Does breastfeeding always hurt?

[ClarasMummy]

With my daughter I failed miserably at breastfeeding, having started out wanting to exclusively breastfeed I was just not expecting the terrible, terrible pain and bleeding that came along with it. I saw a health visitor and such and was told the latch was fine. I switched to bottle feeding after two days after seeing blood on my baby's mouth became too distressing.

I am currently pregnant and desperately want to succeed at breastfeeding my son. I was wondering if there were any tips or tricks to moderate the pain, and does it always hurt this much for everyone when they first start?

Thanks in advance for your help :)

OnEdge - feel free to kick me but if it's that painful then they aren't latched on properly.

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Most women experience a little sensitivity in the first few days. If it's painful beyond that, get help asap.

It might be different this time OP. I also failed miserably to bf first time round due to very cracked nipples and horrendously engorged boobs. I still shudder at the thought of the blood squirting out of my nipples into the breast pump, and me sobbing at the thought of dd1 waking up for her next feed.

This time I haven't been engorged at all. Dd2 is 7 days old and one of my nipples has healed, the other is sore but getting there I hope, there's been no blood, and it hasn't been that sore really so far, just the first few seconds. The main reason for this? Lansinoh! Last time I let my nips dry after each feed, and I'd never heard of Lansinoh, whereas now I know about "wet healing" and slathering my nipples with Lansinoh before and after each feed and keeping nips covered so they don't dry out at all has really saved my sanity (and my nipples!)

Good luck, hope it goes well for you this time! Oh and another thing you could look into using is Jelonet.

this is depressing me, am i the only person at 6.5 weeks to still be needing to take constant painkillers? i still have bleeding scabby nipples despite constantly being told the latch is fine. when oh when will things improve?

Poor you Emster Fraid I have no advice, but I admire you for sticking at it and I hope your nipples heal soon.

:( Emster - that sounds miserable.
These worked for me when my nipples were bleeding and raw - I think people in the UK use Jelonet squares, too? Have you tried moist wound healing?
I don't know much about it but I have a lot of sympathy and fellow-feeling for what you're going through, so wanted to say something.

Emster has your baby been checked for tongue tie?

OP (and anyone else) I was given a fab bit of advice by my midwife which I always stick to now as the "golden rule" - count to ten when they latch on. If it's still hurting after about ten, something is wrong. No need to feel ashamed - seek HELP NOW from someone who is specifically trained in breastfeeding support, whether it's a peer supporter or a fully qualified breastfeeding counsellor.

It should not hurt at all once latched on. Most women feel some pain in the beginning for the first 10 seconds of a feed. A few women experience pain/discomfort during the entire feed, but it shouldn't be localised to the nipple area. I'm referring more to women who experience a painful letdown.

OnEdge I know you said you didn't want advice, but a bruised feeling to me sounds as though you have a blocked duct.

Emster - get some new help! You don't need to be in pain. Get LO checked for tongue tie as per BertieBotts suggestion, and also get yourself checked out for thrush as it can prevent cracks from healing.

Hopefully tiktok will be along with more advice for you shortly as I'm running on no sleep this morning and low on ideas.

Emster, just wanted to say you're not the only one. 12 weeks in with DS2 and I still have cracked, bleeding nipples. It was exactly the same with DS1 and only got slightly better after 4 months. I went backwards and forwards to breastfeeding counsellors, HVs, GPs with DS1 and nobody was able to help work out what was causing it as latch and positioning all seemed to be ok. I'm sure there must be something not quite right, and combined with having sensitive skin (I'm very fair and apparently that can be a factor), it all adds up to a very painful experience. Added to that DS2 is a very sicky baby, so the sight of a baby bringing up lots of blood is really horrible

The saving grace this time round is that DS2 is quite happy to take a bottle of EBM so when I can't face another feed, I give the worst side a rest for a couple of feeds.

Anyway, good luck and you're not alone!

gah i typed a long reply last night and lost it! glad it's not just me monthly. i am also very fair with sensitive skin. ds will also happily take ebm but have never managed to expressenough to keep him happy for longer than it takes for me to have a relaxing bath! when it's too bad i've sometyimes used nipple shields for 24 hours just to let it heal a bit.

he has been checked for tongue tie, and we were treated for thrush a few weeks ago but am not sure we actually had it. i will try going to a different bfing support group this week and ask someone else for help. the thing is we can get a good latch at the beginning of the feed but then he might thrash around a bit or generally move and it slips - but i can't take him off and put him on again every 10 secs. for one thing he has really strong suction it's very hard to break when he's really going for it. he has such a strong jaw and really clamps onto the areola! i also find it's much better early on in the day when my nipples have had a break overnight (we have had some 5 hour stints of sleep recently) and when he's feeding only every couple of hours in the morning, whereas by the late afternoon/evening he's on and off the breast almost constantly and frantically and that's when it really gets sore.

the gp at my 6 week check, my mum etc all just say to stop if it's not getting any easier, but i really don't want to. he's a big, strong, hungry boy, piling on the pounds and doing so well on my milk that there's no way i'm going to stop, i'd much rather just take the painkillers.

FWIW Emster, after a perfect latch in the first few weeks we did have a similar problem during weeks 6-12ish... DD would move about so much and if I unlatched her and re-latched it would cause so much fuss it was just easier to feed and get on with it. It DID pass though.

One thing that helped me during that time was also to make sure LO's lips were not curled in under themselves, because that made it worse. they should be out... in a sort of weird kiss-face look, rather than curled in.