Did you find breastfeeding a breeze?

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My sister is due her first baby in August and we were talking about breastfeeding. I'm currently feeding my second baby, it's gone much better than with my first but it's definitely still a struggle. Cracked/sore nipples from the cluster feeding which is toe curling for the first 10 seconds or so of feeding, good latch thankfully, pain of milk coming in etc, it's not the easiest thing to establish especially when cluster feeding is involved or you get engorged.

I think what I'm going through is fairly common and I (maybe naively) thought this was how everyone's breastfeeding journey began and it's tough for everyone initially and eventually gets better. My sister asked if it's the same for everybody and whether she'll need to mentally prepare herself (and stock up on nipple cream) so I thought I'd ask.. is there anyone here who just cracked it straight off the bat? Did it make a difference if it was your first baby or you'd done it before? Has anyone found it genuinely easy straight away?

I know 2 people that found it so easy. I know many, many more that found it difficult and painful. Most gave up because of that.

Buy Lansinoh nipple cream it helps so much CJ and baby can feed with it on too. Other brands u need to take off for baby to feed.

Absolutely not. I nearly gave up at every feed until DD turned 16 weeks. Then it got easier.

With my first I got tender nipples & used silver nipple shields. No cracks. I fed him for 16 months, I have a week old baby & breastfeeding is a breeze this time. I think it's pure luck 🤷‍♀️

I had issues with milk supply but once established bf for 2 years. Then ds came along and took to bf very easily and still going 18 months later. My first dd was tube fed so I was happy to bottle or breastfeed subsequent dc and would definitely have stopped bf if it were painful.

A breeze for me. I did get mastitis later on, when feeding too much from one boob, but no issues really at the start of breastfeeding.

Never had any pain, all three just fed from their first feed.

It was uncomfortable for the first month or so with my eldest, but not actually painful. With my second it was fine from the start. I fed my eldest for two years and only stopped a couple of months before I got pregnant with second, so don't think my milk really stopped in between, which might be why it was easy second time round.

Yes I found it fine. One bout of mastitis with my first, but otherwise it was great and straightforward both times.

I found the first few weeks mentally tough simply because I find it hard to sit down all the time (I'm a massive fidget!) and the baby wanted to just feed constantly. I think it was hormones making the cluster feeding feel more tiring too. However, physically it's been a breeze so far. 7 months in, not a cracked nipple or mastitis or blocked duct in all that time. Never hurt for me either as baby has always latched well. Like I say the first few weeks were more mentally tough as baby was so hungry but since about four weeks in, I've loved breastfeeding.

My milk didn't hurt when it came in either, I barely noticed that part, had to squeeze my boob to express and see it had turned to milk rather than colostrum.

Yes easy. I mixed fed. DD decided about a day before her first birthday she didn't want to be breast fed any more. She then had a week of having all my frozen breast milk in her cup. This isn't strange as some of my nephews and nieces decided the same from 7 months+. (So your sister shouldn't be surprised if the baby/toddler decides themselves they don't want to be breast fed any more.)

A friend of mine produced lots of milk but her baby had tongue tie. That was only discovered after talking to a medical acquaintance. Her breast feeding support basically blamed her for doing something wrong when the baby couldn't latch properly. After it was sorted there were no issues breast feeding. (An example of another issue that can go wrong which is no-ones fault.)

Excruciating pain for the first 2 days then had tongue tie cut. About a week or so of perfecting latch and healing nipple trauma from those first days but then easy and no issues for 14 months

I found it pretty straightforward and fed both until they were about 4 (including tandem feeding a newborn and a 3 year old DS).
Both self weaned.

I breastfed 2 children just fine. I am very fair and did suffer from a bit of nipple soreness - the dark skinned midwife who delivered my first child warned me that fair skin is less tough than dark around the nipple area - and I can advise topless sunbathing to toughen the nipple skin up/help them heal. And some weird smelling camomile ointment stuff.

Easy for me with both DC. DC1 took a little while to learn to latch (and me to get the hang of it as well) but after that it was v easy and I enjoyed it. No pain (other than when I got mastitis at one point). I fed both until they were about 18mths. They both hated bottles so it was just as well it was easy for me.

My Dsis on the other hand had a v difficult and painful time with it.

There doesn't seem to be a lot of logic as to who finds it easy/difficult, it's just luck of draw I think - like giving birth - if the baby is in the right position then it can be super quick and easy, if they're not it can be v painful and drawn out.

Yes I found it very easy with both of mine. But this was pure luck, not anything special that I did, so I have no advice on how to make it easier!

I came on to say yes, but I went through all the same as you did!
It's a matter of perspective I suppose. I had milk and could feed. Everything else seemed unimportant.

Yes, it's been a breeze. No pain, no inflammation, very straight forward. Baby was very premature so I expressed as soon as the milk came in. Then he slowly learned how to feed on the breast. We had a lot of help from the NICU midwifes re: finding the best position, using shields on one nipple etc but once we got into a good routine and went home no issues. It was a fantastic experience and I stopped when he was 15 months old as at that point it was just comfort for him, and he was biting!

First time, no. Lasted 11 days.

Second time, difficult but eventually was seen by an expert and she helped me with my latch at 3 months after which, no pain. Nursed for 14 months.

Third, easy right from the word go! It comes down to learning how to do it and getting the right support.

If your toes are curling, you need latch support.

First was easy
Didnt get sore nipples or need to use any cream or anything.
Second pregnancy was twins, bit harder as had to pump to maintain the extra supply and hence did get sore nipples.

I found it easy with all three of mine. They all came out and latched on pretty much straight away. Nipples a bit sore until milk came in on day 3 then fine after that. The odd engorged boob that just eased once I fed on it.

No. Dd had/has tongue tie and it was agony. After trying for 48 hours, the thought of even holding her to me caused tears so I transferred to bottle.

Ds was small and had no real energy for breast feeding. We tried but he just wouldn’t do it and found it easier to bottle. So I did. They both got the colostrum so I’m happy. Am I disappointed that I wasn’t able to breastfeed? Yes. Do I hate myself for giving up and giving them bottles? No.

It was awful first time and then I still decided to put myself through it all again.

I struggled for the first two weeks. Cracked sore nipples and then ds got thrush in his mouth. Useless locum gp diagnosed this but didn't tell me I would also have thrush and serious breast pain.

It was left to our cowman to explain that to me 😂

Went back to (normal ) GP who agreed and gave me prescription to clear it. Once that was over, all worked fine for 18 months.

For me it was easy both times, but I had a friend who mentally prepared me for it to be hard, so I went in with low expectations of success and also being prepared to give up if it was detrimental to me.

it was good to have low expectations as it just felt like such a win when it went well.