Breastfeeding question

I have always believed that 'breast is best' and was really looking forward to breastfeeding my newborn daughter. However, my breasts are really swollen and full and my nipples appear to have flattened. This is making it uncomfortable for me, and difficult for my baby to latch on to my breast to feed. Has anyone else suffered from this problem ? Please tell me it will not last too long ! What can I do ? I have heard that there are products available to draw out nipples – has anyone tried them ? Any help would be greatly appreciated !

Hi,

I had my daughter in September, she's 4 months now and exclusivly breast fed but I really struggled at the beggining.  The midwives were fantastic at helping me at home and I saw a feeding counseller several times so make use of them if you have one in your area.  I found when my milk came in my boobs were so huge and painfull it was hard for baby to latch on so I was told to express a little before putting baby on to help reduce the engorgement and it also helps to pull your nipples out.  you can hand express or use a pump.  I have a tommee tipee hand pump which is fab, really easy to use and I can express several ounces quite quickly.  Try doing that for a few days till the engorgememnt settles down.

I found it really hurt at the begining but Lansinoh cream is fab, it really helps to soothe sore and cracked nipples.   It gets easier and comfier as you both get better at it and by 3 weeks I found we'd both got the hang of it and I could multi task!  (I'm feeding my daughter while I type)

Good luck,

Julie D - I hope you found the advice you were looking for! I've just spotted this post and am suprised there weren't more responses. Please let us know how you got on! xx

 Ladies - can you think of a better area for this thread? I'm sure it's an issue that many women have faced and I hope they can find some support somewhere on the forums.

 For anyone who is experiencing similar difficulties, this might be of help: 

 http://www.thinkbaby.co.uk/news/article/mps/uan/2052  

Hello!

My 6 month old has been exclusively BF until we started weaning 3 weeks ago. The first 6 weeks were pretty painful as he struggled to latch when my boobs were full (being a JJ cup doesn't help and he's also got a slight tongue tie). I just wanted to echo Gem's post;  Lansinoh was my very best friend for the first few weeks, and expressing helped too. For anyone out there struggling, if you really do believe in BF and think you'll regret it if you switch then do persevere, it really does get easier. You'll never regret having stuck with BF, and the long term health benefits for not just your baby but you too are worth bearing in mind (article on BBC News Health section yesterday mentioning significant reduced risk of heart disease & stroke - two of the UKs biggest killers).

Good Luck with everything!