Am I too late to breastfeed?

[icallshade]

2nd baby, my 1st child was exclusively formula fed. I had zero interest in breastfeeding.

My 2nd baby is 3 days old delivered by c-section and I've formula fed exclusively. My milk came in yesterday, breasts are agony but I've got an overwhelming urge to try breastfeeding, no idea why as i was so certain I wanted to formula feed again. Am I too late? I have no idea what I'm doing as I've never read about breastfeeding- it just was never part of my plan and my breasts are so sore that despite really wanting to try I'm terrified of the pain- i can barely tolerate touching them let alone anything else.

Sorry if this is rambled... any advice from someone more experienced would be appreciated 😊

No it’s not too late. If your milk has juice come in your breasts will still be full and you should be able to breastfeed if you want to.

Not too late and the pain does settle down I’m promise you. 🙏 You can try working up a supply by expressing -the first time I did it I preferred an electric pump so you may find that helps? With my first I combi fed because I was worried about supply (needlessly in the end!) but my second is exclusively BF Xx

Yes go for it. Don’t complicate things just give it a go.

Edit as link came in weird

It's not too late at all! Ask your maternity unit for a visit from their breastfeeding team xx

No it's not. My baby was in NICU for three days but as soon as she was out she latched on! Breastfed her for a year.

I know some people find it painful, but I never did with my 2.

Make sure baby's mouth is wide open (put your nipple next to their nose, they open wide, then go for it), so the latch is good.
If the latch is too shallow, it stings. If that happens, you need to gently unlatch, and try again.

I found BFing much easier than bottle, but go with whatever you prefer, it's such a personal journey.

It will be a relief once the baby feeds. Make sure the baby gets the areola, not just the nipple and it won't hurt. And breastfeeding is so convenient - and cheap!
nb. to unlatch if it hurts, gently prise their mouth open with your little finger to release the suction.
When the previous poster said "go for it" - it means stuff as much as you can in baby's mouth 😁

It's definitely not too late! I didn't see my baby for 3 days as I was unconscious in HDU and she was in the NICU. I started pumping day 4 and started actually breastfeeding on day 7. Good luck!

Give it a go! It doesn't matter if you end up never doing it again, you'd like to try. So do. I think going into it with no pressure and no particular expectations is the best possible approach.

One thing to be mindful of is that if you're very engorged it can be tricky for a newborn to latch on - or if they do the force of milk can be too much for them and they may cough or splutter. Best to hand express a little bit first just to make things easier for bub in the first instance.

It's agony when your milk's coming in. Solidarity. My second baby is 8 weeks now and while I miss the brand new baby days I'm so glad we are past that particular bit.