I learned later from other first time mom’s that the first few weeks of breastfeeding can be quite painful. Cracked and bleeding nipples are not uncommon for first timers or in the early days of post-partum with consecutive babies. Other mom’s warned me that I might have a breast infection; I did not however. The honest to goodness truth is that breastfeeding can and often does hurt. After I weaned my son (a good six months before my daughter’s birth), I could not help but wonder what my experience with breastfeeding would be the second time around. I was almost expecting it to be painful similarly to my first experience breastfeeding my son. The experience was different with my daughter. She latched on well right away; I had no doubts this time around like I did with my first baby (even though he was latched on correctly too). In the very beginning it was a little uncomfortable mostly because it felt like she was nursing and getting nothing (my milk had not come in yet and I was not getting the let down sensation). When my milk did come in, just a couple of days later, it did get painful in a similar way to the pain I experienced breastfeeding my newborn son. The pain was not quite as intense however and I was already prepared for the potentiality of cracked nipples with a good toxin free nipple cream. The burning, stabbing sensation only lasted a week and a half this time. I actually think that the engorgement I experienced was more painful than my daughter’s initial latch. I was able to lessen the pain from my very full breasts by pumping off the milk through one let down (I did not want to pump off too much milk as it would only make the problem worse). I am happy to report from my experience breastfeeding two newborns that it does get better with each additional bundle of joy. Breastfeeding really is a joy even though it is initially painful.
