Breast-feeding moms… A question for you.

Jenny33

I know most moms experience a period of soreness in the beginning of breast-feeding. Are you past this point and experiencing pain free nursing or gritting your teeth and bearing it like me? Please also include your little ones birthday.

My DD is one month today. I am still rather sore even with the help of lactation consultant. Hoping we can move into comfortable nursing soon. I'm interested to hear how others are doing.

hollybear4

It hurt a lot at the beginning to the point where I thought "this isn't worth it" but I stuck it out and now I'm pain free! Occasionally at the beginning of a feed it hurts a bit but then quickly goes away. My LO was born May 13th (6.5 weeks) and I would say the painless feedings started about 2 weeks ago so I think you're in the homestretch! Keep with it, it's worth it!

bijou1983

I'm two weeks in and so far have only had a couple bad latch days. Generally, if LO latches and it's painful, I take him off and relatch more comfortably. I found this article very helpful: https://thebirthhub.co.uk/no-pain-no-gain-what-exactly-do-we-mean-by-breastfeeding-pain/

Caileybug

I was very fortunate in that my son latched perfectly within an hour of birth and I've never experienced any pain. He was born May 1st. He is 8 weeks old now and still nurses very often (every 1.5-2hrs during the day) but sleeps an 8 hour stretch at night). I hope it gets easier for you! Keep up good work, mama!

justkeeptrying

My LO is 5.5 weeks old (born May 20). I still have pain when he first latches and pulls on my nipple. I have a strong letdown so he often ends up ripping himself off when the milk comes too fast and then we have to re-latch. This can happen several times at the beginning of a feed. So it is still quite painful for me. Once he's on well and eating, I don't have pain.

Oh and my breasts are still very engorged and painful that way. Trying to reduce my supply which is a frustrating process.

shelles423

My LO is five weeks and breast feeding was unbearable for the first five days and was fine after that. I used a pump to help give me a break from the pain and let my nipples heal. That really helped a lot.

odawg

We didnt get a good latch at the hospital and they gave me a shield. Kind of wish they had not for its a hassel when were in public but I have never had any pain when breastfeeding. So if you are ever on the verge of giving up try a shield and see how it goes so you cam continue BF (not sure how intense your pain is)

keitlin415

DD is 4 weeks old. The cringing pain at the beginning of every feeding went away at 2 weeks for me. But right now my R nip has a blister. I also pump once a day and give her a bottle just to give my nips a break. I also think it helps subsequent nursing sessions bc my breasts are not as full, so my let down is not as forceful.

ALITAYLOR23

Mine baby is a month old and I only get a pinching pain right when I start then it instantly goes awake.

mars8k

It took me about a month to achieve a pain free latch on my right breast and a lil longer for the left 1 for some reason! Right now it only hurts when there's a reason like if i pumped on a high setting, i use electric, or if LO is cluster feeding or if she's being aggressive usually because i kept her waiting for too long

Does the pain last for less than a minute? If so just give it time you and LO will get the hang of it soon

Also the thing everyone mention about baby sucking on the areola not the nipple makes a huge difference so try to achieve that as best as you can

danibonello

I seem to be opposite of everyone.. i only BF a couple of times a day, as we aren't very good at it... I primarily pump. But when I do BF, it isn't painful at first, but I think she starts to get lazy with her latch and as time goes on she slips down towards the nipple (I also have annoyingly large breasts, which doesn't help). It's hard to get my LO to latch, let alone re-latch... so when the pain starts I just power through as long as I can... once i finally break the latch, my nipple has clearly been pinched. So, long story short, I agree with PP... areola is key!!

kremerj1

My lo is a month today. Pain mostly went away after a couple of weeks. Then at 3 weeks I started getting a burning feeling with my let down. Now I'm pretty sure I have a nipple blister on my left. Overall though, it's bearable and my pain is on and off.

carliejo7

Get a nipple shield! ❤️

MrsElizabethPlano

Baby was born may 5th and no pain here. Discomfort sometimes. 

SusanSR12

Just a word of caution with using the shield. Long term use can decrease your supply. It is a wonderful temporary aid to allow nipples to heal. But the baby's saliva actually helps your supply continue and increase. T

jakobaby

^what pp said. Also weaning your LO off the shield is not fun! My LO nada posterior tongue tie. I painfully nursed for 2 weeks before seeing the LC. I tried the shield because I was bleeding and LO was spitting it up! Went to finger feeding with my pumped milk to heal them bottles with pumped milk until we had the procedure to fix his tongue done at 4 weeks. Just getting him back on the Breast was a pain and weaning off the shield was harder. We currently bf without the shield and I still pump and give a bottle a couple of times a day. I'm still healing and he's still clamping down as he gets used to his "new tongue" but it's getting better.
Actually two new problems developed. He clamps down on me at letdown Ouch! And I have areola damage from my pump flanges being too big. Just trying out the smaller size. It's been a long road but I'm still determined!
Hang in there. It will get better!

tandb2272

We've been using a shield since birth. The LC and Pediatrician both said if she will latch with it and is gaining weight keep using it. LO is 5.5 weeks old! I've talked to moms who are still nursing 18 months later with a shield!

monidanielle

My LO is 9 weeks old, born on April 24th. It was EXTREMELY painful for me in the beginning. Especially the first couple of weeks. But it slowly got better and better. I think around week 4 was when I began to become very comfortable with breastfeeding. Even today there's times that I still have a tiny bit of discomfort when LO first latches on, but after the first 5 or 6 seconds its completely comfortable. Lansinoh in the purple tube helped me out soooo much, I used it for the first 3 weeks & didn't need it anymore after that.

PutMeintheZoo

DD was born on 5-15 and I started using a shield after two weeks of painful / difficult feeding. (She had tongue tie that was revised at 3 weeks).  Shield has been great and it helps her latch on better, too. 

katyeblue

I would find another lactation consult

vlparker

It hurt the first 3 weeks. Try seeing a la leche league leader. Baby was born 5/27

Rookie713

I had really sore nipples for the first two weeks and still have some pain when he starts feeding, but it has gotten so much better. Now there is only a little bit of pain in the beginning if his initial latch doesn't work. DS was born 5/25 so he is 5 weeks old. 

OlgaN15

I was sore for a little over a month. The last two weeks have been the best. I thought it was a latch issue, but baby's latch was fine. It was more the fact that he doesn't always unlatch before pulling away. He still does this at times, but it doesn't hurt nearly as much anymore. My LO was born May 1st.

nessaic21

I used the shield and it was great! No nipple pain ever. But after ONE week I felt that my supply had drastically decreased. The LCs at the hospital told me not to pump until I was 3 weeks pp. They assured me my supply had not decreased. A week later my DD had lost a bunch of weight. So I had to begin supplementing with formula and when I tried to pump I only got 0.5-1oz after 15mins! I went to see a private LC and she said when you use the shield you MUST pump after each feeding or your supply will decrease. I'm amazed that my supply simply disappeared after ONE week. So be careful if you use the shield. I was able to easily wean my DD from the shield in a matter of 3 days, but increasing my supply has been a nightmare!

annie10

DS is now 9 weeks old. I was uncomfortable for the 1st week. This is my third child and the I breastfed the other two. First child was the toughest with breastfeeding, for sure. I wanted to give up so many times. I had mastitis, raw nipples and was leaking constantly and it took about 4-6 weeks to get it all under control the first time around. Hang in there, Mama! I hope it gets easier for you! 

NPReed10

My baby is 6 weeks.  We had no issues with latching and I didn't use a lactation consultant since things went so smoothly from the start.  However, I had pain with breastfeeding for the first few seconds of each feeding, EVERY feeding for around 2.5 weeks.  I used Lansinoh cream on my nipples after every feeding which helped significantly.  If you haven't tried to use it yet, use the Lansinoh- you don't have to wipe it off before feeding which makes it convenient.  Stick with it, it's so worth it to breast feed and so much easier than bottle feeding.  Especially with regards to tummy troubles babies can have with formula.  I would also recommend a new lactation consultant if things aren't working.