What level of pain is normal in the early days?

[highlove]

Just that really. DC1 is a couple of days old and we are EBF and dining to stay that way if possible. She's feeding lots - milk hasn't come in yet but I guess is likely to in the next 24-48 hours. At the start of each feed immediately after she matches it is really painful and makes me more than wince but it generally eases up after a minute or two. Is that normal? One side does seem to be a bit worse than the other butidwives say latch looks good and baby looks to have good latch from my totally novice viewpoint.

So it's a very long-winded way of saying: how much discomfort should I expect, what do I put up with and when do I seek help?

Thank you.

[highlove]

Sorry loads of typos - IPhone and lack of sleep.

Aiming to stay that way.

After she latches.

Midwives.

And any others!

[TheKnightsThatSayNee]

Everything from no pain to a shit load is normal.
Use lots of Lansino or equivalent, let your nipples breath by going topless as much as you can. If it gets really bad nipple guards can help but they are a last resort.

[Trooperslane]

Seems fine (but agree ouchy) to me.

Congrats

[AnythingNotEverything]

My first few days were like this. It should get less painful. It's good if it's only painful at the beginning. If it's still making you wince a few weeks in, go to a breastfeeding cafe.

Get anyone and everyone to have a look in the meantime, but remember, if te latch looks fine, but still hurts (after this initial couple of week), it's probably not fine.

If it hurts so much you can't carry on and want to give up completely, it's probably not a good latch. Don't be afraid to take baby off and relatch.

Congratulations!

[noshthis]

For me it calmed down a bit but I do remember putting ice packs on my boobs even after a couple of weeks in and more. ICE PACKS really help after a feed :) Lansinoh also makes hot and cold packs and I've heard they are really good.

I would say that the pain was definitely gone around week 4 or 5. Sometimes it still hurts when they latch on but if there shouldnt be pain after 30 seconds. if there still is detach and latch again.

Congrats!

[NickyEds]

Congratulations!! You have my sympathies!When DS was first born I found BF absolute agony, cracked, bleeding nipples- really awful. It got better after around 2 weeks when DS had his Tongue tie snipped but was around another 2 weeks for everything to heal up and be comfortable. I'm not sure if I was "typical" but I haven't spoken to a BF Mum yet who hasn't said it was painful-at least for a little while. I'ts one of the things that is never really explained fully ante natally. In my experience MWs are very variable on this- they kept just telling me that my latch was fine even as I was crying in pain. You might find La Leche League help lines useful. Also I took paracetamol and loads and loads of lansinoh. Good Luck