An interesting, sad reason many women do not breastfeed - Page 3

[jaxxy]

Originally Posted by RootSnort

Dang, it hurt more than my c-section, and went on for 6 weeks! But I was bound and determined. I knew how important it was for my DS, so I kept at it.

I've said this before, but I 'd really like to see pre-partum counseling sessions with a lactation consultant be a standard part of prenatal care. I think lots of Moms would do much better knowing what is going to happen ahead of time.

Exactly how I felt! Stubborness...maybe. I wante to do it cuz it was right...no matter what obstacle lay in my way. I don't think enough people think like that.

Maybe if moms are more prepared....they'd be more successful.

On a side note....it was really tuff for me the first 2 weeks and DH was So supportive it made a huge difference. Moms need support after they have their baby so they have all the time they need to focus on baby at first!

[Celticqueen]

Originally Posted by huggerwocky

Why the " for "too painful" ? You don't believe people? I don't really understand why anyone would feel it's appropriate to judge someone else's pain tolerance level.

Um...My pain was excruciating. For BF and birth, so if I had really been judging, it would have been utterly hypocritical. Also, read my new thread in Birth and Beyond about pain tolerance. I felt like I was dying. And with breasfeeding that first week, pretty close to feeling the same way.
I've noticed that many people on here tend to get easily offended. It's frustrating.

[Viola]

Originally Posted by Mommyofwills

I personally wish someone would have told me in that first week that the pain would not last forever. I have breastfed consistently since he was born, but I honestly thought it would stay painful!!

I remember feeling very disenchanted with breastfeeding because I had done a lot of reading and attended classes and was trying to do everything like the books said in relation to positioning and latch, and I went to the breastfeeding clinic at the hospital and was told it was positioning and latch. Very frustrating!

I had been participating in the April 1999 moms on Parent Soup on AOL, but I headed over to the May moms board, figuring there would be more moms at my level of breastfeeding. And I said, "This really hurts, please tell me it gets better." I had a number of moms say, "Oh yeah, it always hurt me in the beginning, but hang in there, it DOES get better." And sure enough it did!

It took me several years of attending LLL meetings to realize that the pain I was feeling actually wasn't normal and was a sign of a problem. It wasn't until I had my second child and there was pain, but my nipples didn't get damaged, that I realized the normal tenderness vs. the pain that was the sign of a problem.

[Viola]

Originally Posted by SPOpa

It does hurt. And it gets more painful with each subsequent child. I remember BFing my son at the hospital and those pains were intense and even though I knew that this was a good thing b/c it was helping bring in my milk supply and helping my uterus shrink, I was thinking, "oh no! labor is starting again!"

Oh, the afterbirth pains? Yeah, I didn't notice anything like that with my first, but I definitely noticed it with my second, and I was actually getting a little upset there for awhile because I was thinking I was done with labor, but it felt almost like contractions starting again.

[Viola]

Originally Posted by turtlewomyn

I screamed at pain at latch on for the first two weeks (my husband had to leave the room when I did it becuase he couldn't stand it)

Oh wow, I remember doing that. Screaming and saying the F word and glaring angrily. I figured my kid would never have a nursing strike since she would just figure screaming was part of breastfeeding. And my husband would tell me, "I think she's hungry again" and I was so angry at him and telling him no, no, no!

[angelcat]

I was doing ok pain wise the first 2 days at home. I started using a nipple shield, so I could heal form the time or 2 she ahd her latch wrong. Then the lc's told me to sotp using the chield, as my duaghter was losing weight. After thatm thepain was worse than ever. It was indescribable. And it srated lasting the whoole feeding, where intially, it was only the first 30 seconds to a minute. It got so bad, sometimes, I simply couldn't force myself to latch her on. I would try, and nop matter hwo hard I tried, sometimes I'd pull away at the last second.

I would have continued thru that if she was getting enough, but she wasn't. She has dehydrated, losing wight, and the laqst ime she nursed, she pulled of screaming with hunger. So I gave her a bottle. I tried pumping, but I got less & less each time i pumped, not more. And pumping started hurting too.

I abolutely would try again with another child, and I think it'll work next time. Obviously, no guarantees, but I think it will. Next time I would supplementing sooner, and keep using the nipple shield awhile longer. (well, assuming I had similar problems. Hopefully I can avoid having to use it at all)

I think more women may have problems like I did, rather than just "it hurt, so I quit:. When I tried to tell people, they'd interupt, tell me pain was normal, and how they breastfed thru it, so I never got to finish my story.

I can't even type out just how beyond awful ti was, as I start crying too hard to type, and it was almost 2 years ago.

When I tell people now, if they want details, I jsut say I couldn't let down. (true, and why I switched to formula. However, i think pain may have affected that.

I know I did my best, and under the circumstances, and with what information I could get at the time, there was no other choice. But it makes me very angry that all other people heard was "it hurt so I quit" which was SOOOO not the way it was.

[Celticqueen]

Originally Posted by huggerwocky

Why the " for "too painful" ? You don't believe people? I don't really understand why anyone would feel it's appropriate to judge someone else's pain tolerance level.

The quotation marks were because those are LITERALLY the words that I've heard women use. They would literally, myself included, use the phrase "too painful". Can't something be literal? Those marks were not used in the "they just THINK it's too painful". You misunderstood.