Does breastfeeding hurt?

[Friedseasalt]

For info I formula fed my little one 5 years ago. Due in a few months and really keen to try and BF. Trying to educate myself as much as possible. However, a lot of stories I read online are about how painful/sore it is and it’s scaring me. What essentials do I have to buy to help? I am absolutely clueless tbh.

I didn’t find it painful but I hated the sensation.

I'm going against the grain here, but it didn't hurt me at all, even in the newborn days. Lots of people finding breastfeeding difficult (which is obviously very valid) but personally my breastfeeding journey was very straight forward. It's not hard for everyone, and I think you only see negative stories online!

It’s not BS. Pain when feeding means baby isn’t latching properly. Dont tell people it’s normal for it to hurt, that’s why I end up with mums coming to me for help with damaged nipples, because they thought pain was normal and it would get better in a week or two.

@Friedseasaltno, it shouldn’t hurt. If it’s uncomfortable when your baby latches please ask for help from qualified experienced breastfeeding counsellors or peer supporters. Check to see if there’s a breastfeeding support group near you and go before your baby is born. You’ll get to know other mums, and know exactly who to contact when your baby arrives.

Yes, it did with both. Got better over time.

Same, I’m pregnant, due in July and I’m hoping I can BF again because it was just so easy.
Long car rides I could hop into the back and BF.
I didn’t have to worry about temperature or sterilisation, it was just incredible.

You need to stuff as much as possible into baby's mouth, they should be sucking on the areola area, not directly on the nipple, which does hurt!
Then you happily breastfeed for months and baby starts to grow teeth... hears a noise and turns its head round to look - guess what it hangs on to your breast with 😬?

It was so painful for me, even at 6m. Had all the support, the local free support groups were brilliant, but also spent a lot on private.

Maybe it’s because I have small breasts? Just reading the post above, there is no way I could pop a boob in the mouth of baby in a car seat in the back of a car on a long journey without causing a safety issue! I’d basically have to straddle the car seat! I’m not sure I’d like to do that even if I could!

I found bottle feeding so easy, it meant my husband could help out at night, we had enough bottles for the day so I never had to worry about sterilising as my husband or I just did them all when clearing up after dinner (took seconds). I found it so easy when travelling too. I definitely spent more money on trying to breastfeed than I did bottle feed. I think it’s great if it works out for you, but if it doesn’t, don’t beat yourself up. I did that to myself for too long and I think I missed a lot just feeling sad and inadequate. It’s been three years on now and looking back I regret all that wasted time and energy I spent feeling so bad. It really doesn’t matter in the long run!!

Sore for a little bit while your nibbles toughen up and baby learns what to do.
They haven't quite read the book!

Milk itself is wonderful at healing nibbles just rub it over the nibbles. It's also magic at clearing babies sticky eyes.

For the first couple of weeks it hurts. It can hurt so much you might want to give up and wonder how the human race survived before the invention of formula.

But after that it becomes relatively easy, in my experience. I know there are lots of others who have ongoing difficulties or can’t for a number of reasons, so if it keeps hurting after two weeks make sure you get help and try to see a lactation consultant if you can, because it shouldn’t hurt after this. It still occasionally hurt due to biting or scratching but most of the time was painless. It can be annoying and irritating though, babies wriggle around a lot and some of the spend the whole time mucking about whilst feeding!

I found it incredibly difficult. Painful 24/7. Nipples in bits. The constant pain and then ending up ill with mastitis meant I switched to formula when my baby was 7 weeks old. It also made my hormones all over the place and I felt like shit in so many ways. Everyone is different though.

I also hated the sensation! Absolutely dreadful for something that is supposed to feel so natural 😩

I found breastfeeding sooo uncomfortable, painful and didn’t like the sensation. My child had good latch and I had no supply issues but every time the milk let down happened I could cry

Currently feeding baby number 2 (9months), and fed baby 1 for 11 months (she self weaned), and no, it 100% didn't hurt.

I can only feed from one side and it wasn't painful at all.

I found the support of a local breastfeeding group was wonderful, is there one near you?

I think it depends on baby and nipples! I 'breastfed' for 8 months. In reality it was combined feeding

I'll put a trigger warning here as I had a bad time breastfeeding.

I sobbed every time I breastfed - probably 4 times a day. My nipples were in agony, bleeding and bruised the whole time even when not breastfeeding, basically they were wrecked for a number of years after as well. It got slightly more bearable after I found Lansinoh and a lactation consultant/group. But that was at nearly 2 months. Too late. If I'd breastfed again I would have found a lactation consultant before birth and got their input from the very start.

No tongue tie
Baby was very much a chomper and had a latch like a vacuum cleaner and hungry.

My problems - basically I wasn't producing enough milk, never had that let down feeling, an inverted nipple and was stressed about the whole thing (I HAD to breastfeed) , bad start in hospital (clueless midwife's who put me on a breast pump about 2 hrs after giving birth - never got anything ever by pumping) coupled with a colicky baby with bad reflux.

Would I do it again? I'd give it ago but wouldnt hesitate to go to formula.

I forgot that fed was best. I also forgot I was a grown up.

It's a special kind of agony until established. Stock up on nipple cream, and don't beat yourself up if it doesn't work.

I persevered and fed ds for 18 months until he lost interest.

Bloody agony. Literally.

I was lucky and never got sore nipples at all, but my goodness the engorgement and occasional blocked duct were incredibly sore!

Definitely have a good stash of ibuprofen and put some frozen peas in a small bag to use as a bumpy ice pack for those blocked duct days! Found the cold and being able to rub the bumpy peas over the blocked duct really helped!

Also you won't necessarily need a pump from a feeding point of view (I did to increase my supply, but not always necessary) however it was invaluable for popping on after she'd feed to relieve a blocked duct if she'd not completely cleared it!

I got a second hand momcozy m5 from vinted and replaced a couple of parts 😊

Are you a lactation consultant? I had exactly the damaged nipples that you describe which was horrible, and I got told that my baby was latching badly, which I'm sure was true. The thing was, I tried everything to get a good latch, and she wouldn't have it! The whole 'making sure that the whole areola goes into the mouth' thing - she would gag and choke and be really uncomfortable and basically wriggle down to just have the nipple in her mouth. She didn't want a good latch!
My interpretation was that my let-down was too strong and her gag reflux too sensitive, so she controlled it the best she could.
In the end, the only thing that helped was time and my nipples hardening up. That's why I feel like, in my case, pain was inevitable. I was wondering, if you're a professional, what your opinion would be in that kind of situation?

It can do for the first few weeks due to sore nipples. The trouble with the "getting a good latch" cure is that you're both learning and the odd bad latch or getting started, bad latch, reposition, is that then your nipples are sore and it takes them a while to recover with regular feeding (even if subsequent feeds have a good latch). I massively recommend feeding lying down, that enabled me to get the best latch initially. In hospital I had a bfing expert try and contort me into a strange position that seemed to require 8 arms and sent baby DS into a rage! A lovely midwife came of shift later and said just cuddle him lying down (safely in terms of no duvet etc) and he'll find his own way. So much easier!

Yes. Ignore the lie it hurts if you are doing it wrong, it hurt whether l was pumping milk or actual feeding with either twin. I persevered for a month then quit, it hurt and wasn't getting any better at all. Zero chance of me re-visiting it plus from looking at peers who do breastfeed it basically means the mother not sleeping through for the first year which doesn't work for me either

Yes, even if you are doing it right and baby has a good latch, breastfeeding can be painful at first. I remember my toes curling when my DC latched on. No one’s nipples are used to be sucked on day or night!! BUT if you can tolerate the discomfort and get through that stage, it becomes super easy and pain free. At least that was my experience.

And like I said....midwife checked several times and there was nothing wrong with DS latch. There was no 'reason' for it to hurt....it just did.

I spent hours crying because I thought I was doing something wrong, but I wasn't!

Let's be honest about the fact that for some women, it is a painful experience.

This sounds exactly like my situation actually. We've never managed to get our son to consistently take a bottle. He ends up just chewing on the teat with his gums and then crying at it.

To be fair, it makes sense. He’s used to doing what nature intended so he probably is confused by a rubber teat in his mouth!

Did you see a lactation specialist? Midwives are often not the best at spotting issues.