When does breastfeeding stop hurting?

[blondie887]

My baby is nearly 3 weeks old and I have been part breastfeeding him ( I always planned to use some formula so partner can do some feeds). Currently around a third of his food is breast milk.

I'm still finding it really painful though. Ive had the latch checked lots of times and it's not that. I think it's just how hard he has to suck. I certainly never have any trouble with leaking boobs, in fact I really have to squeeze to get any to come out at all, so I think I'm just really hard work for him, hence the ferocious sucking.

Is it likely to get easier/less painful? I'm sticking with it in the hope that it will but if it's likely to continue to hurt this much as long as I carry on I think I'll just drop it altogether

Even if a midwife has said he doesn't have tongue tie get it checked by a specialist because it turned out he did. Was too late to snip as well by the time it was recognised. I even said in the hospital at birth that I thought he had tongue tie but I was reassured.

Lots of people above have given lots of good advice.

All I will say is it can be like wearing in a pair of shoes. At first it rubs and can be painful but once worn in it can become really comfortable.

I would say for me that happened at somewhere around the 3 week mark both times.

Another aspect to be aware of is thrush, with one of my dd I managed to get thrush in the breast and it was toe curling lay painful ( had referred pain through to my shoulder too). I took some advice from here and saw my GP armed with the appropriate guidance and had a prescription for a systemic anti fungal ( long time ago and not sure now). Changed my breastfeeding experience for that dd completely!

I was pain free by 10 weeks. I had thrush though which was hard to shift. The pain was excruciating but I was so very determined to stick with it after a difficult birth. DC needed formula top ups as my milk didn't come in for 5 days due to a big pph. These seriously didn't help and I stopped as soon as my supply increased.

Try nipple shields but seriously stop the pumping, it will help. Good luck

@DietrichandDiMaggio

Stop trying to do mixed feeding until breastfeeding is properly established. Feeding shouldn't hurt if the baby is latched on properly, but what you say about him sucking hard because your milk is not plentiful suggests you need to feed more, which will mean you produce more milk.

This is what all the information says but literally everyone I know who's ever breastfed has found it painful at first, many of them extremely painful, without having any issues with latch. I think normal, good breastfeeding can absolutely be painful for the first month. It's a sensitive part of your body being firmly sucked for hours and hours every day and night, of course it's going to get very sore until they get used to it! OP it is worse during the early newborn stage when they are just feeding constantly. Once your nipples get used to it and your baby gets into more of a feeding routine it's usually fine. I HIGHLY recommend you get breastshells (not nipple shields) - they stop anything touching your nipples in between feeds and give them a chance to breathe. Put lansinoh on after the feed and then put the breastshells on after every feed and it really helps.

IME HVs and midwives who tell you that you need to top-up with formula because your baby isn’t gaining enough weight according to their charts just cause more problems than they solve! Perhaps they feel like they’ve done their bit but holistically speaking it’s poor advice. Breastfeeding works on a supply and demand basis. This natural balance is upset with formula.

It took about 5 weeks or so for us- hurt badly for first few weeks, midwives advised formula top up (a tiny amount) due to little/ no milk at first and this didn't help my milk flow at all and stressed me out trying to do both. I took a friend's advice to just feed on demand for comfort and food whenever DS wanted it- this was tough for a day or two but we both found our rhythm soon after and I fed him til he was almost 3. Good luck and congratulations on your baby!

It shouldn't hurt if you have baby properly latched on. I was about to give up BF, I couldn't take the pain anymore, then I had a chance encounter with an older midwife, her explanation of how to latch was like a miracle and I never looked back.

This is me currently with my third baby. The first two I fed up to 2.5 years each time and did not feel any pain past first week. With this baby I'm still hurting and she's 5.5 months! Her tongue tie was snipped at 3 weeks but she wasn't still latching properly. I had blocked ducts, sore nipples, almost had mastitis and had to express at one stage because I couldn't feed from the right breast. I try to make sure she takes most of the areola not just the nipple. My baby latches well then pulls her head back at the same time pushing the breast with her hand so the breast slips out and she's left with the nipple.
Not sure how I would have coped if she was my first. I know it shouldn't hurt from experience and I've watched videos, looked up kellymom website.

In the meantime get multimam compress, weleda nipple cream and use religiously. Always check the latch and if it doesn't look good unlatch and start again. Have you seen a lactation consultant or even a dentist to check for tongue tie? Hope it eases soon, I feel your pain.

I found it extremely painful for about 6 weeks and cried so many times a day. It was like cheese grating a burn every time. One day it didn't hurt and I was so pleased that I'd carried on, it's so easy now!

Lanisoh helped. I've heard nipple shields are good. I hated it at first, but it's brilliant once the pain goes. It's the ultimate magic cure for everything- upset/tired/hangry/just fallen over and whacked face- bit of boob fixes everything!

YY to the flipple technique! I was jn so much pain, like toe curling agony for the first month, then it slowly eased and was pain free by 6 weeks.

I also couldn't express much, like 20ml on a good day, but managed to feed my DS for 10 months, sometimes he had a bottle of formula very early morning from 6 weeks till 4 months

It took six weeks of pure stubbornness on my part with DS1 for it not to hurt. I had to use nipple shields for a while too and they were saviours. Nothing wrong with the latch, had loads of help from professionals to see if there was a problem. It makes me so cross when people say 'it shouldn't hurt if you're doing it right' - that just makes you feel even worse. I'm fair skinned and I don't know if that makes any difference or if that's a myth.

You're doing really well. It was so easy once we got through the literally toe-curling first few weeks. I didn't have the same problem with DS2 or 3, seemed to have toughened up by then!

Breastfeeding was more painful than labour for me. I had four weeks of pain that went through my whole body and then by week five the pain was gone and my nipples were bulletproof - for me personally I think the nipple skin had to really harden up which it did. You are very nearly through the hardest part. I almost gave up so many times at that stage but if you can hold out for another couple of weeks I really believe it will get better for you - well done for getting this far. I know everyone has different experiences but I don't agree that it doesn't hurt if you are doing it right in the beginning. I changed absolutely nothing about latch etc, it was my body that physically changed after those few weeks that made the pain go.

@blondie887 When I had my first no one told me about it. I was so jealous of all those breastfeeding while I was struggling. It was sore, nipples bleeding, baby couldn't latch properly. I couldn't do it and gave up wondering how in earth these mums breastfed with pain like this. Second time my midwife told me if was completely normal - it would bleed, crack, be sore; but that baby was getting milk and not to worry.... AND that if I hung in there there would be a transformation where my nipples would adjust and toughen up. By god was she right. I got through to the other side and it became a breeze, I enjoyed breastfeeding, it didn't hurt....I was angry no one told me first time round, even though I had sought help. That advice turned me around. It really is true that it changes, I know you can't envisage it atm and it hurts so much. I used nipple cream, nipple shields...up until the transformation. Hang on in there. Can't give timeframe but it isn't too long. The action of breastfeeding causes the change. Our bodies are pretty amazing!

11 weeks first baby
4 weeks second

It's just they get bigger and more practiced and you get tougher, but it's hard to heal when in use so much. I thought second time around I'd be fine, but it hurt like hell.

Urgh I hate it when the smug feeders trot out the “if the baby is latched properly it shouldn’t hurt at all” that’s utter shit. It was my let down that was burning agony. It was the same whether I was feeding, pumping or walking round the supermarket and hearing someone else’s baby cry! It did ease off after a couple of months. It might be your nipples toughening up, it might be latch, it might be let down but chances are it will improve as you baby gets bigger and stronger so they can feed more easily. Good luck!

In my experience (2 bf babies) it stopped seriously knacking around the 4-6 week mark. By a couple of months I barely noticed apart from the odd “nip”
3 weeks in it really does hurt

Letdown itself was painful for me -- entirely painfree by 6 weeks. Hang in there.

It made me sad when people said breastfeeding shouldn't hurt - was I doing it wrong or something? I met with the tongue tie specialists, went to the support groups etc. and it still hurt??
It got better for me at 10-12 weeks which will seem like an age away for you. I breastfed exclusively until weaning at 6months and weaned completely at 15months.
Genuinely no idea what made it better, I think less frequent feeding combined with more efficient suckling by her??

Congratulations OP.

Things that caused me pain:

Thrush (baby's mouth andy nipple)
Vasospasm
High palette
Undiagnosed tongue tie

Once all of those were identified and TT corrected it stopped hurting! Took several weeks so I just pumped to keep my options open as really wanted the covid antibodies for the baby and the longer you give your own milk the better.

First 3 weeks were hell. Found mumsnet and was recommended lansinoh and the following 3 weeks were tough but bearable, by week 6/7 it fairly painless.

We had unidentified problem with the latch even though I went everywhere for help and everyone said she was OK. She didn’t open her mouth wide she just snapped like a little turtle. Eventually I worked my way through “ the list” and saw a volunteer from La Leche league ( sorry for spelling) who agreed with me a suggested an osteopath. Thank god she did. They identified that my DD was unable to turn her head properly after the assisted birth ( caused an injury to her neck) and it was affecting her latch and sucking motion. After 2 sessions the problem was cured and she went from 75th centile for weight to 99th. Lol. Finally pain free at 9 weeks but they were long long painful weeks crying every time I had to feed.

It made me sad when people said breastfeeding shouldn't hurt - was I doing it wrong or something? I met with the tongue tie specialists, went to the support groups etc. and it still hurt??

Same here. I HATE it when people say 'it's not supposed to hurt'. The most wonderful, caring advice I got from a midwife (after having two lactation experts check the latch, tongue, everything) was 'for some babies & mums it just hurts and hopefully it'll improve as he grows.'

Once I heard that, I just relaxed and figured I was doing all I could and it would eventually get better. I had cracked nipples and all. It was hell for a while.

For my first, it took a few months to be less painful but was never pain-free. When my second was born, it took less than a week BF'ing to be pain-free. I can only think it was to do with the shape of their mouths or something else I had no idea about.

Gets much better 4-6 weeks. Of course pain can indicate various problems, but in my experience the first few weeks are always toe curling. But once they get a bit bigger and they can open their mouth a bit wider it suddenly gets much easier. Hang in there! (if you want to of course. If you've had enough then switch to bottles-it's not as big a deal as some people make out)