere because by the time we got settled he was done!

I think it got eAsier by one month and by three months full sanity had returned. Hang in there!

It sounds to me like other than the rigor and the "getting used" to breast feeding, you've actually had a pretty easy go of it. I had a baby who wouldn't latch, who finally would latch but only with a shield, who still left me with bruised, bleeding, bloody nipples that would be so sore that I couldn't sleep after middle of the night feelings. In other words- you're doing GREAT!
It does get easier- I would say we got through most of our issues by 6 weeks or so.
Do you pump? I would start trying to find some time to pump (I would pump for 10-15 after every feeding). That way, if you need a break, you can supplement with breast milk and not have to deal with formula. We actually do a bottle at our one middle of the night feeding now (breast milk)- DH gives DS his bottle and I pump. It gets all of us back to bed a lot quicker, and we're all a lot happier.
Bottom line, I think there's ways to work around it so that you're not going crazy without ever having to touch formula. DS is 12 weeks and we haven't had any issues for weeks.

7-9 weeks for us

@Happygal: with DD1 I was miserable until about five weeks. It wasn't until right weeks that I felt comfortable nursing. I was a milky, scabbed, cranky mess for a long time. And then it just miraculously got easier. Her mouth was bigger, so was her tummy and the pain eased. It does get better, I promise you it does. You are still on the thick of it. Nursing a newborn is so much harder than an infant or toddler. We ended up going to fifteen months and I cried when she weaned. At three weeks I cried at the thought of the next feed, I remember her fussing and my husband bringing her to me to feed and me just snarling at him to keep her away, she just ate! It gets better! Hang in there!