Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Original poster

Preparing your breasts for breastfeeding?

26 replies

LuckyC · 19/02/2010 10:45

A couple of people have recommended that I start to 'toughen up my nipples' in preparation for breastfeeding.

Nipple bootcamp? Really? Anyone else heard or done this? And how did you do it? And was it effective?

(posted this in pregnancy thread, too.)

OP posts:
DrivenToDistraction · 19/02/2010 10:51

It's not necessary to do anything to prepare your breasts or nipples for feeding, pregnancy does that. Doing things to toughen them up will probably just make them sore and more sensitive!

It's important (during pregnancy and BF) not to dry your nipples out by using soap / shower gel on them. If you leak any colostrum during pregnancy it's worth rubbing that into your nipples to keep them supple, the same goes for the colostrum / milk once your baby is born.

ladylush · 19/02/2010 10:53

Yes, I was told this. In my first pg I used cabbage cream (didn't smell thankfully!) in the last weeks of pg. My nipples did bleed a little but not much. Don't know if the cream did anything or whether I was just lucky. In my 2nd pg I didn't use anything as dd was premature. However, I had to express 8 times a day so my nipples toughened up pretty quickly!

ladylush · 19/02/2010 10:54

dd was 2nd dc rather than 2nd pg

Fanfare · 19/02/2010 12:31

From personal experience I'm a little dubious. I was told to rub a rough-ish flannel over them in the shower in the last few weeks of pregnancy. But I ended up in agony feeding for the first 5 weeks with DS1, so clearly didn't help. When it came to DS2 I did nothing in preparation and the feeding went just fine.

tiktok · 19/02/2010 13:00

This advice was discredited in the 1950s - it's utter rubbish.

Why on earth is it being resurrected now?

Seems like some myths refuse to lie down and die quietly

DrivenToDistraction · 19/02/2010 13:03

tiktok - is the rubbing in a bit of milk after a feed a myth too?

I seem to have steel nipples anyway

tiktok · 19/02/2010 13:11

Driven, I don't know if it has ever been properly tested. It can't do any harm, though, except for maybe being a bit of a nuisance.

But preparing nipples has been shown to make no difference and in fact can damage the skin and interfere with the normal preparation the body does all by itself

TigerFeet · 19/02/2010 13:14

the only preparation i did was to buy a tube of lanisoh in case my nipple got cracked and sore

they didn't

it makes excellent, if expensive, lip balm

TheButterflyEffect · 19/02/2010 13:17

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

TheButterflyEffect · 19/02/2010 13:18

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

RibenaBerry · 19/02/2010 17:13

Lansinoh is great!

I chucked mine out when I had finished with it. Complete baby brain! Would have been great for dry skin elsewhere or, as Tiger says, lip balm...

activate · 19/02/2010 17:14

it's rubbish

RibenaBerry · 19/02/2010 17:17

Lansinoh or the advice activate?

Poohbearsmom · 19/02/2010 17:46

Lansinoh is fantastic stuff! but positioning is the most important thing ya need to research for ease of feeding and hopefully little pain for the begining when ALOT If not most women experience pain, congrats and good luck xxx

fruitshootsandheaves · 19/02/2010 17:49

I have a picture in my head of you sitting and talking sympathetically to your breasts after reading the title of this thread....

'look here breasts...there's something you need to know...in a few weeks.....'

activate · 19/02/2010 17:59

preparing your nipples for breastfeeding

never used Lansinoh - just my own breast milk

BertieBotts · 19/02/2010 21:17

Lansinoh is good for burns as well. An old boss used to swear by it - and her children were well past breastfeeding!

BoffinMum · 19/02/2010 21:35

Leftover Lansinoh happens to moisturise cuticles fabulously.

I have to say that the baby seems to do all the toughening up required. I would leave your poor nipples well alone. All you need to do is buy a decent feeding bra for when your milk comes in, and think about setting up a cosy bf area with all your creature comforts, so when you're doing it all day and night in the first few weeks, you're reasonably comfortable.

CharCharGabor · 19/02/2010 21:40

Far better to prepare your mind than your breasts, imo. Read about normal newborn feeding patterns such as cluster feeding and growth spurts on www.kellymom.com and get the NCT/ABM/BFN helpline numbers in a prominent place so you can call if you feel you are struggling. I think those two things have been more helpful for me than anything else. Oh, and set up a nice comfy feeding station for you with remote, laptop, entertainment and plenty of drinks and snacks And keep mumsnet a click away. Good luck

BoffinMum · 19/02/2010 23:22

They do feed like mad at first. Even one of my GP friends phoned me up late one night to ask if this was normal!

BertieBotts · 20/02/2010 10:54

Also another thing useful to prepare your mind is forget everything you have ever learned about bottlefeeding babies

Mumcentreplus · 20/02/2010 11:02

I used to moisturise my breasts and nipples with Palmers cocoa butter (in the tub) or vaseline never had any cracking at all after feeding started I would use my breast milk...but as others have said its important to get your mind prepared too.

skidoodle · 20/02/2010 11:04

breastfeed for 14 months.

next time you'll have nips of steel

BoffinMum · 20/02/2010 14:58

I think you should call your autobiography that, skidoodle. "Nips of Steel". That would definitely sell.

ladylush · 20/02/2010 21:13

I really do think that lots of expressing makes them like steel too!
Tiktok - yeah I did kind of think it must be a myth. A doctor friend of mine advised me to use cabbage cream so I kinda went along with it. Didn't do any harm I suppose