Very very nervous!!

[LizWaby]

Hi Ladies, Im looking for some advice and nerve calming please. I am pregnant with #3 but its been 7 years since I last went through all of this and all I can seem to remember is the awful pain I felt breastfeeding. I gave up in the end after 10 days and I really dont want to do that this time but my nipples were on fire and made me cry everytime I fed.

I feel at my age (37) I should know what I am doing and feel a bit daft asking for help but I really want to bf properly this time.

Is there anything I can use, creams etc that might help? I saw in Mothercare the other week like nipple cover things, has anyone used them.

Thanks in nervousness :-/

Liz xx

Hi liz,
Congratulations
There is lots you can do :) I think being well informed to start with helps massively. There are some great books, 'The womanly art of breastfeeding' is always highly recommend.
Be prepared for some pain and discomfort in the early days. For some it Never hurts at all. For others its toe curlingly painful. There is a cream called lansinoh which imo is a must have.
Make contact with your local bf support network now. They will give you lots of advice and support. I've found the help support and advice of other bf mums most helpful. (Especially on here) the help and support of your dh and family is also really important.
Good luck, it's a wonderful thing when it works well but like many worthwhile things is not always easy and requires huge comment. Xx

Try finding local bf support groups and go along - they won't mind you turning up a few months early.

Stock up on chocolate cake and white wine.

If you have the will, there is normally a way around most problems. I had to take paracetomol half an hour before feeds to help lessen the pain of deep tissue thrush, but it might help with latch pain too.

Good luck x

Kellymom.com is a great breastfeeding website with loads of info.
Milkmeg is another favourite of mine-lots of encouraging posts about the normal course of breastfeeding.

Lansinoh is soothing if you get sore but won't get to the root cause of the pain. Using too much can cause the baby to slip around causing more pain.

As others have said, arm yourself with info, know where your support is and have the phone numbers of the helplines handy. Also consider what practical help you will need to enable you to do nothing but feed the baby, rest and eat. Ask for help with cooking, cleaning, looking after other dcs.

I was in a similar position OP. I couldn't feed DC1 and 13 years later was pregnant with DC2 and desperate to breastfeed. I bought The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding, read the feeding boards here, devoured everything Tiktok said and read about all the normal newborn feeding problems.

I'm still feeding now at 6 months - I can't say exclusively as she's on food too but she's had very little formula.

I assume you ff last time? The thing to remember with bf which makes particular sense if you've already ff a baby, is that all the work is front loaded with bf. It can be (but isn't always) tough in the first few weeks. But there are huge benefits, like being able to feed in bed, feed lying down, not having to leave the bedroom at 3 in the morning, the volume of food you can enjoy guilt free etc etc. By 8 weeks I think most women are starting to find it really easy, and this is when that early work pays off.

Good luck OP. Posts like this helped me when I was worried, so hope this helps you

I have been BF for a whole 2.5 weeks so I'm far, far from expert but I have been using Medela shields (latch issue) and seem to suffer a lot less pain than my BF friends.

I tried the boots ones first - they were rubbish but medela worked first time and also come in different sizes.

Good luck!

You can get lansinoh cream in boots etc for around ten quid but it is free on prescription if you ask I find! It creates a moisspecialistronment to aid healing. I also found jelonet (moistcwound dressing) and multimam compresses helped (also from boots).

Pain from nipple damage is caused by the latch being wrong so get a much advice as you can with this. Your hospital may have a specialist feeding person who you can ask for.

personally I found avent nipple shields fab as they helped baby latch on as well as protecting me. Some say they affect supply but I used them for months successfully as latch issues were nevrr resolved.