Day 2 breastfeeding

[day2ebf]

Please give me a reason to not go and buy formula in the morning
I don't think I can do this much longer

Congratulations 👏 👏Is baby's latch good? Have you got lansinoh nipple cream, are you in hospital or at home.
At this stage baby is still feeding on colostrum until your milk co
Ea in which could be from day 3 or slightly later as it can differ. How are you getting on?

Also as wonderful as it is to breastfeed, be kind to yourself and if you need to use formula to that is ok too. Nothing wrong with that.

Finding it really painful so guessing latch is crap, have big boobs so is hard to actually see
I'm home
I don't know if I'm doing something wrong, but I don't know how people are meant to preserve through this?

It will probably take a couple of weeks, get lanolin creme and hydrogen patches. Most people find establishing BF difficult at first. It is by far the best thing for your baby, nutritionally; formula just doesn't compare. It's easy once it's working and means no faffing around with sterilising bottles and making formula. Plus it's free! Take it one day at a time, push through it and if after a couple of weeks you still don't want to, then stop. I literally was about to give up, then it suddenly stopped hurting almost instantly. I'm so pleased I stuck to it. You're doing great!

If it hurts then the latch won't be good.
It can take some time to learn. This is a good video. It was written for mums in the early days so you can watch onscreen and try and improve you latch and positioning. www.breastfeeding.asn.au/resources/breastfeeding-basics-video

I'll find one for large breasts too.

While you are learning can some one look after you (tasty food, favorite tea, talking baby for a walk while you shower etc)

Try different positions, my baby was tiny and I had huge boobs and I honestly now wonder if his mouth was too small! Because it really did get better all of a sudden. Also remember suddenly your boobs are being sucked on all the time so they need to "toughen" up. The lanolin is great before and after, and the patches can be put in the fridge and they feel so good. I think cabbage leaves are meant to be good top bit i never tried those. Remember it's only day 2. Can you get any proper support from midwife etc

This might help with good positions too

Get nipple shields. They reduced the pain by about 10 times for me. Try different types to find ones that you really like.

It's so hard at first, and definitely painful until you've got going. Even when mine had a good latch early on, it does hurt. Keep checking the latch, it won't take long to get past this bit and things will get so much easier (if that's what you want to do).

Look into silver cups for healing, lanolin, some shields for when it's particularly painful can take the edge off. But really I've found time is what helps the most. Good luck 🙂

It's so so hard at first. I would get babies latch checked and also purchase some silver nipple covers for inbetween feeds and lather nipples with lansinoh nipple cream - worked wonders for me. After a week or so it was less painful. Do you have a breastfeeding team locally? I would get on to them straight away. Failing that, there is a Facebook page 'breastfeeding and lactation support UK' they have trained workers who can check latch for free via video - they were great with me.

Loads of good advice already. If you're in hospital ask for a lactation consultant or if at home contact your local breastfeeding team or if there is a la leche league close by. Don't be afraid to ask for help.
It does hurt the first few days as your nipples get used to being latched in to but it should ease. Don't hesitate to unlatch and relatch baby if baby is just sucking the nipple. Make sure baby's mouth covers the areola.

I’ve been where you are, 3 weeks ago! Good advice above about trying different positions, my newborn will only feed in certain ones so a bit of trial and error.

Lanolin cream is your friend! Use it as often as you remember.

There is no shame in using formula, do what you need to do. Personally, I wanted to avoid it so in those moments where I felt myself wobbling, I gave myself a 24 hour deadline - if I still felt like I wanted to buy formula in 24 hours, I would. 4 weeks in and I haven’t bought any…yet.

It will get easier, and you are doing a fab job. Be kind to yourself and congratulations on your little one xx

It’s really hard for the first few days. Don’t give up, head to a breast feeding drop in clinic. Ask your midwife for details of the local provision. I found ours a life saver. They’ll give you great support. Has baby been checked for tongue tie? They can hopefully help with that too. Good luck.

You're all really kind. It's been a few years since my first and had managed to forget (gave up and FF that time too so trying to make sure I have no regrets this time).

It should get hugely less painful very soon - milk usually replaces colostrum on around day 3 and then the rubbing blisters sensation goes pretty much instantly. I found letdown painful for the first few seconds of every feed until about week 3, after that it was plain sailing, no issues whatsoever.

Reason one - invisible health benefits to baby if you don't give up so soon
lactationnetwork.com/blog/the-benefits-of-breastfeeding-a-timeline-for-the-ages/

Two - it's about to get much easier (and if it doesn't you may just need positioning help or tongue tie snip) and then will be the biggest gift you can give your baby

You might find Kathryn Stagg helpful on Instagram. She does a day by day what to expect post.