How long did it take for you and your baby to get the hang of breastfeeding? ?

Question

I am expecting my son in a matter of weeks and despite all the books I've read and mom's who've breastfed that I've talked to, I'm still pretty nervous about breastfeeding. I really wanted to breastfeed when I had my daughter last year but we had a lot of trouble getting her to latch. She cried her little eyes out in frustration and being a first time nervous mom who was scared of starving her, I relented and gave her a bottle. After that she outright refused to nurse. This time I think I'd be a little more relaxed and am really hoping to make a go of the breastfeeding. I know every mother/baby is different but how long would you say it took you and your baby to get the hang of breastfeeding? I know there will be a learning curve in the beginning for both me and the baby but I'm hoping to get some tips on making the process as tear-free as possible - for both of us. ;) Any advice would be appreciated.

Answer 1

We were lucky in this regard.  I tried to nurse in the birthing room, but she wasn't really interested.  She then to had to spend some time in the NICU, so it was another 12-14 hours before I was able to nurse again, and she latched on with no real difficulty.  I had some soreness/cracking at first, so presumably her latch wasn't 100% perfect, but it worked, and my nipples healed up within a week or so.  

Answer 2

I got 2 breastfeeding consultations while I was in hospital and he caught right on after that. As long as you keep your cool, you'll be just fine this time around.

Have a great labor and congrats!

Answer 3

I tried to get my son to latch on right after birth and had some difficulties. But a few hours later I gave it another try. By the end next morning we had it down. I had a great expierence breastfeeding. The only discomfort that I had was when I quit breastfeeding at 15 months my b*****s were swollen with milk and very tender to the touch for about 6 weeks. They felt like they were going to explode.  

Answer 4

Even though I had an epidural and a spinal block, with a 46 hour labor ending in a c section, and EVEN though he got organic formula first, Once he seen that nipple, he latched on perfectly right away. I thought that It would be more difficult than that despite the circumstances, but he did everything perfectly on his own...flanged lips and all. FIRST OFF you tell those nurses not to give him a bottle or nipple or a binky...and if they have to give him formula, you must ask them to use a big, fat syringe (with no needle at the end, of course) and let it dribble into his mouth. This way you can see how your baby will do his little sucking motions....Where they screwed up your first time was allowing your daughter to suck on a plastic nipple...once a baby has it that easy, they will not want to work any harder getting mum mums out of your nipple. If at all possible, bring your son up to the nipple RIGHT AWAY and tickle his mouth with it.

My mother told me too that Boy baby's aren't so particular, and that they latch on easier than females.  

Answer 5

The first thing I can tell you is that your baby can sense your frustration.  If you seem upset and stressed about breastfeeding, your baby can sense this and tense up... and not follow the normal instincts.

This doesn't mean you did anything wrong the first time... but try and stay positive and keep an optimistic outlook as best as possible.  There might be a few days were you don't have much milk and the baby is hungry... but keep trying, your milk will come in!

It took my son and I about 2 weeks to get a good pattern... Good luck!

Answer 6

My first baby 6weeks nursed til she was 10mos

my second baby after 6weeks still wasn't goin well, & I thought why the h**l did i do this again!!! Nursed him til9 mos

My third smooth sailing by 6weeks nursed to 1year

My fourth great from 2 weeks. nursed to 1 year

They all had latch issues and I beared with it.  I had probs with 2 much milk with some not enuf with others, I beared thru it & it came out in the end. My babies were gassy & fussy-I blamed myself, but it worked out.  Every baby gives you a new set of problems and finally on my fourth I was confident & new it would work out...eventually.  Still didn't change the fact I thought about quiting with every one at least once!  Breastfeeding is a job, its hard work and you must be commited to your decision.  Very few women truely can not produce enuf milk.  Milk production is soley based on your approach.  Remember a gassy or overfull baby will perceive the pain as hunger.  You feed & make the baby worse.  Every mother worries the baby isn't getting enuf to eat but if you have regualar check-ups and the baby is gaining your doing your job!  Give it a try & if you only succed for 2 or 4 or 6 weeks you have given that baby your best.  I suffered thru sore nipples for 4-6weeks with all my kids due to an improper latch, that I just couldn't fix.  By 6weeks old they were big enuf to get it right and it was smooth sailing as far as actual act of feeding  GOOD LUCK

Answer 7

We were really lucky....Ian got his latch correct right away and we never had problems there...it's always a learning curve as you said...I've been breastfeeding 11 months and I'm still learning new things about breastfeeding every day.

Answer 8

Honestly, I think it took a couple of weeks for us to really have it down-pat. I was sooo upset & frustrated the first week, I had cracked nipples, etc & I was so sore I used to dread having to feed him! I felt like such a bad mummy for the first week, felt like I was so stupid I couldn't even feed my own baby. I persevered and we got through it - he's 11 months next week and we are still going strong! The home-visit midwife was a big help, she helped me with different positions until we found one that worked for us - they only showed me one in the hospital (football hold, which didn't work too well for us.) Also she told me that it took her almost 6 weeks to get the hang of it properly with her first baby, so i felt heaps better then lol, if even the Pro's have trouble!!

The best advice I can give you is to get some hands-on advice (quite literally lol) if they show you a position in the hospital and it doesn't feel right or doesn't seem like it's working well, ask them to show you some others. I found that the straighter I was sitting up the better - our armchair had me leaning back too far so I put a small cushion behind my back. I also found it was trickier if I held bub with his head resting on my elbow (not quick enough to get his head to the boob that way!) so you can try the transition hold: eg, say u want to feed from right breast - cradle bub in arms as usual, then support his neck & head with your left hand & move your right hand under your boob, use finger & thumb either side of nipple to shape to match bub's mouth, brush lower lip with nipple & when mouth opens wide shove boob in :) Get as much areola as possible in there

Try to stay relaxed (I know, easier said than done!) and just keep trying. If it hurts, take him off & try again - i used to end up letting him feed even though it hurt because I didn't want to upset him by taking him off too many times! but it doesn't help either of you to continue in the wrong way.

Best of Luck to you, I'm sure you will be fine :D (oh, and bubby won't starve!!)

Answer 9

he latched beautifully while stilll i the delivery room. by the following day my nerves were effecting the whole process. i think its easier when your not stressing about it. the best thing i did was get my hubby to watch the supplied dvd with me (at hospital they get you to watch an informative dvd on how the process works for baby) so for the first few days at home by ourselves he was able to remind me of the processes that i was forgetting eg, support babys head here, dont move the breast to him move him to the breast etc etc it also allowed hubby to see that it was a process that dosnt just happen that it could be difficult with little hands flying here and head wobbling there!!! by two weeks we had gotten used to each other and have a very easy breastfeeding routine. good luck

Answer 10

I was blessed with a baby who had no latching issues.  I also happen to be stubborn as a mule....LOL!!!!!!!

After my C-section, my daughter was taken away and kept from me for 12 hours, despite her perfect health.  :(  The nurses gave her a bottle of sugar water too. ARGH.

I am very happy that she latched on right away when I finally saw her, and that I had minimal stinging, no real pain, no cracking or anything.  :)

She's now 22 months and nursing happily!!

Good luck to you!!  You're correct that every baby is different.  If you have a problem, make sure you only use a BOARD CERTIFIED Lactation Consultant, okay?

Answer 11

With my first baby, it took a good six weeks.  Really, three months, but the pain was gone by three weeks.  She had really strange issues, though.

With my second, she took to it right away.  No learning curve at all.

My third is really giving me trouble, but I've gotten it figured out and I'm sticking with it.

The only thing you can do is educate yourself and find a great support network.  You need to find women who have breastfed their babies successfully and lean on them.  Find a lactation consultant or La Leche League leader too.  They are angels.

Believe me, it's worth it.  Keep breastfeeding, it's totally worth it.  You CAN do it!

Answer 12

It took me 2.5 months. But it was worth it. Some suggestions:

If food allergies run on your family, one week before your due date, stop eating all possible allergens. This was a major cause of frustration for me, seeing as everything I eat gave my baby gas. If you give up those foods for one week and slowly reintroduce them, you will know which ones are making your baby fussy.

Dont pump until your baby is at least 6 weeks old. Pumping in the hospital while my baby had jaundice was the reason I almost gave up. It caused an oversupply, which in turn caused overactive let down. Its no fun to watch your baby choke on a stream of milk that starts shooting down his throat every time he tries to feed.

Visit a LLL meeting where you can watch other mothers feed. The reason BF ing is harder for us is because we dont grow up watching our mothers feed like other cultures.

Take it easy. Relax and know that you will have a great breastfeeding experience this time around. Dont let the mistakes of the past hinder you. You can do this!