bfeeding 16 month old still painful

[lazycow]

I am bfeeding ds (16 months old) and have always found it painful. The first three weeks after he was born I can only describe as excruciating. since then it has varied from mildly uncomfortable to almost unbearable. I have always found it mildly funny when people suggest bfeeding in bed as it means they can fall asleep. I have almost never been able to so this as the irritation/pain stops me sleeping.

Does anyone else have this problem? I have pretty much come to terms with it but a couple of nights ago ds was insistent on feeding for a long time in the morning (more than his usual 20-40 mins) and this particular morning it was more than uncomfortable so I started to get really irritable and finished the session before ds was really ready to - something I am doing more and more often recently.

I suppose I should wean him off the breast but he only bfeeds 2-4 times a day and I'm reluctant to somehow - not sure why.

Why has it hurt for so long ? Does anyone know? He is a bit tongue tied so I suppose that could be it or do you think it is just that my nipples are extra sensitive?

I would say that 95% of breastfeeds involve pain on my part - getting worse if he has a cold is teething or sometimes for no discernable reason. Just wondering if I am the only one.

lazycow,
You have buckets of sympathy from me. I found it horribly painful for the first five months, usually making me cry at every feed. I received excellent advice and support locally and that is the only way I was able to continue. I have only really found it painfree for the last few weeks, ds is now nearly 11 months. I do believe it's all about positioning but never seemed to get it right. I found when ds's top teeth came through that some feeds drew blood and others were painless.
I'm glad I persevered because I have only just started to remotely enjoy feeding him and it would be a shame for you to stop and have done so well without any happy memories of it.
Do you want to give up now, because if not it might still be worth getting more help?
You are certainly not the only one but you may well hold the record for persevering for so long despite the pain. Your ds is a lucky chap.

14mths here and still hurts. Also can't abide DP touchung them. Doesn't hurt nearly as much as it did. I am fair skinned and some people think this may play a part.

Drosphila and Eclipse - Thanks for the support, it is good to know I'm not completely alone. I know it is unusual and don't like to complain about it too much as I know many new mothers don't need my comments about how it has always hurt since for most people I gather this is not true.

It is obviously much better than it was otherwise even I,stubborn as I am, would have given up by now

I think the reason I continue is it is generally less painful and peversely I do enjoy it sometimes now though it took until ds was about 7/8 months for me not to hate it completely.

I think the problem at the moment is that we don't really do night feeds any more, however if he is ill he does ask to feed at night . If he seems really upset and won't settle after a while (usually 30-40 mins) I do sometimes let him feed as I feel guilty and then I get irritable as it hurts. The pain seems worse when I'm tired and want to sleep and he wants to go on for ages so I take him off before he is ready and he cries and thrashes about quite bit. Usually nowadays he does accept quite quickly that I've ended the feed though that then often makes me feel bad too - like I've quashed his spirit or something.

It is making me dread going in to him at night a bit as I'm struggling to settle him - maybe because I'm so upset too.

Somehow during the day for his normal 2-3 feeds I don't mind as much and he seems so happy/cute while doing it it makes up for any discomfort.

I had quite a lot of help in the early days and I'm sure you are right that it is something to do with the latch but I was told so often the latch seemd fine that I've become a bit dispirited about it.

Anyway I think I'll probably soldier on for a while as when ds isn't ill and is sleeping better it is much less of an issue.

Thanks again though - I really was beginning to think I was the only one as most people seem to say that after the first few weeks any pain disappears.

I had a lot of help in the early days as I had ot stay in hosp for a week. Had the BFing councellor to help me as DD was in special baby unit. SHe was even surprised at how traumatised my nipples were. My nibbles are also really big and would hardly fit in the express machine. We both thought this had something to do with it baby had small mouth I had big nipples (probably missed my calling as page 3 model).

I only carried on cos I had BFED DS and it did stop hurting at about the 8week stage but no such luck with DD. I'm surprised there aren't more people complaining about this. Perhaps we are unique.

Maybe you are onto something - Ds has a really small mouth and I have enormous nipples so maybe that's why we are unique

I was in hospital for 5 days after the birth plus a saw a specialist bfeeding counsellor afterwards. I had a midwife check my latch every single time I breastfed for 5 days which is a lot of times. The reason I kept checking was it always hurt so much I couldn't tell if the latch was OK. Anyway when upwards of 15 different people on between 30-40 occasions tell you your latch is fine but it is still agony you start to realise it's not the latch. Must be the boob/nipple size