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Breastfeeding
AshleyT121
member
Seeking the low-down on BFing from the experts (that's you ladies!)
AshleyT121
member
Can I get the low-down on breastfeeding? I've heard so many different things so I'm interested to get the info right from brand new moms who are currently (or were recently) doing it.
It's always been something that was important to me... but I just want the truth about it.
My questions are: is it really painful? did it take a long time for you milk to come in after you delivered? does the pain/ tenderness, "rawness" lessen? Did you have problems with latching?
I assume I am going to get a lot of different answers, but that's what I am looking for, so please... be as blunt as necessary.
TIA
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Seeking the low-down on BFing from the experts (that's you ladies!)
Is it painful? If you're doing it correctly it shouldn't be. There was no pain the first day or two, but after that I had some pain with the initial latch due to tenderness the first week or so, but the pain went away after a minute or so because the latch was correct.
You probably will have tenderness, cracked nipples, etc. at first, but use your lanolin and express a little breastmilk after each feeding and rub it over your nipple and areola. It won't last forever!
I had no problems with the latch, but my baby was a good sized one, and I hear sometimes it's harder with smaller babies. I asked her if she had read the books while she was in the womb because she did it so well on the first try
My milk started coming in the evening I got home from the hospital (I spent 2 nights) and I had full-on torpedo boobs the next morning.
I wouldn't say it's "really" painful, but it can hurt at first. Your nipples aren't used to being sucked on for hours a day. Use the lannolin and when your in the hospital, stock up on those gel pads they give you.
I think my milk came in on day 4. I think up to 5 days is normal.
I had pain for quite awhile. But, we're not normal. We had latch issue to work on, and most of the time had to latch and re-latch several times to get it right. Because of that, and the damage done to my nipples because of the poor latch, it took awhile for them to heal. But, it's fine now.
1. For 99.9% of normal women BFing for the first time - it hurts like hell and it lasts for weeks to months. It could be anything from grit your teeth to literally biting your lip to bleeding/crying. It can lessen in 4-6 weeks or it can take months, usually no more than 3 months. I actually think FMLA may have been designed to reduce BFing rates, at 3 months its calculated to give women a reason to quit right when they are in the end of the hard part, and they miss out on the easy part for the next 9 months and then talk about how awful it was and give it a bad rap.
2. Milk comes in 3-10 days in most women. Most fall in the middle around day 5-7. The baby DOES NOT NEED anything other than hydration before that, hence colostrum or if that's not possible, fluids. It shytes me that people are told its standard procedure to start formula at birth (without some other medical reason) just because BFing is delayed. If the mom WAS BFing the babe wouldn't get anything more than fluids and colostrum anyway. Normal healthy babies are just fine waiting for milk to come in.
3. Latching is the eye of the beholder. You can stress about it or you can grit your teeth and get on with it. I was told DS was not latching in the hospital (not that they helped at all) and I stressed. Then the PEDIATRICIAN came in and said it was just fine, and btw she had a specialisation in lactation! Then when I joined the support group the LC there said he had perfect latch. So why did it hurt so damned much? The LCs peddle this myth that if latch is good it won't hurt. Bollocks. That's just to keep them in their jobs. BFing hurts regardless of latch so if the baby is getting milk and gaining weight don't waste your time and energy on latch issues. just plug away and it will stop hurting by 12 weeks and be rosy. I wish I had done that and not bothered to stress about latch, having a perfect latch did not help us one bit.
4. Do not stress about supply. 95% of women have no supply issue but think they do. 5% actually do. And in most of those cases it is fixable quickly and safely and effectively with a Rx for domperidone or reglan. Don't mess with this fenugunk etc which is proven in scientific trials to be no better than a placebo. The test of supply is baby weight gain and wet diapers. nothing more nothing less. Do NOT go by how they "feel". Do not go by what you get out with a pump. These are not accurate tests of what the baby is getting because the baby, unlike a pump can make you produce more WHILE you are feeding, thus the breast never gets to feel full but its flowing just fine.
5. Remember re the weight gain standard that it is normal for a baby to lose weight after birth. If you like that's what happens to BF babies becaus e they aren't getting formula from day 1. We've done just fine like that for millions of years, we don't need to worry ab out it now. After milk comes in you should see that loss be made up and gains t o continue at a steady rate. Your pedi is the best advice on that.
The bottom line of BFing is with few medically-diagnosed exceptions any woman can do it if she wants to enough. If you really want to then make yourself believe there is no alternative.
GL!
Oh for the love of pete...
Painful? A bit at first, but it was usually irritation or pain for just the first 20-30 seconds of Bfing for the first couple of weeks. And it wasn't painful every time. Continuing and debilitating pain is the sign of a problem - bad latch, thrush, etc. But some discomfort or limited pain is normal as your body adjusts. Lansinoh cream is your friend to minimize rawness and discomfort between nursing sessions.
Milk? My milk came in 3 days after DD was born. It can take up to a week and still be totally normal. There is colostrum there from birth, so the baby has something to drink. And really, from birth, they don't need to put a lot in their tiny stomachs at each feeding.
Latch? This varies. My DD had a pretty good latch from the beginning. Some babies have issues, but most can be worked through with patience and guidance from an LC.
Don't be discouraged or nervous about BFing. It will likely take 2-6 weeks to get past the hardest parts, but with a good support system and the desire to breastfeed you will get through it. And after that it is really awesome and easy. :-)
I think you're percentage is a little high. The only time that Bfing "hurt like hell" was when I had thrush at 11 months. I didn't have that much pain in the first few weeks and I know a number of different people that didn't either.
I agree that it's possible to have pain/cracking/etc even with a good latch but that doesn't mean that all women experience a ton of pain for the first few weeks or months.
And I'd say that there are lots of other factors in our society that hurt BFing rates a whole lot more than FMLA. The fact that many women have to go back to work at 6 or 8 weeks, bad advice from doctors and nurses, lack of support from spouses and family members, harassment of women who nurse in public, harassment of women who nurse past a year, lack of support for women who pump at work...etc, etc, etc.
For me, it wasn't painful until I had thrush when DD was 6 months old. THAT was painful.
I honestly don't know when my milk came in. DD was happy with colostrum, she wasn't freaking out eating just the colostrum... when the milk came in it was a good transition for her.
Again, I didn't have pain, tenderness, or rawness. Honestly, if your nipples are "raw" there's probably something wrong with your latch...
breastfeeding shouldn't be this awful painful experience... one of my favorite quotes (from a LC on AskMoxie) is that 'breastfeeding should feel more like making a baby than having a baby'... if it's closer to the latter, you need to seek out help.
Bella didn't have problems latching, but she was humungous (9 lbs, 6 oz) at birth, and bigger babies are often less floppy and more self controlled in those situations.
It's really not this big scary thing... if you read Dr. Sears Breastfeeding Book, he says over and over that breastfeeding is a confidence game. If you think you can do it, that your milk will be OK and that it won't hurt, that's generally the way it will be. If you obsess over pain and discomfort and when milk is there, those negative thoughts really will impact your ability to breastfeed successfully...
good luck!
I am the 99%.
My questions are:
is it really painful? it wasn't for me at all
did it take a long time for you milk to come in after you delivered? nope it happended on day 1
does the pain/ tenderness, "rawness" lessen? it comes and goes for me - never any rawness, but tenderness for sure
did you have problems with latching? none whatsoever
At first, ther were times when it was painful, not at all now.
My milk came in a couple of days after delivery.
The rawness gets better for sure. I only had a problem for thefirst couple of weeks. As for latching, he was great on one side and had some trouble on the other. We just kept at it and now hes doing great. it was a bit hard to get started but is soo worth it!
is it really painful? for me, it was pretty painful for a few weeks. it was only last week (wk5) that i was really able to sit down and breastfeed w/o flinching in pain when she latched (and i have a pretty decent pain tolerance). however, i have to tell you, it gets better!! don't let the pain deter you from such an important decision. pain is temporary and it is a very small sacrifice, all things considered.
did it take a long time for your milk to come in after you delivered? my transitional milk came in on day 3 and i had full pamela anderson boobs the morning of day 4.
does the pain/ tenderness, "rawness" lessen? absolutely!! my nipples are still a little tender, but the pain is about 95% gone.
Did you have problems with latching? to some extent. DD did not seem to like my left boob at first. she would put the nip in her mouth, but not make any attempt to latch. it would take a few minutes before she really decided she wanted it. she rarely had a poor latch though (clamping down on the nipple, etc.). also, that only lasted a couple weeks. it's a smooth operation now.
This is twaddle. I hate to say that of someone else's "experience" but whoever told her this is a big fat liar.
Is it painful: DS had a bad latch (I didn't know it was bad because everyone told me that bf'ing hurt anyway), so it hurt like crazy for 2 weeks. Seriously it was to the point where I was crying through feedings. I went to the LC and 10 minutes later, we had the latch corrected and the feedings no longer hurt. I know a pp said not to bother wasting time with latch issues and just power through, but for me, a half hour appointment with the LC made all the difference in the world and it was completely worth it. It was an easy fix.
My milk came in on day 3, and I had full blown porn star boobs that night! That did hurt a bit, but it wasn't too bad. The pain/tenderness from engorgement goes away in a few days (or at least it did for me), and the pain from the latch went away as soon as the latch was corrected. The "rawness" goes away too.
That's great that you felt an LC helped you. But there isn't any evidence it wouldn't have just gone away on its own about the same time. And how do you explain all the women like me who were told they had perfect latch and it still hurt like hell? By all means give an LC a go, once. But don't spend money hand over fist for weeks trying to "fix t he latch" when it will get better anyway. That was my original point. I am of the view that almost anything is worth trying once.
Sorry I misunderstood what you were saying. I took that part of your post to mean that going to see an LC is a waste of time and as long as the baby was gaining weight and such not to worry about fixing the latch. I was just adding my two cents, not trying to negate your experience or say that you were wrong. It just sounded like you were wary of LC's and I wanted to give an alternate point of view. Sorry about that. I don't think that an LC can help everyone, but my insurance covers the LC visits entirely so it was free for me so I went ahead and saw her.
I understand that many women just have pain in breastfeeding and no matter what they try, and regardless of latch, it hurts. That's actually the reason it took me 10 days to go see the LC, I thought it was supposed to hurt. DH begged me to go to the LC because he hated watching me hurt. I never meant to imply that an LC can help everyone, I just think it's worth a shot to try and see if it's a quick adjustment that might improve the situation. Even if the bad latch would have fixed itself in 2 days time, that's 2 days that I wasn't crying through 10 feedings a day.
In my case, the latch was way off and I was actually trying to get him to latch the wrong way which wasn't helping. You're right, I have no way of knowing if it would have eventually sorted itself out. It may have. For me the difference was night and day with just a few adjustments that I never would have figured out myself. Again, I never meant to imply that everyone can have a pain-free experience due to an LC, I just wanted to share that it worked well for me and I think it's worth a shot to try.