Talk to me about breastfeeding! Does it get easier?!

[RWK29]

😭😭 I’m about a week in and I’m struggling. Midwife isn’t much help at all. Just tells me “it’s natural, you and baby will figure it out” 🙄

I never burped either of mine, not all BF babies need burping..

Yes it does! The first 6 weeks just felt utterly impossible, but ds is now 6m and I'm so glad I managed to keep going - I'm amazed at what I'm still finding out about breast milk!

delegate all other responsibilities wherever possible so you can eat, drink, feed and rest.

Yes it was painful in the beginning and my nipples were chapped and almost bleeding. What turned life around was I took a break for 2 days and pumped instead. I also applied hydrocortisone cream and an antibiotic on my nipples. It healed my nipples really quickly and I never had the pain again. After that I was stressed with milk supply and weaning my baby off formula. It took about a month for me to be exclusively breastfeeding my baby and 3 months before everything clicked and was no stress at all. I am still BFing my 5 month old and intend to do it for a year. I never would have believed I would get this far. It was all totally worth it. It does get so much easier. Good luck.

First 3 days I had no sleep, baby just cluster fed. 3 weeks old today and I am getting 2 hours sleep windows over night now. Had the odd 3 hour! It gets better.
I’ve had really good breastfeeding support, midwives really helpful, and health visitor team have a breast feeding specialist too. Maybe worth asking if there anyone who can check latch as it shouldn’t be that sore - checked for a tongue tie?

You are in the thick of it now but keep going if there are times you enjoy it, if you completely hate it and dread every feed then it just isn't worth it, how you feel is so important.
Your nipples should definitely be sore but IMO the milk should not be pink from blood and chunks of nipple falling off! If this is happening something is very wrong.
Make sure he/she has huge deep latch put nipple to nose and when they open mouth push whole nipple and aereola in while comfortably holding back if babies neck not pushing their head on.
Shoulders down and try to relax as best you can
It is by far my proudest achievement she is now 5mpmths and I will be really sad when she decides to stop
X

Slather Lansinoh on too.
Can you prop crib up with a book or two sounds like he may be a little colicky
White noise on pretty loud all night and do you swaddle him? He is still tiny to not want to go in his cot and away from you is hard but completely normal xx

Oversupply? Check if this sounds familiar:

www.laleche.org.uk/too-much-milk-and-oversupply/

My first time was the longest 3 weeks of my life and then suddenly, like a miracle, I realised it had become easy. We carried on for a couple of years.

It was sheer grit and determination those first 3 weeks. I was hallucinating from tiredness. Then wham! It all got easier.
You've got this!

@KiriAndLou I was reading about oversupply last night actually and it just sounds exactly like what’s going on! Have the final midwife visit tomorrow so will see what his weight gain is like and will chat to her about things. Health visitor should be starting on Monday and she’s a breastfeeding support worker as well I think so hopefully she’ll have some good advice.

Thanks everyone for your stories!! Praying you’re all right about things changing within a few weeks ❤️

If you have oversupply some feeding positions are better. Have baby upright with their tummy on yours or lying down.

Hey congratulations on your baby!

I've breastfed for years between both my DC but almost gave up a couple of weeks in with my first I was struggling so badly.
If baby is gassy burp him between breasts and after he's finished on the second one and try to keep him as upright as possible.
Have you tried feeding on different positions?
For my DD rugby ball worked for one breast and cradle for the other.
Look at the NCT website or just Google for different feeding position suggestions.
My DS loved koala, where he was basically sitting on my knee laying across my belly as I laid back and I was just supporting his head to make sure he could breath.
If your nipples are in a really bad state you could consider nipple shields to help them heal.
Alternating hot and cold flannels on your breast between feeds can help with the pain too.

But the most important thing to remember is that you are are doing amazingly!
The pain can be awful but honestly once you are established that will go and it will become much easier.

Ah tummy wind is horrible but it's just their digestive system getting used to things, nothing to do with latch or anything (if one more midwife or HV tried to tell me it must be because he was swallowing air...). It got better quite quickly with DS, DD always suffered (she's still a windy thing) but we used infacol, gripe water and dentinox at various times - I think infacol is safe from north but obviously check if you want to try it.

Will baby settle longer if they're not on you? If they can't smell milk sometimes they'll happily go a bit longer between feeds, so DH could hold him while you go sleep in the evenings/mornings, and just bring him to you for feeds.

Feeding lying down is a game changer as well. Make your bed safe and then you can snooze while they feed.

I'm an oversupply veteran, having breastfed for almost two and a half years and still going, so if you need any oversupply advice let me know.

Biggest game changer for me was totally emptying one breast before swapping. So you might do two or three feeds on one breast before you move to the other. This ensures they get a balance of the watery milk at the start and the creamy milk at the end. Helps prevent the gastrointestinal upset. Also feed more frequently and express until letdown has gone before letting baby feed if you've got a full breast. Good luck with it!

*obviously you can never totally empty a breast but keep going on one until it's completely soft.

Ahh sympathies because it is SO hard at the start, but you're doing an amazing job. Keep your eyes fixed on the fact that in a month or so it will be so much easier and will then be easier than bottles for the long term.

A few places online that helped me were the kellymom website. Also follow milkmakingmama on Instagram. I also saw a lactation consultant at 6 weeks in to help with latch and it was the best £100 we've ever spent.

Another tip if you're getting cracked nipples is put a square of clingfilm over them after you've put on the lansinoh. Then before the next feed gently wipe the lansinoh off then reapply and clingfilm on repeat.

Everything you're saying sounds like typical breastfeeding start. It is so hard & painful at first but it does get easier. Very soon you won't even think about latching them on and feeding in all sorts of positions. Just takes a little time to get to that stage. Every week it will get better!
If you want your latch checked I'd also recommend getting a IBCLC lactation consultant. Sorry your midwife isn't very supportive.

I have heard it does get better BUT it’s also ok to quit if it’s making you miserable. I was SO tearful and just wasn’t coping - baby was cluster feeding 6 hours at a time and I just decided it wasn’t for me. My mental health thanked me for it! Everyone is different.

Never quit on a bad day.

Thanks so much for all your stories 😊 they’ve made me feel much more positive. Making a bit of progress today 🤞🏼 Much longer feeds and more content in between so fingers crossed my milk supply is sorting itself out 😊

@KiriAndLou Yeah, I’m a firm believer in never quiting on a bad day for anything!

I found things started to get much easier after around week 6 or 7 or whenever it was baby could hold and maneuver her own head a bit. Now she is 11 weeks she latches herself on easily I dont have to do much other than get my boob out and lay her in position. She's also feeding less often which honestly makes all the difference. The first few weeks of hourly feeds were really intense!! Try keep going and like PPs have said make sure your latch is good.

Best advise I had was to move baby to the boob not boob to the baby. At first they bob around a lot but you just have to be patient and get the right moment when their mouth is wide to put them to the boob, you get a better latch then.

I’m week 3 of exclusively breast feeding my first. I think it’s been going well so far as he is putting on weight and my nipples are still intact!?

I also think I might have oversupply as he often bobs on and off/ splutters at the start. A few things that have helped me over the last few weeks;

• silver nipple caps from Amazon. I just wear these non stop in my bra when I’m not feeding . I haven’t used cream and I think they have saved my nips!

• using the haaka with hot water and Epsom salt on a boob to clear ducts if they become trapped or feel uncomfortably hard

• using my instinct on switching boobs, my baby generally only drinks from one side per feed and I’ll monitor on my app (and by feeling my boobs) whether it’s time to switch to the other side for the next feed.

It really does get easier! I thought about stopping so many times in the first few weeks but by 8 weeks it was easy and I'm really glad I didnt stop. If it's not working out for you though then don't make yourself miserable forcing yourself to carry on. There are support groups on Facebook you might find helpful.

First of all, congratulations on your new baby!

Has your LO been checked for tongue tie? If not, I would ask to get the check done and have someone else check your latch because it might not be quite right yet.

I don't remember there being pain at the start at all, perhaps slight discomfort but that was it.

I got a lot of pain/blisters/thrush from about 8 months on as my DD changed her latch as she was teething and it was awful. I persisted only because I was so invested by this point and wanted to get to the year - if I'd had that at the start I'm not sure I would have continued so I know its not right.

Good luck OP!

Yes, after the first few weeks. And no, I didn't believe people when they told me that!

It does get easier. Sorry your midwife is unhelpful. Definitely get support, daily if needed, as there are many things that can be done to make feeding comfortable. If it’s hurting then you need support. Tongue tie us definitely one to ask about, and also support with positioning (rugby ball hold helped me with a chompy tongue tied baby whose vice like grip was agony). It’s ok to feed off the non-hurting side only and gently express a little milk into a cup on the hurting side (which can then be cup or spoon to baby at next feed to give you a break) to give you 24 hours or so for things to heal. I found that even a little bit of a break massively helped me. Also the gassy thing is normal, as your baby’s digestion works our how to digest milk, settled down after about week 10 for mine. And the not liking sleeping on the back is also normal (I know it’s safer, but babies don’t seem to have gotten that memo) and they’ll be able to do that later, but are still adjusting to being out of the womb and want to be curled up close, hearing your heartbeat and breathing.