New first time mum, breastfeeding is a challenge but I will conquer it! Come join me

[Salmonspringroll]

Have a 9 day old baby girl, first time young mum. Always planned to ff but tried fb and have to admit, struggling! Cracked nipples, didn't expect it to hurt that much. But our latch is better, the pain is rapidly reducing and I now see it as a challenge, a challenge I will conquer! Wanted a thread to read for those middle of the night feeds, so please feel free to join and share any bf stories, tips, problems, questions etc. quite interested to know other mums bf routines too. :-)

Good for you! if her latch is good now, you're over the worst, that's for sure. The joy of bf is in my experience no routine required just relax and feed on demand, her needs will fluctuate significantly in the coming months.

Do you have some Lansinoh? It's excellent stuff for cracked nipples and you don't need to wipe it off before feeding. Should help heal the cracks (assuming you're not allergic to lanolin!).

Another useful tip I was given was that if the latch slips or doesn't quite feel right - delatch and try again, every time.

Otherwise just keep doing what you're doing :-)

It's a lot of effort at the start but so much less effort/organising/preparing bottles later on! I'm currently bf my 7 mo who is on an all night session-the ease of being able to lie down feeding whilst snoozing is great!

Got some Lanisoh yesterday, and it is helping my nipples so much! It's pricey but so worth it! I do try to detach her if it's not feeling right but she just doesn't let go! But we are getting there and it feels like an achievement. Used to dread putting her on knowing I was going to feel the pain. Put her down at 11.30 tonight and she's just woken for her first feed, that's the longest she's gone, so feeling very lucky!

Congratulations on your baby. Come join in our night feeding thread!

Hang in there, You will get it soon. Took me three weeks to get my latch down so you are doing just fab

Nobody told me in hospital but to unlatch a baby you gently stick your clean (obviously ;) ) little finger into the corner of her mouth whilst she's still attached to gently break the suction so baby comes off without taking half your nipple off at the same time! Good luck, it's a wonderful experience, I fed my first until her second birthday and am now on my second who's nine months and just slept through for the first time last night, whoop whoop!!!! xxx

You can get lanisoh on prescription if you need to, its one of the nhs best kept secrets!

You can get lanisoh on prescription if you need to, its one of the nhs best kept secrets!

You can get lanisoh on prescription if you need to, its one of the nhs best kept secrets!

If you have a BF support clinic near you, they usually have little sample packets of Lanisoh to give - the 2-3 I got from them was all I needed.

The biggest problem we had was the latch, we were heading down a spiral of "it hurts, so I'm going to clench up" and dreading it. The I had the bright idea DP and I do it as a team: when I put DS to the nipple and he was about latch on, DP would start to give my shoulder/neck a massage. It had the short term benefit if distracting me, and the cumulative benefit of associating BFing with relaxation. Worked a treat!

Massage aside I really miss breastfeeding. That lovely, fluttery feeling, seeing DS's look of contentment. Not to mention the 300-500 calories a day that were "free"!

And the fact im nearly back in my pre pregnancy jeans! Can literally feel my uterus contracting back. Baby's tongue is slightly white..... Thrush? Or just milk? X