To think I could breastfeed a third child for the first time?

[Lovelymonkeyninetynine]

I have 2 dc who I didn't breastfeed. I tried but found it very very painful with both. Has anyone been able to do it with subsequent children? I am wondering if there's a way to toughen your boobs up for feeding if your skin is super sensitive?

I would see if you can find an NCT Breastfeeding counselor. Mine made all the difference.

Of course you can!

It took me to DS3 to crack BFing

Yy to really being absolutely clued up about what a good latch it and taking them off every time it is not right - don't wait until your nipples are chewed to ribbons
It's call breast feeding - if you are well-endowed of breast look up Dr Jack Newman's videos on YouTube about latch/'breast sandwich' etc.

The other thing that made a difference for me was more of a mental shift: I really wanted it to work, so spent hours and hours sitting on my backside offering boob to tiny newborn - basically every time he gave a squak he got a mouthful of breast for the first few weeks 3 months. It then became a doddle.

It's nothing to do with tough skin - one of many unhelpful BFing myths.

Good luck

Ds1 and Ds2 were bf for a few days only. Ds3 is 4 months and we're still going strong so definitely possible.

Pacific, totally agree with the 'mental shift' needed. I was so determined I would manage to bf ds3 and life pretty much stopped for 3 months whilst I sat and fed him...I hadn't realised that such 'immersion' was often needed tbh which was why I gave up with ds1 and 2 after a few days.

I used one of these for DS2. shop.lansinoh.com/product/lansinohr-latchassistr-nipple-everter

My latch was totally wrong with DS1 and i have flat nipples so it was never going to happen. This worked really well.

I struggled with my first DD and ended up mixed feeding, managed to get down to one FF in the evening and fed her until 15m. DD2 arrived a bit early and struggled to latch. I used nipple shields (didn't affect my supply) until she was a couple of months old, then managed without. She was ebf until I stopped feeding at 18m.

You know it will be OK if you don't manage it, but I think it's good to know that it doesn't have to be all or nothing and stuff like Lansinoh and shields can really help.

I could never have breastfed without nipple shields. Might be something to try if all else fails.

I BF DC2. With DC1, I listened to those who told me it was easy and natural with no pain.
With DC2, I used nipple shields for the first couple of weeks alternating with bare nipples.
It hurt and was uncomfortable- but what helped was being told it is normal for most people to hurt for the first couple of weeks. It made me feel normal instead of useless. Her latch was fine, I just found someone clamping onto my nipples painful.
Now am feeding easily and painfree, but it took around a month to get to that point.
Or try nipple clamps 8 times a day 😀

Should have read someone clamping onto my breasts was painful.

what helped was being told it is normal for most people to hurt for the first couple of weeks. It made me feel normal instead of useless. Her latch was fine, I just found someone clamping onto my nipples painful.

exactly this. Ok for some lucky women it doesn't hurt, but if for the majority of us it does even^ if you are doing it right, I think it's important for women to know this in advance too

Oops, italic fail!

My first baby I really wanted to bf but it hurt so much. My HV and my mum advised me to give up but I didn't want to. I was crying every time dd latched on. When dd was 2 weeks old in desperation I drove to a nearby bf support group and cried my heart out! A wonderful HV who ran the group came to my house to show me how to latch on properly and how to feed lying down. I had to promise I wouldn't tell my own HV as she didn't want to tread on her toes. I never looked back after that. I agree totally with the pp's who said if you are doing it properly it shouldn't hurt. That is being said not to make you feel bad but to get some help. I couldn't believe the difference in feeding after this HV spent time showing me how to properly do it.

I don't care what anyone says breastfeeding my daughter I definitely felt the sensation of razor blades being drawn through my nipples at some stage but it definitely passed because I would not have put up with that

100% success third time. Absolutely no problems and seemed so straightforward and natural. Was baffling really My first two dc's were bottle fed because I just found breastfeeding intolerable- and I gave it a really good shot.
I never intended making breastfeeding a goal, I knew dc 3 would be my last but it honestly just happened after all.
Good luck.

Definitely check for tongue-tie too - after DS's was snipped I had to keep looking down to check if he was still latched. It was just so much less painful than it had been before, more like he was tickling my nipple than the stabby feeling I'd had before (plus it took about a quarter of the time for him to feed).

I couldn't manage with my first, did with my second.

What helped was a fantastic lady in the hospital showing me how to get her to latch. With my eldest I'd got myself quite anxious because I felt like a failure for not being able to just pick him up and know exactly how to feed him and coz it hurt I thought I was doing it wrong and then I got worked up, lovely lady with DD pointed out that with everything you have to practice, and sometimes practising is uncomfortable while your body gets used to it, like when you first start exercising and your muscles ache like hell coz they aren't used to it.

@redrobinblue I don't know about availability near you, but my one was an individual who worked in the infant feeding team at a local hospital as well as privately (where you get more time). Try www.lcgb.org/find-an-ibclc/

Yes I just breastfed my third dc after bottle feeding the first two. Was easier this time funny enough.

I am another one who gets that awful pain for the first couple of weeks when they first latch on. No its not the latch or tongue tie it just hurts. I gave up with my first didnt try with the second was succesful with 3rd and 4th. This was down to stubborness on my part and refusal to quit though it was close with my third.

I am another one who gets that awful pain for the first couple of weeks when they first latch on. No its not the latch or tongue tie it just hurts. I gave up with my first didnt try with the second was succesful with 3rd and 4th. This was down to stubborness on my part and refusal to quit though it was close with my third.

I also agree that it would have helped my with my first 2 if I had had a better understanding that BF while 'the most natural thing in the world' can also be fecking hard!
I would not have been so discouraged by my perceived 'failing' and accepted that wanting to feed all the time was quite normal and not a sign of me not having enough milk...

IME most maternity units now have BFing support staff and in may area there were 'community mothers' who were trained peer supporters and who visited new mums at home at their request.
Also IME you have to be a 'squeaky gate to get the oil' - the help is there, but I had to go and find it iykwim.

I found breast feeding toe curlingly painful with both to begin with and they were close together with less than a years break from feeding.

I don,t remember dd2 latching wrong but it's possible ( night /cluster feeding) I was as vigilant as I could be and it wast as bad as first time when we had a tongue tie. I have very fair sensitive skin that bruises like a peach. I just gritted my teeth and got through it as it tended to be bad only for the first minute or so. It does pass.