I really want to try to breastfeed. I am a little scared of the pain I have heard you can encounter at first. My main concern is from reading I have done they say that as soon as the baby is born to try to nurse. Did you really start that quick? Does the baby come out hungry right away? I am afraid I will be so exhausted how can I attempt something so soon. I know I am just probably being paranoid but I can’t help but think this way. Also, did you attend a breastfeeding class prior to birth? Would you recommend it. I do have a few books but still feel I’m not too sure. Or do you think the nurse’s help enough? Thanks
October 29th, 2009 at 9:32 pm
Congrats! I did take a bfeeding class beforehand and I highly recommend it. It only hurts if it’s not done properly. I know from experience that the nurses in the hospital are terrible, and the hospitals REALLY push you to formula feed. My baby was in NICU for a day and they wouldn’t let him come to my room until he ate…so they forced me to use formula. I was determined to bfeed though, so I tried nursing him as much as possible. Eventually my milk came in, and he’s still bfed 3 months later
I would look up a lactation consultant in your area. You will probably have trouble in the hospital, and will probably get blood blisters on your nipples. Just know that the pain is NOT permanent and with proper help everything will work out better than OK! It s tempting to give in to formula…but just be stubborn! The hospital should provide you with a pump to work on getting the colostrum/milk to come.
Evertime my baby latched on in the hospital I would wince…but by my 6 week pp checkup I had lost 25 lbs…and i know that bfeeding has helped that along. I’ve now lost 39 of the 42 lbs i gained (13 wks pp).
The contractions caused by bfeeding hurt like hell…not gonna lie
Give bfeeding a serious effort–it’s best for both you and baby!
October 30th, 2009 at 1:50 am
yes, take those classes if you are having doubts and concerns. try to ignore the breastfeeding horror stories women love to tell. it is best to nurse as soon as you can since baby has the strongest instinct to nurse right after he or she is born. the hospital should have a lactation consultant on duty to help you out.nurses dont always have the best advise on breastfeeding since that may not be their field of training.read as many books as you can. go to a LLL meeting too. with perseverance and education you should be able to succeed. best of luck to you.
October 30th, 2009 at 6:23 am
The nurses do help a lot, but if I could do it over I would have went to classes. I just really had no clue! They usually don’t have baby nurse right away, they get baby cleaned up and get you cleaned up, then you can try. I was exhausted afterwards, but baby is to, so you both will have time to get rested. It’s such a high after giving birth though that I couldn’t really sleep anyways! I just wanted to hold my baby. I didn’t have much pain…my nipples got dried out but I used a lanolin cream which helped a lot.
October 30th, 2009 at 10:35 am
I didn’t nurse either of my children right away. Like you said, I was just way to exhausted. Plus my second baby was delivered via c-section, so nursing right away wasn’t even an option.
I know all women are different, but I never had any pain associated with breast feeding (except for mastitis after my son was born). Hopefully you won’t either!
October 30th, 2009 at 11:26 am
I had a C-section and when I went into recovery after they got me closed up my hubby brought our daughter to us and I started to nurse right away.
There is a class at the hospital that you and baby can go to the next day after baby is born and they help you and answer all your questions.
It will take some time for both of ya’ll to get the hang of it but it just takes practice.
Don’t be afraid just be positive and it will work out great.
October 30th, 2009 at 12:31 pm
i nursed him about 30-45 mins after he was born. the nurse helped a bunch, he had troubles latching on… so i have to use a nipple shield, it IS painful at first, but after the first 2 weeks it gets better. you should at least give it a try. try it once or twice, and if its not for you, than that’s fine, but you’lll be happy you tried it out & wont be left wondering.
oh and nope.. strangly i wasnt tired.. i didnt even sleep the entire night.. i was to excited and had so much aderaline.
October 30th, 2009 at 6:40 pm
I nursed my son 10 minutes after giving birth. He did come out hungry! I had so much adrenalin running through me I didn’t even sleep that night! I was so excited and didn’t want to waste one precious minute of his first hours. But a lot of moms are exhausted and want to sleep.
October 30th, 2009 at 6:55 pm
nurses will help you and they should have a lactation consultant or a nurse who specializes in teaching new moms about breastfeeding…a class may not be a bad idea, but of course you won’t get any hands on until you have baby
October 30th, 2009 at 8:58 pm
my baby wasn’t too hhungry for the first 2 days and it took about 3-4 days for him to learn how to suck. I had one little class with the lactation consultant at the hospital after the birth but it didn’t help much.
October 31st, 2009 at 12:52 am
i had a c-section and didnt start feeding my baby until after i recovered… its just an amazing experience for you and your baby, despite any negativity!
October 31st, 2009 at 3:14 am
I had my 1st baby just over a year ago.. just as she was about to be born the nurse told me to twiddle with my nipples to stimulate the milk flow. She was put straight on my breast but didn’t want anything at the time. I was advised to keep trying. She took on within a few hours and was a good feeder. I used my left breast mainly and when i used my right the pain was tear jerking. The pain wore off after around 2 weeks of feeding, it didn’t always stay so pain full.I did attend anti natal classes which gave us a brief insight to breast feeding, If you are really worried i would suggest talking to your midwife.
October 31st, 2009 at 7:33 am
The nurses didn’t help me at all. I tried to nurse when she first came out but we were both so exhausted after 30 hours of labor that it was just not happening. I didn’t attend a class before hand but I did read a lot of books and went online and saw videos and how to do it properly. It helped me a lot. I recommend the C-hold because you have a good grasp of the breast and you can somewhat guide it to the baby while the baby is latching on. Also, invest in a good nursing pillow-Saved my arm. You can get them for a good cheap price at wal-mart. Also, the pain is only temporally. It lasts about a week but just grit your teeth and think about all the good healthy benefits your baby will recieve and the pain is, for me, became obsolete.
October 31st, 2009 at 12:03 pm
You should try it, it is a great way to bond with your baby. I started within the first hour after my daughter was born. It did hurt the first day or so, but it was totally manageable pain. The nurse can help you, they know so much. They can give you this lanolin cream to help lubricate your nipples, it helps so much. I didn’t take a breastfeeding class before giving birth, but I did take a lamaze class. It was really nice to have the information provided in the class, it made me feel much more comfortable with the whole process of giving birth. One of the class periods was devoted to breastfeeding, and common questions regarding it, who to contact if you need help, and other similar information.
As for coming out hungry, my daughter was not really hungry, but it helped to calm her and make her feel more comfortable after the trauma that she had just gone through. You will be exhausted, but at the same time so full of energy. I didn’t sleep the night before giving birth and didn’t sleep the night after either, I was so tired, but pumped up at the same time.
The nice thing about breastfeeding is that is so beneficial for the baby, and for you, but if you try it and don’t think it is for you, you can always switch to formula.
October 31st, 2009 at 1:23 pm
The pain is minimal if your baby is latched on correctly. You can use special creams as well air out your nipples to help with that. Sexy, I know. The reason why they recommend nursing right away is because baby has been through a tough journey and it also helps you bond right away. I would have done it if I could have but wasn’t given the chance. I would say do it if you can but be sure to tell the doctors that’s what you want!
The fear that you have stems from women who didn’t know what to expect. I was one of them. Educate yourself about bfing with books, meetings with LLL classes, and even a few bfing classes if needed.
The nurses don’t know how to help you with this! My son had a horrible latch for 3 days and they kept saying he latched on fine. The skin from my nips peeled off into his mouth and he glugged down blood along with colostrum. You will meet a Lactation consultant while hospitalized. Start a friendship with her! She will be the bfing savior if you run into any problems. Ask her any questions you want!
Also, to give yourself a better chance to bf, do not keep any formula around!
October 31st, 2009 at 5:03 pm
LOL
okay, okay, first off, relax. right this second, even as you’re reading this, millions of monkey mamas are swinging through the trees *while* breastfeeding their babies.
i suffered the worst possible pain: cracked nipples, one of them in a Y shape (three pieces). it only hurt when she first latched on and then it was painless (really, no sensation at all) while she nursed.
i tried to nurse her immediately but she was weak and sickly from foetal distress and a really nasty induced labour and delivery. she wasn’t really interested for an hour or so afterward, she just lay in my arms and looked confused and bewildered.
as for the exhaustion? i was induced thursday afternoon, thursday night, friday morning, friday afternoon, they broke the water saturday morning and she was born saturday afternoon. ten minutes later i was hollering at the nurse to get this crap off me because i wanna go PEE! NOW!
when it comes to breastfeeding, *you* don’t do anything but let baby have her head – she’ll manage most of it.
bookmark this site, read this site, love this site: http://www.drjacknewman.com – he’s THE breastfeeding go-to man in canada.
October 31st, 2009 at 5:32 pm
There are so many positives to breastfeeding – I feel like it should be a no brainer!
Best for baby – breastfed babies get sick less often because of the awesome antibodies in breastmilk
Best for Mommy (and her bank account) It will help you burn lots of calories and lose weight. It will also help your uterus shrink back to it’s prepregnacy size
Free, good for both of you, and gosh that formula is nasty!
Breastfeeding is natural, and you and baby will work it all out in no time!
For me I didn’t even think twice about it. My Mom breastfed me and all of five of my siblings, I’ve been around watching her nurse my younger sisters so I had an example.
I will admit, it didn’t come as naturally as I expected it to. It took a little practice before it was easy. I did have some help from my Mom and the nurses. Also, the hospital should have a lactation consultant that should drop by to ask how you and baby are doing and help you out. Mine even called several days after we were home to see how everything was going.
There should only be pain if the baby is not latched on correctly. If you feel pain just gently wiggle your pinky finger into the corner of baby’s mouth so she will release and try again.
It’s recommended that you try to nurse right away for better bonding, and yes, lots of babies come out hungry, or at least with the desire to suckle for comfort. Some babies still have some fluid in thier tummies and might not be hungry for several hours but they’ll let you know, hehe. Even though you may not have noticed any fluids coming from your nipples yet, your colostrum is there, and baby will be able to get it. Labor and delivery releases certain horomones that will get your colostrum coming, and baby’s ability to suck is like no other.
I would highly recommend it. If you have any other questions or concerns please get in contact me, I think everyone should breastfeed, just as we were intended to. Save money, time, lose weight, healthier baby, better bonding, why not?
Good luck and congrats!
October 31st, 2009 at 10:54 pm
THIS IS MY PERSONAL OPINION N DNT MEAN TO OFFEND MUMS WHO FORMULA FEED.
xxx
for the past few weeks ive been supplementin his feeds n just breastfeedin him at night cos i hav to stop to take pills. i dint think id miss it so much but ive been so emotional n impatient. i hateeee cleaning bottles, boilin his water, sterilising, preparin the feeds, takin all his stuff with me etc.. it has left me no time to relax n be happy with him as before. im not goin out for wlks with him as much to avoid carryin everythin n im gettin depressed.
i wasnt even gna breastfeed at the beginnin cos i wanted to go “partyin” n all that but after havin him i knew i wanted to spend every second of his first yr with him so i gave it a go. i said i will do 6 weeks n thats it but kept it goin (my son is 7 months now). it did hurt in teh beginnin n i cried with pain. at the hosp i snuck out for a bottle of formula n the breastfeedin nurse (or watever) saw me n got angry! she made me feel lik a failure but i cant thank her enough! if it wanst for her i would hav missed out on the most magical thing!
it was hard but i gave it my all. i started pumpin cos of the pain n losin my supply. i was out once n fed him straight from the tap (sry) n i dint feel a thing. i looked down at him n smiled n said “thats it?!”. i started lookin foward to his feeds even though they came evry hour or so. by 3 months he was turnin towards me when i lay him dwn in my bed with excited noises like he was sayin “booby booby booby” lol.. it was more of a “eee eee eee” hehe. it was soooo convenient, i would just go out n not hav to wry bout bottles n stuff n could fed him anywhere.
i did get sore but i just used nipple shields when i was bleeding (which helped ALOT!).. i used the nipple cream everyday n compresses when i was sore. after the pain of labour comes the engorgement but that wont last long.
im seriously advisin u to try it at least. wen i was pumpin n bottle feedin i didnt feel the LOVE towards him as most mothers do n i started seein it as a chore n hated it n my situation. breastfeedin DEFINATLY created that bond for me.. n o ye helps u reagin ur figure :p but apart form that, u will be givin him the best possible. i was sick for 2 weeks with high fever n im a single mum so i still had to be near him, n he didnt even sneeze once!
email me if u need any advice or anythin. im very PRO breastfeeding but im not ANTI formula. sry i blabbed!
congrats n both ur baby n want to breastfeed
November 1st, 2009 at 3:19 am
Yes, there will be some pain/soreness at first. But having just been through labor, it won’t seem like a big deal.
If there is significant pain, it usually means that something is wrong, and seeking skilled help (from a lactation consultant) can solve the problem. (Usually just a bad latch.)
You will be encouraged to nurse right away. Babies aren’t necessarily hungry right away, but they are born with an instict to suck. (There are films of babies being placed on mama’s belly immediately, before the cord is even cut, and making their way to the nipple and latching on.)
Baby may not nurse much at that first session, but do give it a try. (The nurses will help you, and it doesn’t take much effort, you’ll be holding the baby anyway!) If, OTOH, you have complications, or are just too tired, all isn’t lost if you can’t try immediately. You have plenty of time. IME, I was given baby to nurse right after she was born. THe nurses DIDN’T stay to help [it was our 'private bonding time' and she wouldn't nurse. She then had some complications/concerns, and had to go to the NICU. I didn't get her again until around 12 hours later. The nurses DID help me at that point, and she nursed well. And went on to nurse for another year+)
I didn't take a class, but I did read quite a few books. [I'm more of a book-learner than visual learner.] If your OB does offer a class, by all means take it, esp. if you are uneasy or unsure. I KNEW I was going to breastfeed, so felt no pressing need to take a class. I knew it would work out.] Read the books too, and attend some La Leche League meetings if you can.
You CAN breastfeed. So get away from the idea that you ‘really want to try’ and tell yourself that you are ‘going to’ breastfeed. Well over 95% of women CAN do it.