Breastfeeding & Cheese Graters

[YuzuSake]

I heard a comment in a show that breastfeeding felt like running a cheese grater over your nipples. I have never breastfed and this comment has stuck in my brain as it really made me wince. Is it accurate? Or sometimes it can be and sometimes it isn’t? I figured if anyone had a good idea of this it would be MN!

For me this definitely wasn't true! We're all different though.

BF hurt for me, but I wouldn't describe it like that. You can get nipple shields (I used them at first).

I breastfed for a total of 20 months and would not have done that if any grating sensations were involved!

Definitely not true for me. If the baby is latched on properly it doesn't hurt!

Not for me (bf 4). It was sore at first but soon settled.

Not at all.

The only time I got any pain was when I was bitten, which was rare. They generally only did it once. And with #3 I had a cracked nipple for a few days which hurt when he watched on but was fine once he'd got going.

If you were full then I'd describe it as similar to the relief if you're desperate for the loo, but other than the above examples it was never painful.

Oh god this resonates so much with me! It felt like I was being dragged by a car on a gravel road with only my nipples in contact. It was excruciating!!

Nope

Er no. That would have done for human evolution millennia ago. I don't doubt for some women it is painful, but if you get the latch right, it isn't.

It was like that for me with my eldest, but it was thrush causing it. Once that was cleared up the pain went, but boy did it hurt and made me cry and not want to feed her. It took too long for the HV to take me seriously though and it wasn't until she looked in my dds mouth and saw white patches did she twig.

No! Was the show sponsored by Cow & Gate or something? 😂

This is actually a very accurate description of how it was for me with my first. To start with anyway, I remember having to take deep breaths and hurt so much. It wasn't like that for very long though and I can't remember it being painful at all with my second unless she bit me!

Absolutely not. Mine aren’t generally biters though and I’ve had a very positive experience the last nearly 3 1/2 years

It was the most painful thing I have ever experienced in my life. Worse than childbirth. And I had loads of support before everyone piles on saying it could have been resolved. It was horrific. Worst six weeks of my life, I wanted to die.

I won't lie, breastfeeding did hurt me for the first 4 or 5 weeks but I had an indescribable urge to keep going and to get it right for me and my baby. It didn't feel like a cheese grater. To me, it felt like a burning sensation. Turned out DD had a tongue tie, and as soon as we got that sorted and perfected the latch, it changed and there was no pain at all. I think for many they are lucky and pain is never an issue.

Fast forward 2 years we are still breastfeeding (to sleep only).

Wild how people can't talk about their experiences without being accused of being a formula shill

It was like that for me for a few weeks when she was a few weeks old, but only for the first few seconds/initial let down. It was one of the most painful things I had ever experienced, but it didn't last long and I correctly assumed it would settled down. It was ok the first few weeks, then got painful when the major cluster feeding kicked in so my boobs felt a bit attacked - she was feeding 11+hrs a day for a bit - "slow feeder" apparently!

Yep I would say an apt description and I’ve BF all my children. Was only for the initial couple of seconds once they latched for the first 2/3 weeks but yep toe curling excruciating pain. Think once the nips toughened up 🤣 it was fine and BF my last baby for nearly a year

Millennia ago women didn't wear bras. Our nipples don't toughen up these days.

At the beginning, or occasionally when he got a tooth and his attachment got lazy, yes, my nipples got sore, and the attachment moment was a sharp pain - not like repeatedly running the cheesegrater over, but definitely like you gave it a swipe!

Fixing the attachment fixed it though. Lanolin, and just trying to give one side a chance to heal fixed it - it was only ever temporary.

lol no. I didnt particularly enjoy breastfeed but it was nothing like that.

More like razor blades. Just for a minute, and for the first few weeks though. Definite "deep breath and latch on" moments!

Thankfully I'd attended some local prenatal classes and a wonderful midwife told us this might happen (she described it as toe-curling) so when it did happen I didn't panic or stop. I really appreciated her honesty!

I can still remember the feed when DD latched on and I realised it was pain free! Did a little celebratory fist pump to myself 😄

Same happened 2nd time around with DS but didn't last as long, maybe 2 weeks.

No of course not! Breastfeeding shouldn't hurt, if it's very painful it means the baby isn't latched on properly

The first few times yes it's not like a cheese grater but a really weird painful feeling. I don't think it's the baby, I think it's the let down itself- it was only for the first half minute or so of feeding. I used to count backwards from 20 slowly till it stopped. But that didn't last. I think the idea that women should expect it to be painful and just battle through isn't great because that's how problems like thrusg/bad latch/cystisis get missed or dismissed.

Definitely hasn't felt like that for me other than when I had thrush (breastfed for 7 years so far...)