Anyone think breastfeeding was fine?

[FloydOnThePull]

I'm currently 20 wks with my first and planning to breastfeed little Floyd when he or she gets here. Mostly from reading too much AIBU, I get the impression that it can be difficult and it hurts and It's something you really have to persevere with before it comes good. I don't know whether this is the experience of the majority or whether like most things, having a bad experience is worthy of comment but something that didn't really bother you either way and you were a bit 'meh' about is therefore not commented on (kind of like how someone would be more motivated to leave a bad review than an average one on trip advisor as bad experiences stick in the mind more iyswim).

I'll be honest and say that it's not something I'm looking forward to, i'd therefore be interested to know anyone's 'on the whole it was fine' experiences of breastfeeding if such a thing exists?

The first few weeks were so incredibly difficult but we persevered and I'm still bf at 29 months.
Every mum and every baby are different though. I hope it come naturally for you but if it doesn't, the national bf helpline are wonderful if you need an anonymous meltdown.

Like Chchchchangeabout horrible birth ending in emcs, but very easy breast feeding. I had 4 different people (lactation specialist, midwives) offer help or to look at latch and they said everything was fine.

I also thought it would feel weird, but after the first second or two, it was fine and just felt natural and normal.

I think it just depends on the baby though. Some might not latch so well, or suck as well, some might be more rough and make it more painful. I know one woman with four children who has had different experiences breastfeeding them all and the last one was barely breastfed because she found it more difficult even though her first was very easy.

No harm trying it out and switching to either formula or expressed milk if it isn't for you. Formula is fine too.

I think people who found it difficult might be more common to see sometimes, because as you say, there's nothing to really talk about if it was easy so you're not going to hear it all the time and you also usually wouldn't have a thread of people having a little moan about what they're finding difficult and somebody popping up saying what are you talking about? It's all so easy!

I wish someone told me it might hurt.
It helped having cream, pump and shields available. Easier with second child. Mainly as I knew it would get better

It depends on the baby to a certain extent!

As with anything else, it’s a skill and you both get better with practice.

One of my twins found latching hard but once we got there was a very gentle feeder.

The other one had no problem latching but was rather a chomper, and yes it was sore till we got better at it.

Remember also that you are using muscles you’ve never used before so it can take a bit of getting used to.

Saying that I had friends who never had a problem from day one.

A friend gave me really good advice, she said it’s unfortunate that so many people feel that they can’t carry on past the first six weeks because breastfeeding after six weeks bears very little resemblance to how you feel to start with.

It’s not for everyone but definitely worth giving it a go, you may find it really easy.

I have to say, with twins it was considerably less hassle (and cheaper) than sterilising and making up millions of bottles.

Best wishes.

It was fine for me, there was an initial learning period where I could only do it in one position but it got easier quickly and by the time I was a couple of weeks in (maybe? Maybe less) there were no more issues.

I expected it to be hellish after reading other people's accounts. So I decided to give it a go, and if it didn't work, well I'd given it a go and they'd had the colostrum which is the most important bit.

Had no problems at all with either child. Yes, it feels a bit peculiar at first but you soon get used to it. Felt a tiny bit sore after the first couple of days but some Lansinoh was a miracle cure. I kept it up for 2 years with DS1 and 4 years with DS2 with no problems.

First baby took a few days before I could feed her without piles of pillows propping us both up in just the right position.
Both babies I was uncomfortable 3 days after birth when I started producing milk instead of colostrum.
Other than that I had no problems at all and fed both for two years.

YY to it totally changing after the initial 6 weeks - don't go into it thinking "This is it forever" - it does definitely get less full on at some point.

I fed DD1 for 14 months and DD2 for 9 months. I used nipple shields both times, as I have horrendously sensitive skin and even with the correct latch, I had sore nipples without the shields. Believe me, I persevered without them! But I had no problems feeding them and could have fed every baby in the street easy-peasy both times. I had a hand free for the TV remote, a drink, my book or some chocolate. I loved it. Good thing, as I had no option to FF.

It was really tough for several weeks (although my husband walked out a few weeks after birth so that caused a bit of stress).
I persevered and continued feeding until my son was 8 months old.
When I look back I think if it as one of the most special things around his babyhood. I just loved the closeness of it.
He is nearly 20 and I still remember it as something so lovely.

I’ve breastfed all of my 3 without any bother.

It’s all about the latch, honestly. Read about how to get a good latch and you’ll be golden.
I didn’t know a good and bad latch was even a thing with my first and it was a miserable experience... prepared the second time around and it was great. May be tender at first but it’s nothing really. Good luck!

Apart from a short period of blanching nipples because of lazy latch, I've never had any problems. The midwife who delivered my son confirmed I wanted to try bfing. Then she showed me how to get him to latch and off we went. He stayed there for approx 3 hours. Pretty plain sailing since. No mastitis. No blocked ducts. No shredded/cracked/bleeding nipples. No leaking. No overwhelming let down. Still going strong now 27mo in. It's totally possible.

I breastfed dd for a year. Latch wasn't right to start with, and got more and more painful. At day 5 a lovely midwife recommended nipple shields which gave me some relief. By 2 weeks I was feeding with no shields and no pain. I expressed so dh could do one bottle a day for the first six months, then switched that bottle to formula.

There were points I wished the responsibility wasn't so much on me and points I got a bit fed up, but overall it was easy and convenient. I'm glad I was able to do it and will definitely try again with dc2.

The first 2 weeks were hard, my milk was late coming in so DD dropped a lot of weight and I almost gave up and switched to formula but I'm so glad I persevered through the pain. It got better really quickly after week 2, in fact I have a load of Lanolin nipple cream that I bought and never even needed to use!

I breastfed both DC with no problems.
Lansinoh from day 1, until established. Some periods when they were feeding frequently, or for ages, it was a bit of a lesson in surrender, as in 'Oh, OK, the floor won't get mopped this morning either, best just settle on the sofa with a book...' The let-down reflex can be powerful, like intense pins and needles all over your breast, but not painful.
Before I had DC1, I didn't know that some women have a difficulty breastfeeding, or even that really small babies can be bottlefed; I grew up surrounded by breastfeeding women (big cultural difference!), and it would have been an awful shock had I not been able to do it.
Really don't sweat it, if you can do it, it is a really sweet experience, cheap and affords you a lot of flexibility, but if not, you still have a beautiful baby, which you will feed in another loving way.
Congratulations!

As was said above - it is a new skill (for you and the baby) but I didn't find it anywhere near as painful or as difficult as learning to ride a bike. You do need good guidance and reassurance as you begin - but then you are away and things become much easier.

Accept help - read about the 'latch' and go prepared to be kind to your nipple-skin for a few days if you get it wrong in the early attempts . (Think saddle and bike!)

The best I hoped for was that breast-feeding would be easier than any alternative (less washing-up and preparing ahead - less worry about infection). Actually , it turned out to be a real pleasure. It felt like some sort of miracle.

We managed to get stranded (on a mountain on one occasion) but despite our many errors, always had plenty of food and drink for the baby .

Never had any problems - no soreness, no cracked nipples. Let down had me curling my toes for a week or so but it really was no problem

I was open to but not fixated on it and slightly to my surprise ended up loving it. It was way easier and more convenient than messing with bottles, which I'm far too lazy to do, and so special and close.

It was a learning curve and a little scary at first and I had a few blocked ducts in 3 years but the number of times I thanked God for it was far higher, especially when my baby/toddler was ill. It was a positive godsend in case of bugs and quite possibly saved him from needing treatment for dehydration.

Thanks everyone, it's reassuring to read

I breast-fed my twins, although as they were 9 weeks early I had to express milk as they were tube feed. When they came out of hospital at 5 weeks old I mix fed them as they were tiny and my ds was tongue lied which make it harder but I managed to keep them breast feeding for 6 months with my son and 10 months with my daughter

I breastfed all 3 if mine with no issues at all. Never needed lansinoh, never had cracked nipples or problems with latching (mind you I’d researched like mad on sites like kellymom beforehand!). My milk also didn’t ‘come in’ in the expected manner, I didn’t have any engorgement or painful breasts or anything (except for first time my eldest slept through the night!). It was just a very positive experience.
I did have a horrible let-down with my second though. Don’t know why but it gave me a horrible crawling, itching sensation! Over in seconds but ever so strong while it lasted.

Dd1- bf hurt but only for first few days
Ds1- really hurt and he had allergies so I had to cut milk and egg out of my diet it was hard
Dd2- bf was fine
Ds2-awful. He was in NICU and I struggled to express. He found feeding hard and my nipples were so sore
Ds3-he has tongue tie but feeds fine, no soreness but he’s only 11 days old

Fed dd1 till age 4, ds1 till 2.5 yrs, dd2 till 2 years and ds2 till age 4 the two till age 4 only had bedtime feeds from age 2 though and I git pregnant whilst bf each time apart from with dd1 and ds3.

It took a while for milk to come in after c-section then I was v self-conscious about it for a while but more or less plain sailing once I settled to it.

Every bad story has a good one too.

I found it easy with DS1 after the first couple of weeks, apart from mastitis at 5 months which was nasty. With DS2 it was easy full stop. I breastfed them for 9 & 8 months.

It didn't work out with DS3 as he just didn't gain weight & we had to switch to formula. For me, breastfeeding was much easier.