Tips for problem free breastfeeding second time around

[justabigdisco]

Just wondering whether anyone has any suggestions

I bf my first (now 3) for a year, and once we hit the magic 6 week mark, things went pretty swimmingly. However I had a lot of problems with cracked/sore nipples in huge beginning and very nearly gave up

I now think that I probably just had the latch wrong in the first day or two - and once your nipples are cracked, you're in trouble as they never heal!

I feel much more confident with technique now even though it's been a while since I stopped bf, but just wondering whether anyone could suggest anything that I can do to prepare myself for bf number 2 (due in a few weeks) so that I can get things right from the start?

I'd like to try and avoid the cracked nipple scenario if at all possible.

[justabigdisco]

cracked / sore nipples in THE beginning, not huge

[butternut22]

I paid for a breast feeding support person to come round before I had ds2 and also a few hours after I brought him home. She helped me get the latch right from the beginning.

[LovelyWeatherForDucks]

Similar situation here - have 2 week old DS2, but never quite got to grips with bfeeding DC1 due to the ongoing pain. The first 10 days or so was pretty sore, and did have cracked/bleeding nipples but have got past that stage quite quickly, and it's now going pretty well! What has helped:

1. Loads and loads of lanolin - never letting nipples dry out
   
2. Making sure nothing would stick to them when healing - either fresh air, or when needing to be covered using cling film inside breast pads! Lactation consultant also advised washing them with plain soap twice a day.
   
3. Lots of real life help - lots of help from midwives, extra visits from HV and using the hospital based drop in clinic (where tongue tie was spotted and snipped!).
   
4. You tube videos on latching techniques.

[NickyEds]

Yes to Lansinoh. I'm on day10 bf with dd and I have a 19 month old ds. I've found just having done it before has helped a lot but the main difficulty I'm having is ds-I miss him a lot and I'm spending all of my time feeding so struggling even to give him his bath. It's ok at the minute as dp is still at home but I think help with your first dc is the key. No ides how we're going to cope next week.

[justabigdisco]

Already stocked up on Lansinoh. Like the idea of YouTube vids of latch. Might do that before baby comes. Will also make sure I'm happy with it before going home from hospital. Thanks all

[justabigdisco]

Am also already dreading DH going back to work after paternity! How am
I going to manage 2 on my own?!

[AttackOfTheGreyLantern]

Before I had my first I'd read a great description in a book about breastfeeding positioning. I memorised it and when all of mine were young I'd go through the positioning really carefully every time for the first few days until we had both had plenty of practise. I am sure I got lucky but I never had any issues and I think being confident about the position really helped. It was:

Hold your baby with their nose just about touching your nipple. Ensure their ear, shoulder and hips are in alignment. Encourage baby to tilt their head up slightly and take the whole nipple in their mouth. Remove baby and retry until positioning is correct - don't be tempted to just leave a sore / uncomfortable position just because you're just so relieved they're hanging on one was or another!

[Peskyelephant]

I also bf my 1st Dc for 13 months, the first 8 weeks were hard but then it was fine.
When I had DC2 3.8 years later the milk came in after 48 hours and after about 10 days feeding was pain free and similar to when I stopped bf DC1. I hope you have a similar experience.

[cantmakecarrotcake]

I was a bit complacent with my dd2 and thought I knew it all. She fed a lot more than my dd1 (loads of cluster feeding) and I got sore from a latch that wasn't deep enough. I should have got the MW to check my latch in the hospital - but you know how busy they are and I was desperate to get home...

Also don't feel guilty about using cbeebies to keep dc1 occupied while dc2 feeds.