Breastfeeding, Cracked Nipples, The First Difficult Weeks
Written by Lisa on Sunday 23 April 2006
Just the other day my mother and I were discussing the obvious benefits of breastfeeding and pondering as we often do why more people don't give it a try.
I mentioned that like Esther at All Things Creative, I always found the first few weeks very difficult. No matter what position I tried to feed my baby in I always ended up in great pain, with cracked and bleeding nipples.After the birth of Daniel I was even tempted to give up and try bottle feeding for a change.
However each time, as soon as my baby turned 3 1/2 weeks, the pain disappeared as if by magic and from then on breastfeeding was the easiest and most beautiful experience in the world.
My mum, in her infinite wisdom, came up with a great analogy for the process. She believes that breatsfeeding is like learning to play the guitar. Stick with me it makes sense in the end (kinda).
When you begin to play the guitar you end up with very painful and blistered fingertips, caused by holding the strings for too long. But after a few weeks of practice your fingertips form callouses and the pain disappears. In my mothers mind breastfedding is very much the same thing.
I don't like the thought of calloused nipples though......not very sexy at all!
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Comments
Thats a fantastic idea. I
Thats a fantastic idea. I have found that the cheap ones I buy always leak and the more expensive ones end up costing me a fortune. I'll have to give it a go.
I also found that nipple shields helped a lot furing the first few weeks. They looked weird but definately offered some relief.
The only one of the children
The only one of the children I had cracked nipples with was my daughter, and they were really sore. It got to the point where I was dreading the next feeding. My husband went out to the pharmacy and bought me this wonder cream. I can't remember what it was called, but it came in a purple tube, had pure lanolin in it, and was the same stuff they use on sheeps nipples I think (that sounds wierd but for some reason that is the back of my memory...) It worked great!
Here's a tip for you unless you've already learned this one. Breast pads are fairly expensive so I used to cut up disposable diapers, and put masking tape around the edges and put them into my bra. It was a lot cheaper and they are a lot more absorbant. I could make 2 out of the newborn diapers or 4 out of the bigger diapers.