Getting quite nervous

[USAFWife319]

Even before I was pregnant I knew I wanted to breast feed. DH is super supportive about it and encourages me. Being a ftm I've never bf before. I'm worried about the pain. I've known women to stop because it's become too much. Is there anyone who has had a good experience? Little to no pain?

 

[toffee87]

For me the let down hurt more in the first week or so, now for a couple of seconds and then no pain

 

[staralfur]

I did have pain and quite a few problems but I'm still breastfeeding after 28 months, so obviously it wasn't all bad.

I think when you read a forum like this you get a bit of a misrepresentation since people generally only post when they're having issues. Most of my friends in 'real life' didn't have significant issues.

Even if you do run into problems, they're usually pretty short-lived. As long as you prepare yourself and know how to handle whatever your baby/boobs might throw at you, you'll be fine!

Despite our issues, I still think of breastfeeding as a very positive experience for both my LO and I.

 

[Lunachick]

The only pain I've experienced is from engorgement, and a bad latch every now and then. The first time I had engorgement and actually caused me to cry was the first day we brought lo home and we had so many visitors that we skipped a feeding, and I ended up getting so engorged that I think it caused a blocked milk duct. LO was getting extremely frustrated on the boob so I had a feeling she wasn't getting any milk. So I tried pumping with no luck. I ended up crying over the pain and frustration. Then after I calmed down, I tried hand expressing into lo's mouth and was successful. No problems since then. I don't even have dry/cracked nipples and I'm not using nipple cream.

 

[irish_cob]

I haven't had any pain, haven't needed nipple cream, haven't had scabbed or bleeding nipples, at the beginning I could feel the letdown but it wasn't painful, more tingly. I only managed to bf my first daughter for 5 weeks most of which was with nipple shields so I was surprised how easy it was this time round. I feel like I say it over and over again but the idea that bfing has to be painful is wrong. It shouldn't be. I've heard people come out with alsorts to justify it but actually no it shouldn't be painful at all, it means something isn't quite right. However there are so few highly trained experienced feeding supporters around it's hard to find someone easily to get the help you need. Midwives and hv's often aren't that trained or experienced in all the technicalities of bfing, you need someone with proper experience when you encounter a problem to get you back on track before it gets to the point of pain and bleeding nipples!

 

[Snufflepop]

For me once the initial engorgement stage passed it was fine, no pain at all! Think positive, it doesn't have to hurt .

 

[cflower04]

Breastfeeding was relatively ok for me too! Never experienced cracked or bleeding nipples but I did get a small blister at 4 weeks but it was fine before that!

 

[Rachie004]

Breastfeeding has straight foward for me too. No pain, no cracked/bleeding nipples, no need for nipple shields or creams, no pumping, no formula etc.

Have faith and confidence in yourself that this is what your body is designed and capable of. The first couple of weeks where LO cluster feeds can be wearing psychologically but you need to accept that it's NORMAL, you do/will have enough milk and it's just the baby's way of regulating your supply.

Good luck

 

[smallhelen]

The first couple of months weren't entirely pain-free - lo had a couple of latching issues, and I had sore nipples. But I just gritted my teeth and got on with it, and now things are fine. It is so much easier to just get a boob out to feed than it is to get a bottle ready (although he does have one bottle of expressed milk every day to get ready for me going back to work), and it the loveliest feeling when they smile up at you when they are feeding

 

[lisa1980]

I had no pain. It was a bit uncomfortable initially but not painful.

I had a very smooth BF journey. No mastitis, decent latch. Some cracked nipples early on but it soon settled.

The hardest part for me was the initial cluster feeding. As a PP said, it can be psychologically exhausting but as long as you know it's totally normal and necessary for them to feed very often at first and it doesn't mean you don't have enough milk then it's easier to deal with and it soon passes.

Once established I found BF so much easier than bottle feeding. I'm really hoping for an easy ride this time too!

 

[HBGirl]

None at all, ever.