Preparing my nipples?!

[mellongoose]

I'm currently pregnant with no. 2.

Last time I was able to breastfeed exclusively for about 10 weeks. Unfortunately I was in so much pain from cracked and raw nipples that I used to dread the feeds.

Once I started to combine feed my nipples had chance to recover and I loved breastfeeding. By this stage my supply wasn't enough to continue.

Is there anything I can do to prepare my poor nipples during pregnancy so things go better this time?!

Following with interest

Not really. I would just be utterly vigilant about babies latch from the very start. Any sign of damage get a thorough checking for lip and tongue tie. Nipple shields can help if there is some damage but aren't a solution.
Nipple damage shouldn't be part of the course.

Her initial latch was definitely a problem so will try to look out for that. Nipple shields didn't work. I can't remember why.

My GP suggested washing over them with a rough washcloth when showering in prep for DD1. From reading it's quite old school advice but maybe give it a go? I didn't but luckily was fine with both DDs

I thought it is all to do with the latch - if that is correct the nipples should not get to the stage of being bleeding or cracked.

There will alsways be a bit of pain and discomfort in the early weeks as your nipples aren’t used to all that sucking. Having said, it shouldn’t cause you extreme pain. If it does it will be due to poor latch. I had sore and cracked nipples for 8 weeks after the birth of my DD (looking back at it I don’t know how I managed to feed her through all that pain) and it turned she had posterior tongue tie and also developed thrush. Once that was taken care breastfeeding was a breeze.

Good luck OP. I’m also pregnant with number 2 and crossing all my fingers that breastfeeding will be less painful this time. As a poster said above, I will be very diligent about the latch this time and checking for tongue tie.