How long did it take you to get the hang of BF?

[Abubu]

DD3 is 1 week old today. I didn't BF DTS because I found it too hard to do them both at once but really want to do it this time.

My nipples are not as painful as the first few days but they are still not quite right. They feel tender if they rub on clothing which means that I am wearing a bra all the time (at night) and suffering a bit with lumpy boobs as I guess the milk may be getting trapped.

I think that DD3 is latching on properly, she has lots of wet nappies, seems to have a quite wide mouth when feeding and doesn't seem to be struggling, so can't understand why my nipples are still sensitive.

Is this normal for the first week if you already have a bit of nipple trauma?

How long did it take you to totally get the hang of it?

Thanks!

Perfectly normal IME. I used to wear a bra all the time for about 6 weeks, after which they settled down. I also used to put a smidge of vaseline on the nipple after a feed, but mine were quite sore.

Well done on the feeding BTW, sounds like you are doing brilliantly

Hi

My nipples were extremely sensitive early on, I put Lansinoh on after every feed and wore a bra the whole time - still am in fact and she's ten weeks, although it is now purely to hold breast pads at night so I don't end up with soggy PJs!

I don't think tender nipples are necessarily a symptom of a bad latch or a precursor to cracked ones IYSWIM. Mine settled after a few days and the Lansinoh definitely helped.

It sounds like your DD is getting plenty of milk you are doing a great job!

HTH

Hiya

Sounds like you are doing a great job. It did take me a while to get used to it, I had a lot of pain (cracked nipples) for the first 2 weeks and then it settled down to being a bit uncomfortable and sensitive for another couple of weeks (which seems like the stage you are at now, so am sure you are well on your way to it bveing a lot more comfortable). Really felt completely ok by 6 weeks, but doubt it will take you that long by the sounds of it.

Rest assured it will be fine and the discomfort will go away.

Sounds like your DD has a good latch but it never hurts to get the midwife/HV to double check, especially if they are due to come for a visit anyway.

Another vote for lansinoh here by the way!

Well done, and congratulations on your baby!

It took about 4 weeks in total for me before it was absolutely fine. I also used Lansinoh.
Well done and congratulations

Actually I am going to disagree and say get your latch checked again, if you can. Firstly don't panic - it's probably just a tiny adjustment you need, but if someone says it's right and you still feel it's not then don't hesitate to see someone else.

Tender nipples are normal at first to a certain degree, and yes of course if you have nipple damage then they are going to be painful for a while, but if the baby is latched on correctly then it should only hurt for the initial few seconds as the nipple is pulled into the back of the mouth. A good rule of thumb is to count to ten as the baby latches on. If the pain fades away after ten seconds, that is ok, but if it continues for the whole feed, then the latch is probably wrong.

If you put your thumb into your mouth, you can feel the soft palate at the back of the mouth - this is where the nipple should be. Any further forward in the mouth and you will have problems. The suck is harder than you think, so when the nipple is resting against the soft palate it prevents against further damage.

The lumpy boobs sound like they could potentially cause you problems as well. This can be caused by latch problems or by tight fitting clothes - you say you are wearing a bra at night, is it fitted correctly? (Just trying to rule things out) It is normal in the early days to feel engorged and full between feeds, but lumps are not good as it may mean you are getting a blocked duct.

Lansinoh is fab to help your nipples heal. Wet nappies sound great. Do ask if you have any more questions Well done!

i had cracked nipples and lots and lots of pain as you are describing in the first weeks. I seem to remember about 1 month things started to feel better...but it felt like a very very long month!

well done for breastfeeding, it really is a beautiful experience when you get the hang of it.

Took me 6 weeks i would say to get the hang of BF. It such hard work and such a skill so well done you for doing it. I had masitis an sore nipples and would drea her feeding with sme of her early feeds BUT Now DD is 24+ weeks and it is sooooooo easy i don't want to stop. No pain, no sterilizers, no Faffing. I love it so stick with it. I also used Lansinoh which was a godsend xxxx

It took me 8 weeks to get over the pain with DS1. It certainly hurt more at the start of the feed but did improve as time went on.

I do think though, that the fact that DS1 fed continously didn't help. I didn't get much of a gap between feeds but at 8 weeks he did settle down a little - his suck was stronger and more efficient too.

But another vote for Lansinoh. Didn't get a chance to be absorbed with DS1 but I used it with DS2 and it was marvellous stuff if it got the chance to be absorbed.

Well done for having a go and keep at it, it will come good in the end.

It took me a while, DS was re-admitted to hospital having lost 20% of his birthweight but we got there.

I found Laninsoh good too.

Thanks everyone.

I don't have Lanisoh, I've been using the Avent cream but as it has got so many recommendations I think I'll go out and buy one.

The pain is only for a few seconds at teh beginning of the feed then it feels ok, its just afterwards that my nipples still feel really sensitive when they rub on clothes.

I suspect my bras may be too small so I'll get that checked out too.

Thanks for the advice

Tender sounds ok - when dd was not latching on properly in the first wk and I got cracked nipples, it was really painful - no way would I have described it as tender or discomfort, it bloody hurt.

About the lumps - be careful of this. try massaging the lumps as you feed in case they're blocked. I had a bout of mastitis recently, and believe me, you don't want that.

You sound like you're doing great btw. Much better than I was at 1 wk, and I fed dd for 13mths, and am still feeding ds at 1yr.

Ah ok - that sounds good, that sounds like your latch is fine. In that case I think that it will pass in time. Lansinoh should help them heal up quickly, and now you have got the hang of BF then hopefully they won't get sore again once they are healed. You can get it free on prescription - ask your midwife.

Definitely get the bras sorted ASAP - you don't want to end up with a blocked duct.

Another vote for lansinoh here. Also, have you thought about wearing breast shells? I wore them for a couple of weeks as it kept my clothing aware from the actual nipple which seemed to help.
The pain of bf eased after a couple of weeks but it continued to be quite a tricky process for another couple of weeks after that as DD always fell asleep during feeds. After that, it just got easier and easier (apart from the 4mo feed distraction bit!) and now its a doddle as DD (6mo) can position herself and, when she's had enough, flings herself off my lap...actually, that can be tricky as I need to make sure I catch her!

Oh, and do massage your breasts around the lumpy area when feeding as that may reduce the lump and see if you have them all the time or only after wearing a particular bra. One of my bras caused me problems but none of the others did

a good six-eight weeks. nipples ached sometimes with all the cluster feeding in the evenings.

got better as ds's mouth got bigger and my nipples hardened up a bit !

had terrible crack at first as ds mildly tongue tied and a little barracuda.

i am fascinated as to what it will be like next time as my mum only had cracks with me (i am slightly tongue tied too!) she had no idea at the time that it might have been due to tongue tie and they had this spray that you spray on to numb the nipple! i could have done with that i tell you!