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 mean the occasional sore nipple and actually some milk overproduction but generally it was easy.

I found it really painful, had bleeding nipples and everything I read suggested that if it hurt I must be doing it wrong. The health visitor was no help. I think it can be a huge source of mental health anguish for new mothers.

Things got easier after 12 LONG weeks and I breastfed for ages after and actually enjoyed it. I'm pleased I persevered but often tell friends who have babies not to put pressure on themselves.

Found it absolutely a breeze with both. Just very lucky

I breastfed my three babies.
Had sore nipples with each for a few weeks.
With my third I had an infection which was very painful, but pushed for the dr to test, and I had the right antibiotic which sorted it. I then went on to breastfeed her until she was 2 yrs, 2 months.
It can be uncomfortable in the beginning, but so worth it.

I found it hard tbh, soreness, cracked nipples, I can remember rocking in pains in the early days. Sometimes I felt like I had no milk there for my DS, or I was just too sore to feed him, on nights like this I would give him formula and start breastfeeding again in the morning. I was pregnant again with DS2 when DS1 was 1, breastfeeding DS2 was much easier. For me it was definitely a learned skill that took a lot of patience.

I think it's down to the baby.

My eldest had a bad latch. She pinched and I was really sore. She got enough though, and gradually improved her latch. So horrifically cracked and bleeding nipples for 6 weeks but then no issues at all after that.

My twins were too small and sleepy to breastfeed and initially had to be fed expressed milk through a naso-gastric tube. Several months of pumping was miserable! Latch was good but they just didn't have the strength to feed. In the long run it worked out fine. One always had a more comfortable latch than the other though. He was prepared to take his time.

Youngest I couldn't believe! I thought there would always be some discomfort in the early days while they learned a good latch and you adjusted to feeding. Nope. She latched well from 5 minutes after her birth. Never had any discomfort. She's efficient - rarely feeds for more than 10 minutes and didn't cluster feed. Bliss!

Never worked out for me. Two weeks of trying and failing, so I gave up. I won’t bother trying with the next one, it was too distressing this first time

Loved every minute of it - 2 children 2 years each - hated it when it fizzled out

I fed DD for 9 months. It never, ever got to the stage where it didn't hurt. Everything was fine, good latch /supply etc, but I just incredibly sensitive and the pulling inside my breast was so sore sometimes.

Found it very hard, and sought out lots of support, and had pain of various sorts over the 4 years in total I fed babies for. It was harder than i expected but also very glad i was able to do it. It was helpful to know it wasn’t just me that found it painful at first.

I found breastfeeding was absolute bliss. I loved every minute of it and was really sad to give it up.

Very easy in my case. Tbh it was the only thing that ran smoothly. Colic, sleep, etc I didn't take to well in the slightest!
I think every woman's experience is different. I didn't do anything particular right. It just naturally worked out. I am a firm believer however it is better to be prepared for the worst.

First was hard for the first few weeks but then it got east.

Second was a breeze.

Mine was two decades ago but yes I found it super easy both times. I don’t know why.. it just happened, I didn’t even think about it tbh. No pain or cracked nipples etc. guess just lucky

on the other hand I have terribly bad stretch marks on my belly, so probably can’t have it all ways!

Easy for me with all three DC. No pain, sore nipples, mastitis etc.

Never really wanted to do it but allowed myself to be persuaded to try it with DD1. Awful. Really wished I had stuck to my guns to bottle feed. I gave up after 4 days and my only regret was trying it in the first place.

With DD2 and DD3 I gladly didn't bother.

The first few days were hard, getting a latch, and until milk came in properly.
Then it was hard-going because of looooong cluster-feeding.
Then there were the biting incidents. Those were rather eye-watering.

But overall it's been fantastic and I'm really glad we've stuck with it. 2+ years now and still going strong.

I found it really easy with both of mine. I was well supported in the first few days which helped a lot & I know lots of women aren't that fortunate.

Hardest thing . So wanted to breast feed made my first 6 months with baby hell

I found it very straightforward physically, I had plenty of milk and the baby latched well. I used lansinoh all the time at first which I think helped. I also fed on demand which was very very often, unless baby randomly slept a long time I never got that point of boobs getting engorged in the early days.
I think it can be psychologically hard to accept the baby being dependent on you and needing to be close to you all the time but I was happy to be sitting feeding, I liked doing it and my husband and wider family were good at helping me in other ways.
If you're mentally/emotionally prepared and everything goes right physically then breastfeeding can be straightforward.
(I had a big baby and a pph and infection so my recovery wasn't ideal but the feeding wasn't affected).

It was all pretty straightforward for me. A brief issue with mastitis with DS1 at about 6 weeks, but I just kept feeding him from my brick boob and it cleared up over a few days. I have a pretty high pain tolerance tbf! DS2 no problems at all. I breastfed both until they were almost 3.

Not at the start no but yes after the first few weeks. First baby was tricky getting her to latch at first and I did get sore nipples but after a couple of weeks she was actually no problem to feed. Second was easier to start off because I'd done it before but I got really bad thrush so was in pain for a few weeks really before getting that sorted out!

Sorry to hijack but how did you teach that biting meant no milk? I’m petrified of DS teeth coming through

I breastfed all 5, with the first I struggled to get baby latched on properly, took me a good couple of weeks before I'd call it a breeze ,second was a breeze, , third would only feed from one side so very uncomfortable for first month or so then 4 and 5 I was a pro.
What I will say was my first was only 5 lb at birth, I'd just get the latch right and he'd have fallen asleep so that made the struggle worse. Baby number 2 my birth was easier and baby was a whole pound bigger so that I think made the biggest difference. The midwives on all occasions were really good, visited me everyday at home until I was confident. Eldest is 20 now so it was a long time ago so services were not as stretched as they are now.

It hurt abit and was relentless but I also loved it so much did it for 2,5year and 2 kiddies at same time for 6 months of that . Currently pregnant with my third and it's the thing I'm most excited about