Is breastfeeding easier 2nd time around?

[Skippy918]

Although I managed to breastfeed my son for 16 months, the beginning was really difficult and painful.  I had cracked and sore nipples from weeks 3-8 and then finally things improved.  DS had a bit of a shallow latch, but he was still getting enough milk. 

I'm just wondering if I can expect the beginning of breastfeeding to go more smoothly and easier this time around? 

What were your experiences?

[Ravin]

I had all sorts of problems with DD. She was jaundiced and had to be under bili lights, I had an overactive letdown, we had problems getting her to latch, she was slow to start gaining weight, etc. She was 5 weeks old before we really got the hang of it.

DS latched on briefly a few times the first day, then woke up about twenty-four hours after he was born and something clicked over in his brain and he had it figured out. He's been going like gangbusters ever since. I saw signs the first day we were home that my overactive letdown was getting to him--green poo, spitting up. So I started feeding longer on one side--2 to 3 feeds--and burping him more often, and the signs have cleared up and he's sleeping some good stretches.

I think part of it was easier because of different circumstances, part of it from the baby's temperament, and a good chunk of it because I'd BTDT and it's like riding a bike--you never really forget how once you've learned.

[asraidevin]

I had a much harder time with my second. My Daughter just knew how to do it. Until I had my son I thought people with issues were exagerating.

He could not figure out how to latch. Once he did on my left, he still couldn't on the right. I ended up using a nipple  sheild for a few weeks on that side. He was jaundiced and very sleepy, waking him every 2 hous round the clock. I told my home visit health nurse I understood why people gave up in the first weeks. I didn't because I wanted to nurse and I had previous experience but I was exhausted.

So, it will be easier because you know it can work, you've seen some of the issues.

[kythe]

I had no problems at all with my firstborn, but my second baby had latch problems that never fully resolved due to a tongue tie.  This kind of thing isn't related to birth order, or even how hard you "try".  Sometimes circumstances can be different with each baby. 

For me, if they were reversed and I had my "difficult" baby first, I probably would have given up breastfeeding early and not been as motivated to try with the second either due to the bad prior experience.  But I knew what breastfeeding should be like because of my first baby.  When it didn't go that way with #2, I worked very hard to resolve the issues.

I'm inclined to think you will have an easier time with your second since you already have experience with managing breastfeeding problems.  If you are fortunate enough to have a baby with no latch problems at all (which is true for most babies), it will be a breeze.

[JudiAU]

Well every child is difference and you can't predict that. But as a mother who is experienced, it can be much easier. I also found that I was far less sore than with my first, my milk came in a much less painful and more manageable way, and I didn't go up 15 sizes like with my first.

I work full time though and I didn't expect pumping to be much harder. Baby #2 just didn't want as much milk and thus I produced less milk and had to work much harder when I was away from her because my supply was lower.

My sister has four kids and always says of her first that she finally understand who mothers struggle. She doesn't know that she would have been successful if she wasn't experienced as well as determined. She had top notch assistance (baby was a tad premature, okay latch but poor sucking ability) but still spent the first four weeks of her life feeding her with a syringe so she wouldn't get nipple confusion. I think that even a new mother was determined to breastfeed would get trapped into EP'ing because of nipple confusion because most LCs probably won't recommend a syringe. But my sister is a SAHM and hates anything to do with bottles so she was determined to avoid any issue and just let the baby grow a bit.

[MamaPhD]

For me it has been much easier with DS (10 days old) than with DD so far.  With DD I had sore nipples with bloody scabs and lots of pain for over a month.  Each feeding I was doing /undoing nipple cream, soothies, hot wet towel, etc so it was so much work, too.  It was around week 6 I finally felt like the worst was over.  THen it was smooth sailing until I weaned DD at my personal goal of 18 months as DH and I started to TTC.  This time around, DS is doing well already and I feel great.  DS has a slightly shallow latch sometimes but I feel much more comfortable.  And actually this is good because DD is having a super hard time with the little bro's arrival and I need to spend so much of my energy with DD!

[earthmama369]

I found that it was much easier the second time around. With my first, I was learning *everything* all at once. It was exhausting and painful and overwhelming and my emotions were all over the place. The second time around, even with a traumatic birth and complications and an SNS for a bit and a tongue tie that wasn't diagnosed for four months, it was still easier. I know that sounds crazy. But just knowing how to hold the baby, being comfortable with the basics of breastfeeding and all the other related baby-care skills, knowing what to worry about and what wasn't a big deal, and knowing what the post-partum hormones were going to do to my emotions -- it just made everything sooooo much easier to deal with.

[MamaMunchkin]

The first one was easy, no problem whatsoever.  But the 2nd one didn't know how to latch on till about a week or so, then problem w/ over-active letdown and cracked bloody nipples.  Things settled down after a month or so. 

My first did lots of comfort bf-ing.  Something bothers her, here comes mommy's nipple, then everything is ok. But the 2nd one not so much - I had to figure out different ways of comforting.  With the 1st one, I was a human pacifier for good and bad.  With the 2nd, daddy can help a bit more with comforting which is nice too.

[sunnygir1]

I had a horrible time with my first and a much easier time with my second.  Certainly some of that was my experience and research, but most of it, I believe, was that my dd was such a sleepy, lazy nurser that it was really hard to get her going and I suffered from engorgement, etc.  Ds was much easier, though only one day older gestational age.

[BabyFireFly]

My DD was very eager to nurse from the time she came out - she literally latched on immediately. BUT for the first 8 weeks I was pretty sore from her shallow latch. My MW put it to me quite simply, "she has a tiny rosebud mouth and you have huge nipples." LOL. Yup, that makes sense. So until her mouth got big enough, I did use a nipple shield and it was a life saver. I am hoping that my second one (4/11) has a larger mouth!

[bird_verde]

In my experience, neither child was harder to breastfeed than the other but they were distinctly different.  With dd1, she was born in a hospital and I had some poor breastfeeding advise and interferance from one particular nurse that ultimately lead to dd getting dehydranted  and a prolonged hospital stay with more interferance from hospital staff.  But other than that, everything else with ebf was great, I never felt sore, engorged, etc. Once we had time to figure things out, our nursing relationship was fairly easy.  With dd2, she was born at home, nursed right away and the initial first few days of nursing were great compared to dd1 but then came the engorement (that seemed to last a long time), sore and cracked nipples that lasted over a month.  Also, with dd1 I never knew what letdown was, I never felt it.  But with dd2, I feel it all the time and even at 4 months, I still leak all the time.  At least with dd2, I had some idea of what a good breastfeeding relationship was like and the instinct to nurse my baby seemed more natural and desirable.

[haleyelianasmom]

for DD1, nursing went really well.  The only issues we had were

1) Milk took maybe 4-5 days to come in and dd had signs of dehydration by that time (brick dust)

2) She occasionally would projectile vomit.  Probably from overeating or a forceful letdown?

3) we dealt with thrush a couple times

4) I leaked for a LONG time. maybe 9 months?  I can't remember.

However, she loved to nurse quite frequently and was pretty high on the charts, so I wasn't worried

With DD2, my milk came in sooner, and I almost never needed nursing pads, but

1) we also had some vomiting, but not too much

2) she would occasionally scream and refuse to nurse

3) I had mastitis at 3 weeks and it was horrible. flu-like symptoms plus intense breast pain, and it hurt intensely when she nursed

4) her weight gain has been very slow and she is currently at the very bottom of the charts, about 3rd %ile

I guess there are no guarantees.  I know a mom who nursed her 2nd child for 4 years and even taught breastfeeding classes so when the 3rd came along, she figured all would be easy.  However, she said they had horrible breastfeeding issues due to her daughter's weak tongue I think.

Edited by haleyelianasmom - 3/28/11 at 1:59pm

[ibusymomto5]

I had the hardest time with my 6th. She had a high palate and was extremely laid back and sleepy for the first several weeks. We struggled with shallow latch for the longest time. We also had thrush off and on for the first 4mos which didn't help either. We stuck with it, and eventually her latch improved enough to make her a big fat, roly poly 6mo, but even at almost 2yo her latch was not ideal.

[moonfirefaery]

It was easier because I recognized and knew what to do about plugged ducts, mastitis, engorgement, etc. right from the get-go. It was harder, because Orin did not learn to latch on as fast as Corbin--but because I had already learned how to teach a baby to latch on, he got it right after some practice. :)