Did it hurt??????

Question

I am 22 weeks and I am determined to breastfeed my baby girl. The only thing that will keep me from breastfeeding is if a lactation specialist tells me I can't but it won't be because "it hurts". Everyone I talk to says that it is very painful and I'll probably try to start but won't continue. I say nonsense and I don't care how much it hurts, I WILL BREASTFEED MY BABY GIRL. My question is does it really hurt or is it just a little uncomfortable. And how was breastfeeding for all the mommies out there?

Answer 1

Be Prepared! Go into this armed with all of the information you can get your hands on.

Take a class and make your partner go, too. You'll need his support as breastfeeding, while wonderful, is also extremely time consuming for a few months int he beginning. You'll need his help.

Once piece of advice: When your baby is born, breastfeed her as soon as you get your hands on her. And even if
the nursery at the hospital offers to let you sleep through the night, tell then NO BOTTLES, bring my baby to me when she is hungry. Get her on the boob early and often. no bottles.

Good luck-it's really a wonderful thing...my nipples were sore for a couple weeks there, and I had 3 plugged milk ducts in a year, but overall, it was easy, cheap, and incredible bonding. the pain was only bad for the first few weeks and was certainly not a deterrant to continuing.

Having said ALL that, I did not breastfeed my first little girl because I wasn't prepared!! I got the WORST pice of advice from the nurse...she said, "that first night you have the baby, you need to sleep, let the nursery keep her". Well, by the time I got my wee bird in my arms again,. she didn't want to breastfeed. I tried after but really? My lack of preparation (and committment, too, I think) had already failed me. Wee bird was on stinky, expensive, messy formula shortly thereafter).

Answer 2

Some people have a lot of pain, some lucky ones like me have no pain at all. I had a wonderful experience - no pain, no cracked nipples, no engorged breasts. I breastfed my little boy until he was 16 months old and only stopped then (rather than at 2, which was my plan) because I had to have surgery.
I never took classes or stressed much over it. Just ask for a lactation specialist in the hospital as soon as you give birth to help you make sure the baby is latching on correctly. It helps if your hospital will allow you to breastfeed immediately. My little guy actually found the nipple on his own by bobbing his head up and down and latched on correctly on his first try!
Don't let people scare you - women have been breastfeeding as long as we've been giving birth. It's what our bodies are made for. You'll do just fine.
Good luck!

Answer 3

it only hurts at first and then after about 2 weeks your nipples toughen up and it starts to feel very relaxing. i was determined too. my son is now 8 weeeks and it does not hurt. i lvoe the closeness that i have with himt hat noone else has. most people who say that gave up too early and did not get to experience the good part and feeling it can give you. formula is NOT the same as breastmilk and far from it. scientists will never be able to make something jsut like it. u will learn how to make it less painfull. most of the time it is only painful when the baby is not latched properly. may i suggest lansioh cream. it works great and it is safe for baby when she suckles. if u have problems make use of the local lactation consultant. u may have trouble at first(i did) but u will learn adn it will get better

PS the perrson said above that u have to stop when u crack ur nipples and that is not true, i spoke to a doc about this in the hospital and thee are things you can do about this. i would also suggest u nursing Right Away. it helps and it makes the birth moment a lot more memorable. sometimes it take mroe than 3 days. my son took a while now that's all he wants:)DOn't be afraid if your baby loses weight at first. most babies lose between 5-9% percent of theri body weight after birth. my sonw as born at 6 lbs 6 oz and dropped dopwn to 5.13 and now eighs 11 lbs at 8 weeks he was also 4 weeks early

Answer 4

It has its moments that are uncomfortable but no not in the catorige that I call hurt. My biggest suggestion is to not give up on it right a way. A lot of new moms think that they aren't doing it right and that the baby is starving. Be patient and it will become natural for both you and the baby. If I had "stuck" to the way the nurse in the hospital was trying to get me to feed (the football hold) I never would have continued. So my biggest suggestion is to try lots of different ways and when you find something comfortable stick with it - don't let other people tell you that your doing it wrong or another way would be better. You will know what is right for you and your baby. Good luck and best wishes.

Answer 5

The nurse I saw throughout my pregnancy kept telling me "don't be afraid if the baby doesn't do well at breastfeeding" and kept saying things that would make me not want to do it. But in the end my son was excellant at latching on and everything. Every now and then it would hurt if he didn't latch on properly but it took me no time to learn how to adjust and become a pro at it. I think if you are dertermined to breastfeed it will be no problem. Just read up on literature now so you will be well prepared when the time comes. I'd reccommend checking out the LaLeche.org website where you'll find lots of tips.

Answer 6

it is sooooooooooo painful and sooooooooo well worth it. it hurt so bad for 2 weeks i would scream every time she breastfed but then she learned to latch on right and had no problems... until i gave her some in the bottle and she stopped breastfeeding. and that is painful. i would give anything and i would stand any pain just to have her breastfeed again. try hard and make sure she latches on right from the start- i thought she did 'cause it didn't hurt at all the first couple of days- but i had a c-section and was given morphine and had no pain and when it went away it was sooo
painful.
anyway stick with it it is so worth it

Answer 7

I was only able to breastfeed for 3 days and I stopped. I was DEVISTATED! The pain was so unbearable but this was because my daughter couldn't latch on properly, she kept flipping her tounge to the top of the nipple instead of under. The lactation specialist tried and tried and I refused to give up but then things started cracking and when that happens you are to stop breastfeeding in case of infection. I plan on trying again with my new little one in January...try try again.

Answer 8

Don't worry there are times when it does hurt, but it is SSSOOOOO worth it to breast feed. People that do not breastfeed will never know what a great beautiful bond it creates, I loved breast feeding my daughter, and plan to with my little boy on the way.
Plus another great thing is your baby will have a super strong immune system, that lasts all through their important developing years. My daughter has not gotten sick, except for a cold once, and then recently a very small flu bug, that her system put to shame quickly.

The only thing that may end up hurting really bad, is if you do not keep up with your breast milk production and getting it out of your breasts, you can get a clogged milk duct which is known as mastitis. That hurts a lot, and the only way to un-clog it is by breast feeding a lot and pumping, and sometimes if its bad enough antibiotics. i got this, and it is very painful, but i got through it, and breastfed my daughter for a little over a year.

Good luck!!!!!!!! and congrats!

Answer 9

If you don't have the baby positioned right it will hurt, and some breast pumps hurt. But you seemed very determined and you will be able to breastfeed. I would have a nurse help you the first time when you are in the hospital and they will show you the proper way. Also look at www.babycenter.com and they have all the good and bad details about it.

Answer 10

It's not that bad. I was so naive with my first one, I just thought that everything would be lovely and it's so natural and blah blah blah blah. I was determined, just like you. This is a long story, bear with me, it has a point, I promise, lol.

In the hospital, everything went beautifully. She nursed like a champ, took right to it. I went home, and the next morning, sometime around 11 am or so.....I looked as though I had taken over Dolly Parton's body. My boobs were HUGE!!! Not to mention sore! I was so engorged with milk that it actually flattened out my nipples and my baby couldn't latch on. She cried and cried, and (thank God) my milk "let down" and just started leaking everywhere. Within just a few minutes, she was able to latch on and nurse just fine. Next 4 feedings, same scenario. By this time, my nipples were feeling really, really sore, I was even noticing some cracks. My Mom was not a breastfeeder, and my Grammy had died the year before, so I was LOST. Fortunately, my mother's best friend had been a breastfeeder, so Mom called her and she came to my house. By this time, the baby and I were both crying from frustration. She took the baby and stood with her, rocking her and offering a finger for her to suck on and she took us into the bathroom, where she instructed me to make a compress of a hot towel and press it on the top side of my breasts, and lean over the bath tub. My milk let down almost immediately and she instructed me to express milk until my nipples were back to a normal size. She explained that in order for it not to be painful, the nipple and as much of the areole as possible had to go into the baby's mouth. Once I had enough milk expressed so that my nipple and areole wasn't flattened out with engorgement, the baby latched on beautifully! No more pain, no more crying. She said that the trick is to not allow yourself to become engorged. Nurse frequently as long as the baby wants to nurse.

When my son came along, I was 5 years older and much wiser. If he slept through a feeding, I pumped. If I felt a little "too full" I pumped. First thing in the morning, I pumped. I used pretty much any excuse to pump, and never had those engorgement and latch on issues that I'd had with my daughter. The added bonus was that I had a freezer full of breastmilk when I went back to work, AND I always had plenty of milk to pump as my supply had been so stimulated by the nursing and pumping combined. My son never had so much as a drop of formula the entire first year.

Main thing to remember, if it hurts, she's not latching on properly. See a lactation consultant or go to your hospital's breastfeeding class ahead of time to prepare yourself. Visit a La Leche League meeting in your area, they are always happy to help. Be prepared! And good luck to you :-)