I have no advice here, I’m sorry, but that made me laugh loud enough to startle the dog.
Time and a few callouses are all you need. Then you get to look forward to the teeth. :eek:
Yes - this is exactly the issue I had with Dweezil. Open mouth a fraction, SLUURRRRPPP the nipple into place. Hurt like hell - though usually just for a second or so. Once things were “in place” the pain would let up.
I did have him checked to make sure he didn’t have oral thrush, even tho I had no boobinal symptoms of it aside from the latching-on pain.
IIRC, the discomfort stopped by about the 6th week. Came back briefly about 7 weeks but it turned out I had a small abscess or something right by the nipple. Once that resolved, there was no further pain.
My daughter is 20 (years, not months) but I remember well how much it hurt to nurse in the beginning. At one point my right nipple developed a crack right where the nipple meets the aereola, that was…what’s the word…uncomfortable.
When that happened I bought a big tub of lanolin on the advice of my mother and that really brought me some relief. The other advice I got was to go braless as often as possible to let the girls breath and toughen up a bit.
For me the pain didn’t last long while I was nursing, hurt like a bitch for the first minute but then slacked off. And overall only lasted a few weeks while I got used to it.
Sure, nursing doesn’t hurt once you’re toughened up and used to it but it sure can in the beginning. I’m sorry you’re not getting better advice from La Leche League.
Seconding Sam I Am’s suggestion to try different positions. My youngest has been my most champion nurser, but, as the lactation nurse put it, he could suck the paint right off the wall. Using the normal cradle hold, it was difficult to get him into the proper position before he started to suck the paint right off of ME. Instead, I’d nurse him laying down, which seemed to get him in the right position.
Also, even though it’s only been a couple days, don’t rule out mastitis! That’s where the most painful nursing came from, for me. I toughed it out with my second for almost a week, knowing that there was a painful period right after the baby was born. Sheesh, I should have been awarded a medal for all the pain I took! :smack: Anyway, if you feel feverish or nauseous, call the doc and get on antibiotics right away.
–Ellen, still nursing her 2-year-old
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source
un·com·fort·a·ble Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[uhn-kuhmf-tuh-buhl, -kuhm-fer-tuh-buhl] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–adjective 1. causing discomfort or distress; painful; irritating.
2. in a state of discomfort; uneasy; conscious of stress or strain.
3. hurts like hell
I have no advice but this kind of shit pisses me right off. Why can’t they be honest and say it might hurt, keep at it, it’ll get better (in most cases). This kind of stuff just misleads women into thinking somehow THEY are doing something wrong.
Grr.
good luck, Sarahfeena.
Yes, it hurts, but it goes away after a few weeks. Yes, that’s a very long few weeks. You have my sympathies.
My son sucked so hard he cracked my nipple, and then when the barely-a-week-old baby spit up blood, we frantically drove to the ER. The ER was equally concerned, since the doctor was screaming “Forget the paperwork, get that baby back here!” to the admit nurse.
Sure enough, it was just a cracked nipple. I found going topless around the house(with a towel handy to mop up letdown milk) helped a lot. I’ve also heard that making a cup of tea, and putting the (cooled) steeped tea bags on your nipples can help.
With my daughter, she had problems latching on to my inverted left nipple, but both kids are now teenagers, healthy and full of vim and vigor. It will get better.
I hadn’t ever heard of Boppy until I had Jimmy in 2004. Matthew was born in 1994, so maybe they weren’t around or they weren’t in Canada. That thing was a freakin’ lifesaver.
I didn’t remember the pain while nursing Matthew, so when I wanted to strangle the baby rather than nurse him I went looking for help among my Nurse-type friends. I was told it just takes a bit of time to develop the Rhino Nipples of Doom. That’s a direct quote from the lovely Lucretia.
Because that would somehow give people the impression that breastfeeding is not all puppies and roses.
Breastfeeding is great. It’s cheap, it’s convienent, it’s healthy, it’s sanitary. Its the best diet I’ve ever been on - hands down.
It can also be a real pain in the tit to pull off - literally. Which is why thousands of women who don’t have problems latching or producing milk don’t manage to breastfeed for more than a few weeks. And the LLL seems to be primarily made up of people who can’t get it through their heads that saying “oh, yeah, don’t worry - that happens a lot - it will take a few weeks, but your nipples will toughen up. In the meantime, lanolin is very helpful - and you might want to avoid the chafing of a shirt” is actually ENCOURAGING - and is not “dissing” breastfeeding. “A few weeks? - I was just pregnant for what seemed liked three years. I can put up with sore nipples for a few weeks.”
That’s exactly right. I can stand anything if I know it will get better. It seems crazy that they don’t just say so, so new moms don’t get discouraged.
And it will get better.
For me it was only about two weeks of pain - then things got better, much better.
I think it’s also helpful to get the word out that nursing takes some practice. Even me, The Mother Who Never Stops Nursing, took a little while to get the hang of it this last time. After all, the last thing I nursed was a 2-year-old (my now 9-year-old son). When my last baby was born, I was unconsciously thinking he’d behave like a 2-year-old at the breast. Um, no. Baby’s never done it before and although natural and to a small degree instinctual, it takes a little practice on the part of mother and baby to get everybody used to it!
It’s really a shame that this isn’t stressed by LLL. At meetings, you get a simulation of what doubtless went on throughout human history – a new nursing mom would be sitting among her mother, aunts, cousins, sisters, all of whom had nursed and could offer advice and tips, and observe and see where adjustments need to be made. It’s really hard to do that online or over the phone.
As Dangerosa says, it can be work and it does take some time, but it’s not insurmountable work and it’s nothing most women can’t do with some practice. View it as a herculean task and it’s no wonder some women fail. I just wish there was a better way to empower and help those who have difficulties.