Nursing help

mrsnorthernbell · July 2013

Im on day 3 and I'm really struggling. It hurts a lot and this morning I woke up and my chest is super hard.
I want to stick with this but I'm not enjoying it so far.
Any products that you can recommend or any advice would be super helpful.
Thanks ladies

holz · July 2013

I'm sorry. The first few weeks are difficult as your supply regulates and baby grows. Is it the engorgement that hurts or nursing itself? Have you spoken with an LC?

lisamoe · July 2013

Is your pain because of engogement (your breasts being full?) or are your nipples sore?

I know lanolin cream helped a little with nipple cracking for me, others swear by expressing some breast milk on the nipples and rubbing it in. I also found that soothie gel pads helped some.

GL

MomIn2013 · July 2013

The first few weeks are the worst, you need to just stick with it. I remember on day four when my milk came in I thought my boobs were going to explode, it was so painful. Just keep nursing on demand, that swelling will go down as your milk starts flowing.

One thing you can do in the meantime is alternate applying cold packs (like freezer gel packs) every hour for 10 minutes for 24 hours to relieve the swelling, with hot moist compresses (like a hot facecloth) before nursing to help get the milk flowing.

For nipple soreness most people recommend using either lanolin or coconut oil. I didn't use either, though, as mine didn't end up being too sore.

All I can say is if you are able to stick with it you will be so glad you did! I EPed for the first few weeks before DS would latch properly, and that was a huge headache, and so much more work. Once you get the hang of it, nursing is so much easier! Make yourself a short-term goal (mine was three months) and stick to it. We made it there and are still going strong at almost six months.

The best advice I received was on the breastfeeding board: never quit on a bad day!

LatteLady5 · July 2013

lisamoe:
Is your pain because of engogement (your breasts being full?) or are your nipples sore?
I know lanolin cream helped a little with nipple cracking for me, others swear by expressing some breast milk on the nipples and rubbing it in. I also found that soothie gel pads helped some.
GL

All of this. The pain gets better after a couple of weeks.

JayandEmm · July 2013

It gets better I promise. The engorgement in short lived, thank god. By week 2, nursing was easy, and I had forgotten about hard boobs and sore nipples.

Just nurse frequently, and put some expressed milk on your nipples and let them air dry.

jmiller79 · July 2013

Try taking a hot bath. It will calm you and help give you let down in the tub. It might be worth expressing milk there before getting out handexpressing to relieve some pressure

Notwifezilla7 · July 2013

I also suggest checking out the breastfeeding board and Kellymom dot com for more advice.

I know for me, I had oversupply at the beginning and my letdown would literally cause the baby to choke. She would come off the breast and milk would spray all over. (This happened w/all three!) Manually expressing some milk into the pads helped. Your body will regulate itself.

Honestly, BFing never was or is enjoyable for me. I do it because I can, it's cheap, and relatively easy now. I made small goals at the beginning. Make it one week, then make it one month. Etc.. etc.. I'm on month seven with my third EBF'd child. I know I can make it to a year again. Hang in there, it does get easier for all parties.

Nursing help

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