Nursing toddler is sooo painful!! « Back to Group Discussions

[mamaharrison]

Wahhhhhhhh!! Nursing is hurting soooo much right now! I am not faint of heart, especially when it comes to nursing. I nursed DD through double mastitis and a tongue tie that has never been corrected, which was really excruciating, and right now it is starting to remind me of those early months of devastatingly painful nursing. She is old enough now to where we can talk about it and I ask her to be VERY gentle and she is, but it HURTS. She nurses frequently and for long durations still with no end in sight. So, I am wondering for those who have done this before....any chance on it easing up at all or does it stay this painful throughout??

[mamaharrison]

let me clarify: Nursing is uncomfortable, its the latching that is terribly painful!

[mamadiamond]

i've been wondering this too. my breasts were sore for the first 4-5 months or so with DD, and i really hope it isn't that long this time because ouch! latching is killer. i hope it's not as long this time...maybe since with DD my mamary glands had to grow and all that it took 4 months, but since they are already functioning now it will take less time? i'm hoping that is the case.

[revolting]

Last time around, I found nursing really uncomfortable until my colostrum came in during my third trimester.

[mamaharrison]

bummer, my colostrum didn't come in until weeks before my DDs birth. So, is that the {small} consensus...Hurts until colostrum comes in? I still have milk now though, so this isn't pain due to dry nursing. Sometimes it is not too bad, but last night I had to tell her that her 'Mimis' were sleeping. She did not take it well--sobbing, crying, upset--She never went back to sleep--it was 5am and she doesn't normally wake until 730/8, so it was very rough.

[SingingBirth]

I am nursing my 23 month old right now, and yes it is very uncomfortable. But more of a "Ahhhh! I just don't want you touching them right now!" kind of a way. She also has the habit of touching and playing with the other nipple while nursing, and that's what is really bothering me right now. It doesn't seem to hurt more when she latches, but then these nipples have been "through the ringer". I nursed my oldest until 21/2 and while I was pregnant. They are more desensitized this time around, I guess.

I just wanted to let you know that I have heard people say that it gets better after the first trimester. Nipple sensitivity is supposed to be the most intense during those first months. Not to say it couldn't go on throughout pregnancy, but hopefully it will ease up soon. Or perhaps your toddlers will be open to weaning over the upcoming months. You never know!

[mtnlisa]

When did the nursing begin to be painful? I am only 4 w 2 d pregnant (due Dec 31) and kinda concerned that the pregnancy isn't sticking based on lack of nipple soreness. I am nursing my 16 month old about 2 to 4 times a day with no problem yet.

[revolting]

I will be six weeks tomorrow and I've only had soreness the last few days. I currently have milk (though my supply is dropping) and during my last pregnancy, my milk didn't dry up until I was at the beginning of my first trimester, but it hurt during both trimesters.

[SingingBirth]

mtnlisa- try not to worry too much. It is different for everyone, and every pregnancy as far as I can tell. Sometimes it's the way people know they are pregnant...the very first sign. Other times, people go through the whole pregnancy with little to no nipple soreness or breast tenderness. For me, it was MUCH more noticeable with our first pregnancy.
 

[kawa kamuri]

I've only had extreme breast tenderness with one of my pregnancies but I wasn't nursing during that one. Nursing starts to get painful for me around the 2nd trimester - the latching specifically. My babies tend to self wean around that time, when the milk is gone.  

[mamaharrison]

thanks for all the replies mamas. I don't see my DD anywhere near ready to wean, definitly not any self weaning happening. I could be wrong, but I think she will happily nurse through if my milk dries up without skipping a beat. I still have plenty of  milk {see it in her mouth} and don't feel like I am dry nursing at all. It is SOOOOOOOOOOO painful. I have actually had to stop nursing her during naps and at night the last few days and it has been terrible. She screams and cries and hits me and is so upset and does NOT go back to sleep without her 'mimis' which has been exhausting to say the least--I mean hours of carrying on like that. *sigh* I am really sad about it all and it is affecting how I feel about this pregnancy at this point--which we planned--but now I feel like I should have really taken her more into consideration since I knew she was nowhere near ready to wean even at 33 months. She still nurses 5 ish times a day and that doesn't include the whole naptime she is latched on and most of the night, too.

I really hope that something gives soon. I am feeling like my only options are to upset her or upset me--there really isn't a middle ground here that I can find.

[phatchristy]

I've been there myself, I usually find that around 6 weeks it starts to hurt...it's even moreso of a 'extremely annoyed or irritated feeling' that I get, that plus the discomfort.  The thing is, there's nothing wrong with their latch, it's all about our hormones.  For me there was an initial small drop in milk, but the big drop in milk supply was somewhere around 3 months. For me, of the kids I had who were nursing only one continued past that point and she was really young at the time (about a year old, I got pregnant while exclusively breastfeeding her).  My other two were toddlers, and both of them weaned at that point, I also tasted the milk at that point and it tastes completely different.  Kind of sour and salty, so I don't blame them for weaning!  In my experience working with nursing moms in the past it seemed like the overwhelming majority of toddlers to wean around that point.  If the nurslings are younger, they seem to be more likely to nurse throughout pregnancy and then tandem as they really need to nurse for that emotional connection.