Does breastfeeding always hurt?

[DragonMummy1418]

My DS last time, it hurt so badly, I was sobbing in between in anticipation of the next feed. It was about 6-8 weeks before the pain was manageable.

Is it always like that? I'm hoping it will be easier with the second! 😬

Never had any pain at all breast feeding

Following!

My experience was very similar to yours. I’m hoping it’s easier this time round!

My DC2 is nearly 2 weeks old and I have definately found it easier this time. But the first few days were very difficult. Although I know what I'm doing, she doesn't and has had to learn to latch etc.
I have only used a fraction of the lasinoh I used last time though, my nipples are definately tougher!

I was like that with my first but I second one didn’t hurt at all. I think I’ve killed and pain receptors after dd!

I breastfed my first for 11 months, it was toe-curling agony for the first 5 weeks then I found hydrogel breastpads and they fixed the pain overnight.
I had my second a few weeks ago, only stopped bfing my first a few months ago so thought I'd be pain free - it started to hurt when my milk came in and the baby's latch was struggling with engorgement. I just used the hydrogel breast pads again and the pain stopped within 12 hrs. I stopped using them after about 10 days and have had no pain since.

That's encouraging @ThatsWotSheSaid ! It was horrendous last time, so following to see if there's any way to minimise it this time.

I'm expressing colostrum while still pregnant, partly to see if I can induce labour that way but also because the pain I was in last time was so bad that I would have given anything to have already had milk to give DC so that I could have skipped a feed (or two) for some recovery time. I'm also hoping that this might toughen the skin up a bit in advance.

No, I think you may have had bad latching at the start as both you and the baby learned what to do, and it takes a while for the soreness to go. It might be worthwhile to get some advice on latching on for your next baby because even though you now have experience, the baby doesn’t!

Only hurt me until the midwife showed me how to get him latched properly (he was sucking just the tip of my nipple) after that didn't hurt at all.

No. It might feel uncomfortable to begin with but it shouldn't hurt and it certainly shouldn't be making you cry between feeds.
Did you have anyone sit with you and see why it was hurting? I mean soneone specifically trained, not an overworked midwife who sadly may not have had enpugh training.
It could have be something as simple as him not opening his mouth wide enough.

And yes, if you are engorged, it's sometime makes it easier if you express a little before you feed.

At first I used to have a slight pinprick feeling on the let down but not particularly painful and had the odd soreness after a mammoth cluster feeding but the nipple cream sorted that out

Remember breastfeeding takes two, you aren’t doing it alone.

I breastfed twins. I could have told you blindfold which twin I was feeding as the experience was so different.

One of mine was painful until about 12 weeks.

The other twin didn’t hurt at all at any point.

Best of luck!

8-10 weeks of agonising pain with DS (I could barely tie my towel around me after a shower) while the nipple detached a bit from the breast tissue. I barely even needed lansinoh with DD. You’ll be grand.

Dc1 hurt like hell for 12 weeks.
Dc2 never hurt at all.

Not for me.
As others had said it can feel prickly for a minute if you're very full but I never had any pain or soreness. However I did have to squidge my nipple into a shape so my youngest could get a good latch, she didn't open her mouth wide enough.

It didn’t hurt either time. I just felt sick doing it! Ah well, it’s over now.

Not always. I gave up on bfing with DD after a few weeks as we just couldn't make it work so we were both unhappy (rather than pain). With DS I tried again and was in agony for the first three weeks, but then it passed and was fine. Going to hospital bfing dropin helped a lot - after a few weeks I saw a woman crying with pain and was able to tell her I'd been there as well and it would pass.

My sister had her son 9 weeks after I had DS and she breastfed with no pain at all, so it does seem to be a bit luck of the draw!

I was told repeatedly that DC1 had an excellent latch and that I could either stick it out or give him a bottle to allow recovery time. It was so painful I cried and occasionally let out a little scream when he needed to feed. I did mix feed him for a little while as I couldn't face fulltime BF while it hurt so much.

I really do think that that's normal for some women, it just hurts but it will stop. I saw midwives, HV's and went to breastfeeding groups for help and they all told me that the latch was fine but some women were just unlucky the first few weeks. I guess it made up for the good birth!

I think I found it easier second time around as I knew what was coming and that it would get better. I knew why I was doing this time too so was able to get a good latch from day 1.

If you can get baby latched on as soon as possible after birth I think that helps? I know it's not always possible but I fed ds2 within 30 mins of him being born and we haven't had any latch issues, unlike ds1 who was drowsy from pethadine. I took a few days to get it right with him, by that time I was very very sore.

It should be better, good luck 😄❤️

It hurt me both times. Absolutely nothing wrong with latch either (confirmed by midwife, HV and breast feeding counsellor). It was just really bloody painful.

Oh and both mine latched within 5 mins of birth (less than a min for DD2!) and it didn’t help me.

I found it quite painful with DC1 for the first few weeks but it wasn't painful at all with DC2.

Mine didn't hurt so as to make me cry but I had a very painful let down. Only lasted a few seconds near the start of each feed but it was a bit toe curling.

My first go was toe curling. Like weeping in pain with a newborn even contemplating a feed. My right nipple was well on the way to detatching. Lansinoh had just come out, and my lovely midwife gave me all her trade samples (dd1 is 15.5), which helped a lot. By the time she was 3m old I couldn't really remember it hurting.

Dd2 and 3 were fine, just a bit nippy and general engorgement. A close age gap so I guess my body just got on with it. But I was expecting hell on earth again, so when dd2 just latched and fed (and slept!) it was a joy.

But ds, after a 4.5yr gap was very hard! He was just very fierce.

I never even contemplated a bottle though. Not from any pro bf standpoint, just never occurred to me.

With DS2, I had no pain breastfeeding at all provided he was latched on properly.

With DS3, it was a bit nippy at first, but once his tongue tie had been snipped his latch improved and it stopped hurting.