How long did it take for breastfeeding to be comfortable?

Question

How long did it take for breastfeeding to feel comfortable? I’ve heard it can take some time for your nips to “callous”. Just wondering what everyone’s timeline looked like!

Answer

I became MUCH more comfortable when I switched to the side lying position versus the positions they taught me in hospital (mainly where I was hunched over) and my arms had been killing me. Which wasn’t a fun combo with all the post c-section pain. My actual nipples didn’t really hurt just arms and back until I changed position. Good luck mama!

Answer

Until it was too late...
He was breastfed for the first 48 hours, then combination fed, now formula fed.
He’s always had a good latch but he’s very strong and I have extremely sensitive skin. My nipples actually started to bruise, crack, bleed and scab up terribly, just after those 2 days, I was crying out in pain and it took a good week of resting them before they were anywhere near healed. Honestly I did still try but it felt like someone was slowly slicing them off when he’d latch on. I’d be crying and calling out with the pain and instead of being this lovely bonding experience, I’d be sitting there in tears, holding my breath. A couple of times I wiped his mouth and there was a tiny bit of blood on his lip - mine, obviously, so that wasn’t great! I was scared it might make him sick. 
I could never get more than a few drops of colostrum right up to his birth and at the very, very best after 20-30mins of pumping on both sides, all I got was about 1fl oz and hand-cramp! 
That was at 4 days PP and “engorged” if you could call it that. I had basically no breast tissue to begin with anyway. I tried cluster feeding and everything else they suggested but my milk just never came in and my son is a big, hungry boy! 
While my nipples were healing obviously he only had the bottle and milk I’d expressed with my pump = instant food, vs having to put the sucking work in to get real boobs to let down his milk so i did keep trying now and then and he does still root at me when he’s hungry but he just gets cross unless he can have his food RIGHT NOW! I kept trying to pump until it was back to like 1-2 droplets before I gave up as it seemed pointless 
I had him via emergency Caesarean section after I was induced. I developed an infection in my uterus and was back in hospital with him the first week while I was on antibiotics and stuff - I know some antibiotics can dry up milk so 🤷🏼‍♀️ but surely they wouldn’t give me those ones in the postnatal ward or would at least tell me? I don’t know. I don’t know why my milk never came in.
He’s 7 weeks old now.

Answer

At 3 weeks I realized I didn’t have to think about breastfeeding anymore but my nipples had felt fine for a bit. Juggling a squirmy baby, your shirt, bra, boobs, Baby’s hands and arms, and head were a little trickier. It felt so good when I realized we were doing it without so much effort.

Answer

6 weeks because I was doing it wrong. I was just enduring the pain instead of correcting his position. I still breastfeed him after 16 months.

Answer

10-12 weeks. It was HARD until then. Then it was totally second nature for both of us.

Answer

Once my baby’s tongue tie was corrected it was almost instantaneous. Before that it was torture.

Answer

6 weeks. I had to get nipple shields after the first week but after they healed the pain was only bearable till everything just adjusted and I was fine at that 6 week point. Latch is so important and my daughter had tongue and lip ties. I wouldn’t let her latch the way she wanted to and she finally got it and latched properly at 3/4 weeks.

Answer

Her mouth was too small for a good latch. After a couple days of trying to tough it out I started using a nipple guard. *STRONGLY SUGGEST* (you can find them at Walmart.) I used that the rest of the first week. It also helped her open her mouth bigger and retrain her latch. I'd say early in her second week we were able to take the guard back off with minor discomfort.

Answer

3 months. It was worth all the pain though! My next 2 babies didn’t hurt at all.

Answer

Mine went smoothly because I used a nipple shield for my son then it went in for a couple of months until he became 4 months old, he no longer need that so the breastfeeding without it became much less hassle, though.

How long did it take for breastfeeding to be comfortable?

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