For those who have nursed through a pregnancy...

[BanditaMamacita]

Couple different questions First of all, do the sore nipples continue after delivery? I'm a lil worried I won't be able to tell the difference between my current sore pregnancy nipples and nipples that are sore due to a bad latch. Secondly, is it normal for them to get even MORE sore as D-Day approaches? The last couple days, my breats have been wildly sore and my nipples are way more sensitive than usual... and it's usually pretty bad. Thirdly, I've read mixed info about whether or not I need to be careful about nursing my toddler until my milk comes in after delivery. Any thoughts/info? And lastly, do you think that nursing affected your labor and delivery? Thanks, guys!

[sweetpea_119]

I don't remember having sore nipples after giving birth & nursing the new baby alongside my older DS, but I know that the soreness is definitely different in that you'll be able to see cracks/bleeding if the latch is really too terribly off...

As for having sore nipples while pregnant, I think we all get it differently. Mine is worst in the beginning, ramps up, and then pretty much goes away, but I know some say it's terrible the whole time & some just at the end.

You should be able to continue to nurse your toddler and baby both before and after the milk comes in after giving birth Just make sure that if you're just nursing one at a time, you let the newbie in first with toddler following

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/tandem/li...gpregnant.html

[etsdtm99]

I had sore nipples during pregnancy.. it went away completely after delivery (no discomfort first time i nursed new baby) and then came back from bad latch issues after a couple days.. It did still feel strange, though not as painful, nursing my older child .. but not the newborn..

I had a hospital birth and did not nurse while i was in the hospital, by the time i came home my milk was in and i was super engorged .. I would still nurse the baby first , and then my DD, but i had plenty of milk. - i nursed the baby first because he was more impatient about waiting for a letdown.. Had my milk not been in i would have nursed my toddler to help my milk come in faster - more stimulation = more milk .. I would not assume that the toddler would take all the colostrum from the baby..

i do not think nursing effected my l&d..

[Turquesa]

Originally Posted by BanditaMamacita

Couple different questions First of all, do the sore nipples continue after delivery?

It depends. There are some confounding factors that can cause sore muscles, such as thrush infections or a poor latch. But I'm not sure that nursing through pregnancy causes sore nipples.

With DD, I had sore nipples due to thrush AND a bad latch. I nursed her through my second pregnancy. When DS was born, the soreness subsided, and I didn't have any problems.

In my experience, I felt the soreness deeper in the breast when I was pregnant. After having DD, it was more concentrated in the nipples.

Originally Posted by BanditaMamacita

Secondly, is it normal for them to get even MORE sore as D-Day approaches? The last couple days, my breats have been wildly sore and my nipples are way more sensitive than usual... and it's usually pretty bad.

I don't know if it's common, but this certainly happened to me!

Originally Posted by BanditaMamacita

Thirdly, I've read mixed info about whether or not I need to be careful about nursing my toddler until my milk comes in after delivery. Any thoughts/info?

Sorry I can't be much help here. I've never heard this... Your tot *may* be frustrated with there only being colostrum, but I've never heard of this being harmful.

[/QUOTE] And lastly, do you think that nursing affected your labor and delivery? Thanks, guys![/QUOTE]

Yes, but for the better. While DS was nursing for his first time, DD came up and helped herself to the other one. It was kind of special, like uncorking a bottle of champagne to celebrate. Otherwise, no.

[LiLStar]

I didn't have any soreness whatsoever after my 2nd was born. it was awesome! i don't think it affected labor at all. i went later than the first time even.

[Kidzaplenty]

[meganmarie]

Do the sore nipples continue after delivery?

I don't remember sore nipples during pg. I do remember not enjoying nursing - I think it felt uncomfortable - but after baby #2 came nursing felt normal again.

Secondly, is it normal for them to get even MORE sore as D-Day approaches?

Didn't happen to me but wouldn't surprise me. Every body is different.

I've read mixed info about whether or not I need to be careful about nursing my toddler until my milk comes in after delivery. Any thoughts/info?

No, I think as long as baby gets a chance to nurse fully first, there is no reason I know of (and I did a LOT of reading on the topic at the time) to avoid nursing both.

After I delivered in the hospital, my parents brought our DS in to see us. I made sure Auntie H was holding baby - NOT ME. His attention was all on me, he was happy to see me and we snuggled in the hospital bed and he nursed. This was perhaps 5 hours after birth? THEN we brought him over to see his new sister across the room. And he was happy to meet her. (To this day they are good friends.)

As long as you've gotten this far tandem nursing, you now have the gift of being able to show your toddler that mom is still there for him, even with a new baby. My baby and toddler often nursed side by side. I really found it helpful in easing the transition.

And lastly, do you think that nursing affected your labor and delivery?

I have a picture of me breastfeeding my toddler in the morning, during early labor, before we went to the hospital. Who knows, maybe the extra nipple stimulation was helpful! But otherwise, no.

I do think having a toddler affected my labor though! My cx were very irregular, fits and starts, just couldn't get in gear. Until my babysitter took my son out of the house - then, in hindsight, it seemed like a distraction was lifted from me. The poky labor turned into regular labor and we headed to the hospital shortly after.

[MammaG]

I don't remember being more sore towards the end, but as pps have said, everyone is different. This time, I'm 38 weeks and no longer nursing, but my nipples are very sensitive. I think it's different for every woman and every pregnancy.

My nipples were not sore after delivery......in my case nursing the second child was a super experience all around....having that nursing toddler to take the edge off engorgement was such a luxury! I'm thinking of borrowing one this time!

I nursed DS1 pretty soon after DS2's birth, and never had any issues with the newborn getting enough colostrum. I also think that my milk came in faster because I was nursing the toddler, but I don't know if that's a real correlation or just what was going to happen, KWIM? I also had a hard time actually knowing WHEN my milk came in, as I seemed to be nursing someone pretty much around the clock (DS1 was 17 months and still nursing 6 times a day or so and at night, too).

I don't think that nursing affected my labour and delivery. DS2 was born very quickly....I woke up at 2 and delivered him at 4:20 at home....DS1 slept until just before the birth, so I didn't nurse at all once I was in labour. I'd guess that nursing during labour would probably speed things up, but that's just a guess.

Enjoy your tandem experience....I'm jealous! I loved tandem-nursing my first two and I was hoping to have a nursling still this time, but my little independant guy weaned himself just before I got pregnant this time. Nursing-twins are wonderful!

[mommy2two babes]

Do the sore nipples continue after delivery?
Mine did not at all. I didn't have any of the sensitivity at all that I did even the first few weeks I nursed DD.


Is it normal for them to get even MORE sore as D-Day approaches?
This has not been the case for me either time.
I have found that I was maybe a little more irritated by DS's nursing this time at the end now sometimes.




I've read mixed info about whether or not I need to be careful about nursing my toddler until my milk comes in after delivery. Any thoughts/info?
Last time I nursed them both on one side each exclusivly no limiting on demand for both of them. My milk was in after 24 hrs but it still remained very yellowish in color for a few days. My thoughts are more stimulation = more milk. Also I thought that them each having a side would ensure that they were both getting the right balance of fore milk and hind milk.
They both gained extreamly well to the point that I was concerned about my older nursling. She gained almost 15 pounds in the month after DS was born

I had a huge supply of milk between all the stimulation from both of them nursing that I also started donating milk that I was collecting when one was nursing and the other wasn't.

I never had such a huge supply with DD.
This time I plan on doing the same thing.



Do you think that nursing affected your labor and delivery?
It is hard to say. It was DD's early morning nursing in bed that triggered the contraction that broke my water. I had a very fast delivery from there ( 56 minutes later DS was born) Not sure if it would have been very fast anyways.
This time I have had a fear of letting DS latch on in the morning
Poor DD thought she wet the bed

[Serenyd]

Do the sore nipples continue after delivery?

Not so bad. I have thrush right now though.

Is it normal for them to get even MORE sore as D-Day approaches?

I was really sore that last few weeks.



I've read mixed info about whether or not I need to be careful about nursing my toddler until my milk comes in after delivery. Any thoughts/info?

I only got to nurse him a couple times while I still had colostrum. My milk came in by 48 hours.

I haven't had any supply issues this time around (have in the past). I also started drinking the mother's milk tea right away.


Do you think that nursing affected your labor and delivery?

No, DD was my first baby that went past her due date, and nursing never triggered any contractions for me. I wish!

[mamabadger]

I had severe soreness and cracking with baby #1, but after tandem nursing during the second and third pregnancies, had no soreness at all after the babies came.
I always made a point of letting the new baby nurse first and making sure he got all he needed. I did not let the older child nurse until the milk came in, but still not sure whether that was necessary or not. I wanted to make sure the newborn got all the colostrum.

Originally Posted by BanditaMamacita

And lastly, do you think that nursing affected your labor and delivery?

I saw no sign of it.

Originally Posted by meganmarie

I don't remember sore nipples during pg. I do remember not enjoying nursing - I think it felt uncomfortable - but after baby #2 came nursing felt normal again.

That is exactly how it was for me. Not sore, but vaguely uncomfortable to nurse during pregnancy, fine again after the new baby came.

[wombatclay]

You've gotten some great responses in Birth & Beyond, I'm moving this to Breastfeeding now so you'll hopefully have some new eyes (and replies) on your questions!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For me... I nursed through two pregnancies. They were both different but had a few commonalities. In both pregnancies I reached a point where I absolutely positively hated the way breastfeeding felt. It was nipple pain but also a sort of "full body shudder". I continued to nurse through it but did find myself limiting the duration and number of nursing sessions. But in each case this sensation and nipple pain sort of evened out... it didn't get worse and worse. After the delivery it felt totally normal again and I didn't have the same sort of physical pain or emotional aversion to nursing my kiddos.

As for helping the birth along... maybe? My first pregnancy went to 42+ weeks. My second pregnancy went to just 40 weeks and dd1 was nursing several times a day at that point. My third pregnancy went to 42 weeks again but my older girls had stopped nursing several months before the birth so although I did nurse/offer to nurse during the pregnancy, I wasn't actively nursing in the 8-10 weeks before the birth. Maybe I wouldn't have gone so long if dd1 and dd2 had been nursing on a daily basis. Then again, maybe my 40 weeker was the odd one out and my body will usually go to 42 weeks. It's hard to say.

[BanditaMamacita]

Thanks for all the answers, everyone I'm so glad that the weird aversion-to-nursing-my-toddler thing appears to be normal. I felt so guilty about that! I just can't help it... I find it almost irriating and like i wanna pull away from him or something. (I thought maybe it had to do with his fidgetiness and treating my other nipple like a worry bead. lol) I'm hopeful now that that part will get better when the baby comes.... And the pain, of course Sounds like nursing has virtually no effect on delivery, but i can still hope it will spark a good contraction one of these days. lol. Please keep the input coming if anyone has anymore