Does breastfeeding just hurt in the beginning or is my latch really just that bad?

Question

breastfeeding just hurt in the beginning or is my latch really just that bad?" /> 
This is my third breastfed baby. I breastfed the first 2 for about 20 months, but for the first two babies, with each of them, it felt like knives for the first month everytime they fed and eventually it got better. I saw the lactation consultant twice before I left the hospital this time and honestly just felt like crying after because I felt so frustrated. I was never able to recreate how she latched my baby on even with her in the room. Is this just what breastfeeding feels like in the beginning? My entire body literally contracts with pain each time she latches on. I've tried multiple positions and I use lanolin after each time as well.

Answer

There’s a video on YouTube by “The Yellow Nursery” about getting a perfect latch every time that I found helpful. I also took the online Lactation Link course on breastfeeding, and I now have a pain free latch and a happy baby! That class is seriously amazing. It’s pricey, but I’ll recommend it to every mom over and over because of how much it helped me.

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If it’s painful for you, why don’t you try pumping and bottle feeding? That way you’re still getting baby your breast milk but it’s not taking a toll on you.

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If breastfeeding hurts. Latch isnt right. I hate that breastfeeding being painful is what’s normalized because it’s not common. Sure some sensitivity to get used to but not pain. 
Make sure deep latch. Check for ties. And my top advice is to visit an osteopath to work out any kinks baby might have. My son was vacuum assisted 2 years ago and caused me severe pain. Turned out his spine was twisted from the birth and his skull lobes were smooshed from the pressure of vacuum causing him to be unable to latch properly. When I say the osteopath fixed 2 months of struggle in one treatment I am not exaggerating.  Birth is traumatic for babies and we don’t often remember that.

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Your body contracting is your uterus shrinking. Take painkillers mine had settled by about day 3. Nipple pain is a sign of bad latch x

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I could have written this. My daughter has a crummy latch and I keep trying to train her to latch better, but it’s super hard for some reason. (This my second and my son was breastfed 16 months, no problems!) My pedi said she might have a lip tie (something with her frenulum) on the top, but I’m not sure I want to go to dentist to fix it... I need to do more research. 
I’m sorry, breastfeeding is so wonderful, but it can be difficult to get into a groove.