3rd Trimester
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Truth about breastfeeding?
A girl I know who had a baby two weeks ago said this to me:
"Breastfeeding. Wowzers. Buy yourself tons of Lanolin and get some cotton breast pads - I got some Kushies from Walmart. After every feed, put on the Lanolin. Breastfeeding hurts. Like a mofo. Leache League will tell you that's not true if its hurting you have a bad latch. I had a Leache League coach come to my house and she said my latch was good. So its 14 days today. It still hurts when she latches for about a minute."
I wasn't prepared for this news! I didn't think it was going to hurt that much! And should you really put lanolin cream on after every feed?
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Re: Truth about breastfeeding?
I breastfed for a year with DD and I don't remember it "hurting". The first two minutes or so felt weird because of the letdown reflex but it wasn't painful.
It doesn't hurt to use Lanolin frequently. It really helps keep your nipples from drying and cracking. For the first few weeks, I probably used it after every feeding/pumping (DD was in NICU so I did both).
BF never hurt for me. I used lanolin if needed but very rarely. The only time it ever hurt was when DS was bigger and he bit down - that was probably around 9 months.
UGHHHH!!!
...awaiting responses as well... LOL
I didn't put lanolin on after session, however it does hurt for a while. Babies suck-hard! and your nipples aren't used to it. So, mentally prepare yourself for it. It's worth it!! It will get less and less painful over time, but it does take a little bit.
And yes, a bad latch=toe curling pain. I found out the hard way when my DS had a terrible latch (just the nipple) for the first week. Lactation consultants are your best friend! It got less and less painful once he had a great latch and I learned how to position him.
A little advice from a few mommy friends of mine-after baby arrives, place him/her on your bare chest and let them find your nipple and latch on. I have heard from numerous friends that every single time they did this, baby had a perfect latch.
LOL i wish this was an option for me... he's scared to get close to them since i started leaking hahahhaa
I must be really really lucky because I know I'm not full of BS...LOL. I also have large breasts...maybe that matters? Probably not...but I had a good experience I guess, and breastfed DD#1 for almost 2 years.
I breastfed DS for 5 months and once we got the latch part figured out, I never had any pain or discomfort. Even when we were learning to latch, I never had cracked or bleeding nipples. I never used lanolin.
It really is a different experience for everyone. All you can do is do your best. But there are lot of support people out there if you continue to have problems.
This was true for me too.
If anything the 'pain' was from the burn of let-down more than what the baby was doing.
I have had no pain and no leaking. I have not needed to use breast pads or lanolin.
I let my breasts 'air dry' after a feeding, which is supposed to keep the skin from getting dry and cracked. So far so good!
Oh, and I will say that I can tell instantly if she's only latched on to the nipple because, yes, that absolutely hurts. I'm not saying that pain only happens with a bad latch, but that's been my experience so far.
Haha I went through this with DH too. He apparently got a nice gulp of the leakage and freaked out....
But in terms of leakage after the baby is born, definitely get those nipple pads. Your boobs are going to leak like crazy a few days after baby is born (at least mine did - they started the day I came home from the hospital, which was 4 days after delivery.) The leaking was BAD... like I soaked through my t-shirt!
As far as pain goes, it doesn't hurt THAT bad. Sure it's not the most comfortable feeling when he sucks, but I love knowing that I am doing what nature intended!!!!
It hurt, but I can't remember how long that lasted.
I never used lanolin though - my SIL suggested rubbing some expressed milk on my nipples and letting them air dry. It actually really helped to make them feel better!
Your friend is right. I remember hearing that it shouldn't hurt if you're doing it right, so it was such a comfort when I called my OB's office for suggestions, and the nurse told me, "They say it shouldn't hurt, but it does. It hurts a lot in the beginning, but eventually the soreness will go away." After about two weeks -- with quite a few tears from the pain -- I realized she was right because my nipples had finally stopped hurting. In the meantime, I alternated between rubbing lanolin and expressed milk (a tip from the nurse) on my nipples after each feeding. The engorgement when my milk first came in after about five days hurt too, but that only lasted a day or two.
Of course, sometimes soreness is a sign that baby isn't latching correctly, but that wasn't the case for us.
Although I also hear it can really be uncomfortable for a bit, it can also be truly painless as the LLLs will say. I am fortunate enough to have been one of those who had no pain ever BFing. I didnt' even use Lanolin and in fact still have my tube 99% full so we use it on DD's lips when they get chapped lol.