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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Original poster

Did it hurt when you first start breastfeeding your baby... honestly?

80 replies

lovecloud · 10/08/2006 09:04

It did with me both times and babies latch was checked with both.

I think it is wrong to tell new mums that it will not hurt if babies latch is correct, makes mums feel like they are failing if they are doing it correct.

Of course everyone is different but I know only of two people who said they had no pain whatsoever and about 20 who did experience pain, I am sure many of these 20 people did not have baby latched on correctly but not all of them. Quite a few even went to breast feeding classes.

I just started this thread out of interest after reading another thread today. I think mums should be prepared that there MAYBE pain at the beginning but with support it will ease and feeding will become a very enjoyable experience. I think this would make more mums stick at it and get through those early weeks.

This happened with my close friend who recently became a mum for the first time, i told her that it will hurt but will ease after her breasts get use to being drained 8 or more times a day for 20 or more minutes. She had councellors check her latch a few times who said it was great and it did hurt but she remembered my words and after a few weeks she was pain free she said she was glad she was prepared for experiencing pain.

What do you think?

OP posts:
hermykne · 11/08/2006 17:57

tiktok who's exxagerating ?

PinkTulips · 11/08/2006 18:17

tik-tok to be fair i think it is true that almost all women experiance some degree of pain during the first few weeks, and in my case and the case of all the others with painful let down that simply cannot be explained away by 'poor latch'

kayzed · 11/08/2006 20:43

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

RobinHoodsPantFloss · 11/08/2006 20:45

F8ck me yes it did. Had to tap my foot in time with the sucking to try and keep up with the pain... And for several weeks post birth I found my pain threshold to be a lot higher - could stub a toe and shrug it off like a, err woman!

RobinHoodsPantFloss · 11/08/2006 20:47

Should add for balance that DS did hav tongue tie, which is supposed to make it painful I believe.

leakylady · 11/08/2006 20:50

I wonder if someone experienced (tiktok?) could explain the pain I had when bing my two - there was virtually no bf support at my hospital and with ds2 nobody bothered to check at all, they just assumed I would know what I was doing.

I had severe nipple pain, not cracking/bruising/grazing (had that too, at first, but don't need to ask about that!) - the nipples wold go completely white and burn like hell, between as well as during feeds. My arm used to shake with pain while I was feeding.

I also had a very sharp pain right through the middle of the breast which used to make me gasp - not the normal let-down shooting pain, but a sort of intense ache which was strong enough to cause nausea sometimes.

I found the cracking/bruising/flaking nipple trauma stopped after a month or so with both babies. Lansinoh was brilliant, and improving the baby's latch helped.(I used diagrams on websites/books etc until t felt right). But the other two problems continued until I stopped breastfeeding in both cases.

I'd be interested tp hear any ideas on what causes this sort of pain.

GarfieldsGirl · 11/08/2006 20:55

ds1: No pain at all for 1st 2weeks, then was excruciating for next couple of weeks. I had to sit against the wall, grit my teeth and count to 3 while DP shoved him on, then as quickly as the pain came, it went again.

ds2: A little uncomfortble for the 1st couple of days, but fine afterwards.

I very nearly gave up with ds1, but it was only because of MIL (who had 9) and a friend (who had 4) both told me that they'd had similar with each of theirs and thats what made me carry on.

melpomene · 11/08/2006 21:02

I fed dd1 until she was 2 1/2, and am still feeding dd2 (15 months). The only times it has ever hurt are when they occasionally bit my nipples after getting their teeth through.

sansouci · 11/08/2006 21:03

Not wishing to put anyone off bfing but oh yes, it hurt like hell. Not with dd, who was 1st, but with ds. He vomited blood right after feeding(imagine sleep-deprived, hysterical mum 48 hrs after a c-section, limping frantically down a hospital corridor to the nursery while pushing newborn awash with blood in his cot) because, as it happened, ds was sucking so hard he drew blood... I kept on as long as I could, finally resorting to pumping because of the mind-numbing pain of his powerful little jaws. Urk.

shimmy21 · 11/08/2006 21:09

yes -like hell especially at let down for the first few weeks in spite of good latch and right position etc (according to bf counsellors etc).

but the pains go after a while and was less for second baby.

spots · 11/08/2006 21:22

Had lots of pain with both DD's - until 4 months with DD1 and less with DD2. Both times I felt it was a particularly hard to try and 'train' the baby out of a bad latch, which seemed to be only marginally wrong (though with devastating effect!) I ended up just waiting for them to griow out of it rather than keep interrupting feeds and repositioning, which I really found difficult and disruptive. What made the pain last less time with DD2 was the underarm hold, combined with a decent feeding cushion. I don't think it's nearly so easy for the nipple to be clamped between hard bits of mouth that way.

zazas · 11/08/2006 21:27

like being dragged behind a bus topless on tarmac is how I remember the pain. Think it is because it reminded me of falling off bikes / skateboards as a kid and getting road rash

I always tell new mums it will most likely hurt but it gets better and then it is GREAT!

jasper · 11/08/2006 21:48

YES

themoon66 · 11/08/2006 22:16

Long time ago, but yes I remember the sharp ouch of cracked nipples (doing my labour breathing to get through that first few seconds). Then sometimes a feeling that my norks were being pulled inside out, a pain that stretched from my nipple up to my armpit... weird. But after six weeks it was all ok.

cye · 11/08/2006 22:31

yes it hurt and i wish i'd been prepared for it to hurt. i went nuts trying to figure out what I was doing 'wrong'.

jabberwocky · 11/08/2006 22:32

Yes! For about a month or so

MissyCocker · 11/08/2006 22:40

I don't know anyone who hasn't experienced the 10 second toe curler for the first week or so, I'm just glad that I knew before I had dd1 that it was normal, and that it would settle down gradually. I've experienced exactly the same progression with dds 2 and 3, and have never had latching problems.

ilovedolly · 11/08/2006 23:00

I nearly gave up.... recognise the 'toe tapping' and also biting my lip for at least 4 weeks due to incorrect latch early on causing damage to my nips. once they'd healed was OK but really I think all new mums should be told how to diagnose and deal with mastitis because that really was a shock!! i never thought that lanolin and hot flannels would be my best friends.
Pain went but my let down is still like pins and needles after bf for 6 months.

Beauregard · 11/08/2006 23:04

I lasted 2 weeks as the pain was horrendous ,i can only liken it to slicing my nipples off with broken glass ,despite correct latch.I was so relieved when i stopped and it put me off ever doing it again so never tried it with dd2.

laudaud · 11/08/2006 23:37

I was pretty lucky in that I had very little pain although DD did draw blood a few times - I would highly recommend Lansinoh!!

earlgrey · 11/08/2006 23:40

Yes. Labour pains all over again.

chipmonkey · 11/08/2006 23:50

Didn't hurt me a bit at the beginning. Later when the ds's started to bite, even with gums rather than teeth I had a few painful moments!

Verso · 12/08/2006 09:19

Yes, it really really hurt for the first few weeks. No problems with latch - had it checked loads of times as it was so sore - but there was no problem with it. I then got really worried I had thrush or mastitis because I couldn't believe it was soooo painful, but nope, I just had a very keen feeder (big baby), who wanted to feed about 14 times a day/night!

Nipple shields in the bra between feeds and loads of lansinoh kept me sane(ish). I BF for a year in the end.

Imafairy · 12/08/2006 09:22

Absolutely - first time around was so much agony I gave up, second time I got lots of support from here and the MW, and tubes of Lansinoh and it was so much better,

ilovedolly · 12/08/2006 09:54

I hope none of this puts people off bf. It is lovely when it settles down - I'm sure most agree?? I will do it with next one too despite everything.......