New and BTDT mamas: How's nursing going?

[mouso]

Just wondering how everyone's babe is doing.

I had blisters in the hours after he was born but not as bad as the first time so I am waiting for them to heal.
DS has a shallow latch so I am fighting with that and with the most engorgement I have ever felt. It is absolutely insane. I finally had to pump a little today and got about 5 ounces in 4 minutes. I could have filled 3 bottles but don't want to encourage my oversupply issues. And I already have a plugged duct- so I am taking lecithin every day.

Anyway, I thought since I nursed DD for 31 months and we officially weaned about 2 weeks ago that my body would just sort of pick it back up. So although it's still been easier this time I am surprised at how hard it's been.

One awesome thing is we are nursing all night in the side-lying position- it took almost 2 months with DD to be able to nurse like that- it is so much more restful and I'm so happy I am getting rest.

So how are you all doing? Easy? Hard? Any tips to share with the new mamas?

Here's my tip: If you have any issues with nipple pain I would have your doc call in a prescription to a pharmacy that does compounding for APNO (All-Purpose Nipple Ointment). I am using mine already and it was awesome with DD when we had so many issues and battled thrush.
It is worth every penny.

[saoirse2007]

wicked painful cracked nipples!!!!!

I can barely stand it...I have some cream called Jack Newmans nipple cream...

I don't think i breastfed ds properly when he was a babe...we had no help ...i was in serious pain for 6 weeks...i had to sit on my hands and bite a face cloth while dh latched ds on!!!

i am in a more urban setting this time around and i hope i will get the help i need...i dread nursing and avoid dd altogether sometimes

i nursed ds until he was almost 2 1/2 ...i cut him off when i was around 5 mos pg because of the pain....he wants back on...but i need to get pain free nursing with dd first.

is anyone ever pain free with a newborn...??

[Mamatoabunch]

I was nursing Innish and Eiley so no pain here adding Finnian into the mix. I do not have a full milk supply due to a breast reduction before I had babies. I nurse using a nursing supplementor w/ donated milk, most of my freezer is filled w/ it I did wean Eiley from the supplementor a few days after Finnian was born and that went surprisingy well. Finnian still looks wee bit jaundice, but he is nursing very well and 5oz from birth weight, overall it is just hard learning to sit so much on my butt again, LOL. Nursing Innish, but only a few minutes in his bed in the evening.

Discomfort nursing in the beginning is normal, but cracked nipples is not. Are you latching baby w/ a wide open mouth? Make sure you bring baby to your breast, not breast to baby's mouth.

[Talula Fairie]

Honestly, it's not going very well. You'd think having nursed two babies (extended, even) I'd be a pro by now but not really. I have flat nipples, large breasts that sag a bit and face away from eachother (making it hard to position the baby right). I also have oversupply and overactive letdown. Wasn't a problem with my last baby but it was a nightmare with the first and this time it's just as bad if not worse.

I had to resort to using nipple shields. If I don't use them, my breasts turn into something that resembles raw meat. Last night we lost the shield and it was the longest night of my life. I spent most of it literally screaming and bawling from the pain. My good friend ran to Target as soon as they opened to get more (we only had one becuase we were not sure if she'd take it).

*sigh* I got #1 off the shields eventually (and she wouldn't even latch without them) I'm sure I can do the same with this one esp since she's more willing to latch. But she curls her lips and sucks her tounge weird. She also pummels me with her arms when she gets fussy...meh.

I forgot how grueling the newborn period is.

[Amanda Williams]

So far, so good here.
The first few days were rough... I think they always are while baby figures latching on out. But, now my little guy is doing great! We have been nursing in the side lying position since day one also and I remember that taking weeks with my girls. I feel like I am sleeping all night because I am only up twice to change his diaper, he hardly poops at night! :

[Talula Fairie]

I haven't slept more than 2 hours at a time (actually, probably more like an hour and a half) since this baby was born. She tends to be up ALL FREAKING NIGHT, does not side lie, and has at least 10 diapers a night. At least.

OH! And didimention? She will only sleep in a sling or on top of me, not next to me. Which makes laying down oh so easy. Last night my vaj hurt so bad it felt like I was sitting on sandpaper. This period has been pretty brutal.

[GhostRose]

Going well here

She's got a great latch, far better than DS ever had, so the nipple pain is minimal. I have to work to keep my supply up, but she's back up to her birth weight, so she's getting enough. I'm able to nurse her in bed at night too, which I couldn't do with DS because we had a crappy, saggy bed. Its wonderful!

[JoyfamMama]

We're finally getting the hang of it. The first several days were ROUGH! I couldn't get him to latch on the left side, no matter what I did. It's my bigger side, and the nipple just doesn't "poke out" for him, it just kinda stays melted with the areola. Because of that, I was nursing excusively on the right side, just to ward off the crazy nurses and drs who were starting to really pressure me to supplement. (Yes, he had lost 14 oz in 36 hours, but they also should have sent in the LC a LOT sooner, too! I was way too tired and in pain to even think about "requesting" her :P)

She helped a lot, and now we are doing much, much better! He's soooo cute when he opens his mouth like a baby birdie...Can you tell I'm in love??

[Mamabeakley]

I'm a bit further in than a lot of you - DD is 1 month today! And is nursing great

What I noticed this time was how engorgement teaches my babies to slurp the nipple - ugh! I get so huge - nipple is like the same diameter as my little baby's mouth for about a week. DS1 cried & wouldn't latch for 30 minutes or so during that period. DS2 was calmer about it, and DD didn't really seem to mind at all - but afterwards all 3 of them slurped me in like spagetti - ouch!

It's getting better now w/DD.

[Abraisme]

This time nursing is going much better than with DS.. I still have what I would call normal nipple soreness, but NOTHING like with my first..

My son was extremely tongue tied when he was born. So, while he was able to eat just fine he pretty much tore my nipples off from improper latch. They are permanently scarred where they had cracked and separated. It felt like he was grinding glass into my nipples every time he nursed for 6 full weeks..

This time I knew to check Olivine's tongue as soon as she was born. We had her into the pediatrician by day 3 to get her tongue fixed. It has made a world of difference! Yah!! I'm so happy to just have normal nursing pain.. ha ha..

Also I'm pumping my extra milk to donate to another baby in need. This has really helped with engorgement, as I'm able to relieve the tension if I get too full.

Keep with it mama's, it's such a short time to be in pain to give your baby the best!

[puddleduck]

dd is 4 days old today and all she does is eat, like every 45 minutes. my nipples are a bit chewed, i have to try and shove as much in her mouth as possible otherwise she will just suck my nipple into a sore mess. Latching on hurts and for about the first 30 seconds or so, then its kinda ok, so i think i'm getting there. I just think its little babies, little mouths, big nipples! Milk came in yesterday but they seem to have calmed down a little now. Was definatley easier last time round when i was tandam nursing ds1 & ds2 as when i felt full i could coax the toddler into having lots of milk.
Part of me is temped to use a paci as it means i might get more sleep but will give it a few weeks yet before i go down that route.

[Koalamom]

I thought breastfeeding would be the same since I nursed my dd till 2, but it if a bit different. I do find it easier since I have already done it but still getting used to.

With dd, I had no nipple isses, and no engourgement, Perftect and easy, but did have supply issues at first. We dealt with thrush alot, and I didn't realized that was what it was.

This time with ds, I still have no nipple issues, but oh did I have terrible engourgement. I begged my weaned dd to nurse, but she has forgotten how to nurse. And I gave my pump away, so I had to sweat it out. Took 3 painful long days. It felt like I would be in pain forever!!!!!
And I have so much milk after over 3 weeks of nursing, and ds is gaing so much weight. I cannot find pads that work for my letdown. I think that is the only thing I can't stand about breast feeding- being all covered with milk, having to change my clothes many times a day, and my childs face being all crusty from my milk spray.

Oh but night nursing is going great. We are co sleeping (2 kids in the same actually), and side nursing, and I get a great nights sleep, and I just keep a boob out, and let baby get to it. I trust his latch and don't ever check to see if he is nursing right, I just can feel if it is a good latch.

[LilWin]

No problems so far! I could tell DS2 had to get the hang of it because he wouldn't open his mouth wide enough and let go again after a few seconds, but at one point he suddenly got it and doesn't want to stop nursing since. Nursing DS1 I somehow messed up that moment when he got bigger where they let go themselves and I always had to be the one who ended the session (usually after enduring some annoying suckling for minutes), but this babe is fresh so he lets go when he's had enough. So easy!

[Jilian]

Painful! But I expected it. With both of the boys I had cracked and blistered nips so I was prepared this time. Earth Mama Angel Baby natural nipple butter is the best stuff in the world! It has helped a lot. My milk came in the day after the baby was born and now I'm dealing with the engorgement but it isn't as painful as the last 2 times. I'm hoping my blisters heal soon so latching isn't so painful. Other than that the baby is an awesome nurser and very content.

[Onemagicmummy]

Henrietta latched on sometime in the first hour after birth, latched like a pro and nursed away. the first two days were horrid, i just did not want to feed her as feeding her made the after pains start and they were hediously painfull, crippling, had me sobbing and crying in pain, i could hardly breath it was so painfull, but i kept on going, forming my self to feed Henrietta, but i had to cut Evie off for a couple of days.

once the pains died down and my milk came in its been great. some nipple pain if she latches wrong or im not paying attention but all in all it going fabby, evie is happy too as she gets to have more milk than shes had over past few months, but im getting a bit tired of her wanting to nurse constantly, feeding them together is just to much for me and if i let her evie will nurse more than henrietta. not happening.

Kiz

[Quickbeam]

Good here. I have oversupply and a pretty strong letdown, but I managed it with DS and I have read and planned for it this time around. I don't have pain, but at first nursing was a pretty involved production. I had to take her off at letdown, spray milk into a towel or the tub, and then get her back on. Also, she compensates for the flow by tending to have a shallow latch, so I've kept an eye on the latch and positioning.

I had plugged ducts the first week and aches and a low fever, but DS (age 2.5) worked out the plugs and now I'm fine. Tandem nursing is rather draining, though. I'm ravenously hungry all the time and pretty tired, too.

All in all it's going great.

[wombatclay]

Tor has a good latch and I'm expecting my milk soon (better be soon, he's getting a bit yellow and not making as many dipes as I'd like!) but I do have an ongoing issue with my left nipple.

I got coxsackie virus back in October and one of the sores formed on my left nipple. I was tandeming dd1 and dd2 at that point and the sore eventually turned into a sort of fissure wraping around the nipple (if it were a clock it would be a hairline crack wrapping from 9 to 12 to 3 on the clock face). I tried all sorts of things to heal it, but it would always come back, crack open, bleed, and just be insanely painful during nursing.

Well, both girls weaned during this pregnancy and the nipple healed. I thought maybe it was healed for good but apprently no such luck. In just the last day and a half the fissure has reopened and started to bleed. Of course my milk isn't in yet so Tor just wants to nurse and nurse and nurse and it's killing me. I'm forcing myself to nurse on that side too but it's hard. The pain on latching is crazy and even after a minute or two when the sensation becomes less intense it's still pretty bad.

I need to find some way to heal this once and for all, but I'm wondering if a shield might help? Or would it just add to my problems? I am an oversupply mama anyway and my kiddos always take a while to adjust to the newborn "fire hose" breastfeeding experience while I take a while to find the right fore/hind milk balance for them...

But other than the fissure and the knowledge that I'll be engorged soon... things are good!

[sunshynbaby]

My nipples are real sore, but not cracked like they were in the first days. He has a wet dipe about every hour and plenty of mustard seedy poops, so I think he's getting enough. He wants to nurse hourly except at night (he'll go 2-4 hours then). Sometimes that is accompanied by extreme cranky baby that has ME crying by the end of the day, and some days he sleeps in between. Other than that, I'm having trouble latching him on to my right side. He starts sucking on one arm or the other. I have to restrain both arms, which leaves me with no free hands to position my boob or his head. I can finally wear my brest friend without pain, and it is helping with the right side issues.

[Mamatoabunch]

Originally Posted by sunshynbaby

Other than that, I'm having trouble latching him on to my right side. He starts sucking on one arm or the other. I have to restrain both arms, which leaves me with no free hands to position my boob or his head. I can finally wear my brest friend without pain, and it is helping with the right side issues.

Try swaddling or a blanket wrapped from front to back around arms to handle the crazy baby arm thing.

[saoirse2007]

i had trouble bonding with ds because i dreaded nursing him...i started to avoid him even when not nursing...
i have started going down the same path with this baby...I hope I can get into the bf clinic next friday...
the lll here only meets once a month...the public health nurse might come by next week...i really could use some one on one help!

my right nipple is bleeding...is it common for huge busted (36DDD) now a 38I....girl to have trouble nursing? dd seems to let go of the suction and let my boob slide out a little....arghhh