i havent read through the entire thred so i dont know if its been asked already or even if its a daft question lol one of the reasons i stopped breastfeeding last time was because my nipples were in agony and kept cracking it was so painful and i never had anyone to ask before about what to do is there anything that can be used to help with that? do breast shields really work? or will the soreness go away on its own eventually? x
I had this too, but like Dragonfly suggested, Lansinoh really, really helped. I also had my son's latch checked by several people (midwife, health visitor, lactation consultant) and once we improved his positioning they improved incredibly quickly. I spent a lot of time sitting naked from the waist up to get air on my boobs, which I think also helped them heal (and provided my darling husband with no end of amusement!
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The one thing I would suggest to all mums wanting to breastfeed is to ask as many questions as you can, and above all - have faith in yourself and what your body can do. At one point, I had all but given up, and it was only after calling the La Leche League in tears one evening that I was given the encouragement and support I needed to carry on; honestly, having someone on the end of the phone telling me I was doing a great job, and that everything was going to be fine, meant the absolute world to me.
I'm really looking forward to breastfeeding my second child too