Breastfeeding?

[Twounder1]

Could not for the life of me find the right category so I've posted here 😥
I attempted to breastfeed with dd but I didn't have the correct support and visitors made me feel uncomfortable. I made it to 5 weeks with not much joy and had to supplement her so in the end at 5weeks, I stopped.

I have birth to ds 3 days ago and I'm breastfeeding him. But the pain that comes with it is agony. He's properly latched on and he was a big boy so my midwife who delivered him did advise me to supplement if I needed to. He's latched on well, everything is okay it just hurts. Do nipples harden up to it? It's getting so sore too :(

Lots of Lasinoh!
Once I'd corrected the latch I didn't find it painful - but had to have 2 home visits to help get it right, is there any support that your hospital offer? Or a breastfeeding group you can get to? Sometimes somebody else can see what is happening better than you.
It shouldn't matter that your son is a big baby- breastfeeding is supply and demand so your body can make enough for his needs. Hope you can get some support x

Are there any breastfeeding / baby cafes near you? I found these invaluable - also found breastfeeding very painful until it got established. It sounds like one of your breasts could be getting engorged, putting you at more risk of mastitis - can you hand express from that side and use hot/cold compresses on it to make yourself more comfortable. I have big boobs and in the beginning my DD had a fairly shallow latch and I had to do nipple to nose and use my hand to flatten my nipple area a bit so she could get it in. Also, Lansinoh - apply liberally, it really helps the skin heal - I swear my whole nipple was scabby at one point. Also, feed your boy as much as you can - if he seems constantly hungry he could also be feeding to build up your supply - the more he feeds the more you'll make :) allsorts second the advice about hand expressing a little off just before feeding to reduce the pressure.

Thank you all, I'll definitely try hand expressing later once they're all in bed. I really didn't want to bottle feed this time, but I've had to because he's just so hungry and it just isn't working. Will my supply run out before I can get some support? Thank you all for your advice x

Everyone said my latch was fine but it hurt like f*ck for the first few weeks. I was so close to giving up as I hated it. Expressing really helped me by giving boobs a break (electric pump didn't hurt at all) and it meant DH got up with her for a night feed. It got easier as my nipples hardened up after a few weeks

www.laleche.org.uk
The helpline is a lifesaver. All volunteers so leave a message if no reply first time and someone amazing will call you back x

It does get better. I remember the feeling, it's like one thousand paper cuts on your poor nips! Lots of lanestin cream (not site if that's how you spell it) helped and also airing my nipples! After a few days it got better and then I wasn't sore any more. It's hard to push though the pain but I don't know anyone who hasn't had to do it unfortunately. Good luck, you're doing amazingly!

My dd is a week old and it's only just started to not hurt. She has a tongue tie so I thought it might be that but it barely hurts at all now. I think your nipples must toughen up a bit. Hope it gets better for you.

Definitely express until it gets softer, when they get really hard babies often can’t latch on. You could keep some and syringe it to your baby before a feed. This sometimes perks them up enough to have the energy to do a better latch. Good luck! I couldn’t bf my first but bf my subsequent children so it is possible. Xxx

Kew your supply up by expressing and lots of skin to skin. It won't just disappear x