Grit, rest (as often as you can early on), and knowing it will eventually be 2nd nature. The first 10 weeks of breastfeeding my first was really really tough for me. Every time she attached my feet would sweat & I had to grit my teeth to get through the first 30 seconds of pain. It didn't help she was not so good at staying attached so we went through the process multiple times with each feed early on ouch ouch ouch it makes me shiver just thinking about it! Around 12 weeks the pain had gone & I really got to enjoy feeding and did so for around 10 months. I stopped because I fell preg with nbr 2 - breastfeeding round 2 was so much easier, it still hurt early on, and again with bub 3, it still hurt but knowing it was only going to be temporary was a savior. My advice is to get as much rest as you can early on as its great for your supply, and means you can face the pain more easily.

I had a c-section with my first child. He had a VERY difficult time latching and I was clueless on how to latch him on.

While the time lapse from when he was born & first nursed may have contributed to our difficult BF start, it was fortunate that I was in the hospital for 4 days because the Lactation Consultants helped me a great deal.

I called for help one day, after 1 hour not being able to latch screaming baby on, they finally showed up when I had already started feeding formula to him and still crying in the chair because I felt like a failure, but they got me to pump and showed me that the 1/2 ounce from each side was actually a full meal for my newborn.

I pumped and continued trying to BF at home, even though I was latching him on wrong and therefore in a great deal of pain (like a knife stabbing me each time he latched). I'm very bad at asking for help, but finally called the Lactation Consultant from the hospital and found out they had weekly meetings for moms with newborns. I went, she showed me a few more times how to properly latch and eventually after 3-4 weeks of excruciating pain, we both finally got the hang of it and it turned into an EASY process by 6 weeks.

I can't express how thankful I am that I didn't give up, even when everyone wsa telling me to just give up and switch to formula, because I ended up studying the properties of breastmilk compared to formula about 2yrs later and let's just say that breastmilk has over 300 components which are tailored made for each of our children at each changing stage, whereas formula has about 30 components that don't change at all.

Stick with it, don't be shy and ASK FOR HELP - there are A LOT of resources out there, but you have to find them, they can't find you.

And CONGRATULATIONS!!

Erika

I believe that determination to get through the first few weeks is key! I had a c-section and was told that I might not be able to BF. I was sure that I was going too! It was a longer process than normal and my son had some latching issues which made it reallly painful but my sister bought me a tube of NIPSTICK BREASTFEEDING SALVE and it worked immediately! I used it all up in the first week-lol! Everyone is different but personnally perseverance is key and a good nipple butter!

It would have helped a lot if anyone had warned me what it actually felt like when the baby latches on. I'd read all the leaflets they shower you with, and various baby manuals, but somehow I still had the impression that it was... well, sucking. I was expecting little soft lips and a little warm tongue, and when the midwife put the baby on my breast, still on the delivery table right after the last stitch had been tied off, and two very bony little gums clamped down on my breast, I felt as though I'd just shoved my nipple into a Tom-and-Jerry mousetrap! Fortunately, LO knew exactly what she was doing - latched on like a magnetic coupling and sucked like a four-inch sludge pump - because I hadn't a clue. The other thing nobody had told me was that not all babies like to feed in the position that the illustrations show: all that 'tum to Mum, nipple to nose' stuff doesn't necessarily work. LO liked and still likes to feed lying on her back across my lap, and instead of doing that great big gape the diagrams show, she opens her mouth about a centimetre, and sucks in as much breast as she wants!

what would you prefer?

A. a plate of food
or
B. a handful of vitamin tablets

bet I know what you'd choose - isn't is a similar choice between bf and ff?


I was determined to bf because I knew about all the benefits to baby's and mums.

I joined my local bf support group - mums with a problem one week would be doing great the next - so I had the confidence I'd get through tough times

I used 'bump bands' (Asda, New Look etc) to hide my tummy from the world (no one actually sees your boobs anyway)

WARNING ff is harder work than bf in the long run - all the sterilising and making up bottles is a bit of a shock to the system - i stopped bf my first at 5 months when I returned to work and couldn't believe how much of a palava it was - didn't make the same mistake 2nd time around.

we found the first few days painful, mainly because the midwives allowed me to believe that after 3 hours of trying to feed that my little boy was still hungry (!)... bleeding nipples followed. without a whole heap of nipple cream i probably would have given up, and the nipple cover things (look ridiculous so don't wear them out of the house) to relieve the chaffing. cor they helped!

Lansinoh has made breastfeeding much more bearable for me. Also varying positions has helped with the cracked nipples. Seeing that my little boy is putting on weight and knowing that it is all down to me and my booby milk

Not forgetting the fact that breastfeeding is going to give me a helping hand in losing the baby weight!!

Nipple shields!

after a c-section, baby not latching on properly, despite midwifes saying it was ok, i had very badly cracked nipples, mastitis. Nipple shields saved us!!!they made things easier and helped relieve me.

Nipple shields for me have been a GODSEND!

My nipples are flat/inverted and LO has a hard time drawing them out - I can pinch them and they will come out a bit but they soon revert and it causes some huge frustration (and grizzling) for baby and from me.

It's been really handy, with the nipple shields I can just have Lachie laid in front of me on the pillow and he will lean in and latch on himself sometimes, and properly too! Nothing wrong with his feeding technique, just the way my nipples are

xx Definitely not wanting to give these shields up hehe

Something my sister told me probably the most valuable with my firstborn. She said give it 6 weeks. She said it was like riding a bike or learning a foreign language. You'd give yourself at least 6 weeks to get a grasp on a foreign language or to find your balance and really excel. My first was goal was 6 weeks and by 6 weeks I had forgotten that was even my goal and it just became a normal thing for us.