So is there *anything* I can do to prepare my nipples for breastfeeding?

[Picante]

Second baby. Failed miserably with ds - horrendously cracked and painful nipples, although did manage to express for a year.

They do seem tougher for all that expressing, but are still quite inverted. They also look very dry - should I be hardening them or moisturising them?

Am 35 weeks btw and haven't had any leakage yet.

Thanks.

Lansinoh, Lansinoh and more Lansinoh! I waitied afew days before using it with DD1 and had very cracked sore nipples. With DD2 I had the Lansinoh on hand from the first second and had beautiful happy smooth and crack-free nipples! Can't recommend the stuff enough. You could start using it now, if your nipples are a bit dry.

I am in a very similar situation to Picante. How much do you need to apply? Maybe if I do it now every day until the birth? Then after every feed?

I would strongly advise seeing a proper BF councellor no just talking to a midwife.

I didn't have nay major problems with DD1 though did suffer some discomfort, however with DD2 it was incredibly painful for the first 10 seconds or so and had dry and cracked nipples (not horrendous as I know it is for some but bad for me)

I produce too much milk and wanted to donate some to the local milk bank. Went along for a blood test and this was done by a nurse who was also a BFC, she saw the pained look on my face when DD2 started to feed and went through everything with me. Took about 3 days and the pain was gone. DD2 wasn't latched on properly and my milk was coming out too fast.

She got us over this problem and was wonderful.

Not sure where best to go to find a BFC but I'm sure someone on here can let you know

Good luck with it all

Oh yes and Lansinoh is fantastic!

don't even think about hardening them. . Focus all your energy on researching getting a good latch from the get go - google biological nurturing and breastcrawl, and put instant skin to skin after birth into your birthplan.

Different baby = opportunity for different latch.

Good luck!

Ah so I can use Lanisoh from now? Excellent - I've got it already.

I'm determined to succeed this time. Have a doula and planning a home birth so I can be in the right frame of mind from the onset. Will be getting a proper bf counsellor too.

Thanks.

suwoo - you only need a tiny bit. I only used about a quarter of a tube with each DD. Just enough for a light covering of the nipple. And yes, apply after every feed, give your boob a quick wipe, slap some on and then put it away. You don't need to wipe it off for the next feed either cos it's just purified lanolin and totally natural.

Brill thanks. I read a post on here recently where someone said that they were afraid of their baby getting lansinoh poising because they used so much .

What does it actually do that is so helpful? It can't be just that it softens them?

Lansinoh!!

suwoo, dunno, don't care, but it's brilliant!

Well I've just packed the magical lansinoh into my hospital bag....I put a smidge on my nips whilst I was at it.

Have been using Lansinoh and nipples are no longer dry. I've also worn breast shells while I'm in the house and they don't seem as inverted any more!

Can I just add that you expressed for a year - you didn't fail miserably with DC1?

I struggled to 13 weeks with DD and it was awful, gave up and switched to FF. With DS it was a difficult start, he lost 17% of birthweight and was topped up for about 5 weeks but I was more determined and kept asking for help. Still BF at 7mo and its brilliant.

As nothingtoseehere said, different baby - opportunity for a different experience this time

Thanks - I hope so!

I got all teary-eyed talking about my bf experience to my doula yesterday so it's obviously affected me more than I thought. Fingers crossed.

Picante I had a similar-ish experience with my DS1 and expressed for him too. I felt incredibly sad about it and was very anxious about trying BF second time round.

I hope it will reassure you to hear that I am EBF DS2 who is 6 months We had a few teeny tiny issues at first, all of which were to do with my confidence. Otherwise it has been a piece of cake.

I don't know how you feel but I worried a lot that there was something fundamentally wrong with me and that the reason I couldn't BF DS1 was that I was cack-handed and just did everything wrong. I am glad to report that this is not true(!) and that I just needed some expert support rather than the badly-trained so-called help of MWs.

Having a doula will increase your chances of BF successfully and so will speaking to a BF counsellor in advance. You will be able to come up with a plan to optimise your chances of everything going smoothly.

And do take the chance to talk through your feelings. It is quite shocking how much 'failing' to BF can affect you. I am glad to say that my ghosts are now laid to rest.