You’ve seen the breastfeeding posters with this beautiful woman with beautiful breasts feeding this cute as can be chubby baby in its diaper with smiles all around. Breastfeeding is really not this glamorous! Don’t get me wrong, it is a wonderful thing, but in this post I want to warn you about the not so beautiful parts about it. I am in no way trying to dissuade you from nursing your baby, I just want to inform you so that you are not caught off guard by something and quit too early because of it.
Here’s more the reality of it in the beginning at least. A mom in baggy frumpy clothes because she doesn’t want to keep wearing her maternity clothes because she is not pregnant anymore, but she can’t even get her pre-pregnancy jeans past her thighs. So tired that she would pay a thousand dollars for just 6 straight hours of sleep. Still very sore from giving birth or worse still with stitches or staples across her belly from the cesarean. Nursing this tiny, beautiful, demanding newborn who eats, sleeps and poops and then eats some more. She is completely drained emotionally and physically and cries because she is so happy, then cries because she is so tired, then cries for absolutely no reason at all.
Now obviously this is not how it is for every woman and I am being a bit dramatic, but the point I am trying to convey is especially the first couple of weeks breastfeeding can be very hard. I have nursed 4 babies for 12 months or more each, once weaning one child in August and giving birth 4 months later in December and starting all over again. 4 out of 4 times it hurt! I thought sure this last time with them being so close together that my nipples would still be used to it, but it still hurt. With some of them my nipples were so sore and chapped that they were cracked and bleeding and when your baby nurses on them it’s more of an excruciating grimace as they are latching on then a smile. After latch the pain subsides so don’t worry. 4 out of 4 times I have gotten mastitis too. I guess it’s a genetic thing because my mom always got it too. If this happens to you get antibiotics and quickly. It hurts to nurse a baby with mastitis, but it is the best way to get relief from it too. The breastfeeding consultants would say to me that if it hurt that meant the baby wasn’t latching on right, then when I spoke with my doctor (who has 4 kids as well) she said it hurt every time. So don’t worry that you are doing it wrong if it is painful. It is good to have someone help you and make sure that the baby is getting a good latch, but this is new to your nipples and they need some time to adjust so give it to them.
Another thing is those first few days nursing can cause contractions. Contractions!! But I’ve already had the baby, I thought I was done with contractions! Nursing helps your uterus contract back to its normal size. In my experience it was not so bad with the first baby, but I was told it would get worse the more you have and have found that to be true, so be prepared.
Engorgement is another problem. Until your breasts figure out how much they need to make you may suffer from engorgement. Your breasts may get so full that you feel like they are going to burst! You can combat this by nursing often, but then you have the problem with the sore chapped nipples. Another way to combat this is pumping, which I like to do while I’m producing a lot of milk at first so I can get some stored in the freezer for later use. Another thing I like to do is just take a nice hot shower and express some of the milk by hand. The problem with pumping too much is your breasts will keep up with demand, which if you are planning on going back to work is a great thing, but if you are not, may just prolong the problem. If your breasts do get engorged though try to do what you can to relieve them because this can make them more prone to mastitis.
Another thing that might bother some women is you may have lop-sided boobs! The baby nurses more from one than the other or something and you’ve got one huge boob and the other not as huge. Me personally, I just nursed from one side at a time. I didn’t like the switching back and forth every 10 minutes. That just made my nipples more sore. I would nurse from one side then the next feeding session nurse from the other. So I always had lop-sided boobs.
Ok, do I have you thoroughly scared. As with all things these are only for a season. You and the baby will get into a routine, your body and hormones will heal and regulate, the baby will start sleeping more and breastfeeding will get easier and will not be painful at all. For me this lasted usually 1-2 weeks though with baby number 2 I was stressed out and trying to adjust and it took nearly 4 weeks to get settled into breastfeeding. What I want to say to you is don’t give up! It will get much easier with a little time. I have seen several new moms nurse for about 1-2 weeks then give up when they probably would have only had to hang on for about one more week and things would have been fine! Remember: Be Determined! Before you know it you and your baby will be like the poster.
I welcome comments and questions that could help you or other women as they begin this wonderful journey!
Succeed when you breastfeed 