Bfing my first was painful..... Very painful for the first 2 weeks. Getting used to it, attachment was always good it was just "toughening" up a bit.
Is it the same for subsequent children?
Funny enough after the first bf in hospital I bruised. So I was hand milked till the day I left, I bfed at home and by the time the midwife visited I was blistered and bleeding.
When I went to a day stay they said dd was attaching correctly but suggested a different position which really helped...... Till she started choking on let down!! By then it was smooth sailing so bfing holding dd up was fine.
Anyway can I expect to bruise or be in just as much discomfort the second time around??
I will let you know in a few weeks. I am still feeding dd, so I imagine it might be different, but I think poor attachment always poses the problem of nipple damage.
I had a terrible time initially with DD like you mentioned and I stopped BF about 9 months before I fell pregnant with DS so by the time he was born, it had been a while.
There was an initial adjustment period for me, but it def wasn't as long as that toughening stage for DD, maybe a few days?
I think each child is different, i DID get some pain with DD and still had to work on attachment, my biggest issue was remembering she was a newborn and had to learn to feed, i was so used to DD1 attaching and just 'knowing' what to do IYKWIM.
All i can suggest is this time round ask, ask and ask again while your in hospital.
A midwife actually said to me a lot of 2nd time mums have more trouble because they were so used to having a kid who can just attach themselves.
My personal experience was painful/ soreness for about 8 weeks with DS, then with DD it was uncomfortable for 2 weeks. I was expecting it to be as bad as the first time but for me it wasnt the case. The only thing that happened and i wasnt expecting it was that my milk came in so much sooner. I think with ds it was day 3 and with dd, she was only about 30 hours old. The afterbirth pains when feeding are worse the 2nd time round though. I found ponstan to help with that.
Oh and i breastfed ds until 1 eas 4 months pg with dd, so i did have a 6 month break between feeding
I had a horrendous time bfing my first. I had a traumatic birth and she didn't attach or feed well. I ended up with bleeding, cracked and VERY damaged and sore nipples, and struggled alot with bfing for at least 6-8 weeks before I started to remotely think it was a good thing! With DS1, DD had weaned when I fell pg, so it was 9mths til I bf again, and though it wasn't as tough as it was with DD, and DS had wonderful attachment I still got pretty sore nipples for about 2 weeks, I also ended up with a crack in one. With DS2, again he has wonderful attachment, and DS1 weaned fully when I was about 12wks pg, so it has only been about 6mths since bfing. This time around things are much easier. My nipples were a bit tender for a week or so, but fine now (besides a bout of thrush!).
Good luck hun, I hope it's all easy as pie for you both!
Bfing no. 2, 3 etc
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