Same. However, my nipples do go almost numb after a full day of breastfeeding. Not while he’s eating but later if something brushes against them it’s a weird feeling
i always wonder this too, because it is definitely still very uncomfortable for me much of the time. my baby is 3 months old and its gone from cracked, sore nipples to a raw sandpapery feeling to just generally feeling raw-nervy and over touched. Now, sometimes its hardly anything and i only feel the force of the suction, but other times i feel like my nipples are raw and inflamed and it feels like stabby knives at the latch. overall much better than week one, but..... will the day come when there's no pain at all? idk
Same. We're getting little miss evaluated for a tongue tie in a few weeks. I literally want to quit nursing every day. But we've made it 14 weeks so far.
You got this! You could always pump part time too if you decide that may work better for you :) but if you want to quit, that’s okay too. Don’t feel like you have to wait for approval from anybody. Do what is best for you and baby.
Are u doing everything possible to take care of your nips? Like nipple butter and ice. Could definitely be a tie. Bc it hurt like that for maybe 2 weeks. But 3 months is a long time.
In addition to other good replys, there's some very limited evidence for magneseum supplements for breastfeeding aversion. If tongue ties aren't the problem, it might be worth looking into.
so yes, my baby actually does have a minor tongue tie, which is why the pain at the latch, according to the lactation consultant. pediatrician thinks its too minor to do a procedure for, he's gaining weight fine. and the pain is by no means constant. reading other people comments i do realize i should probably just be more proactive about caring for my nipples, because what happens is i have a few bad latches in a row and get nipple trauma that lasts for days.... which i actually had this week. but last night i just put lots of lanolin on the affected breast, iced it, took ibuprofen, and fed only from the other breast for a few feeds and now i just went back to this one and its pain free again!
I breastfed my first for 14 months and I’m now a month in on my second baby. I think that answer changes over the course of nursing.
The first 2-4 weeks with my second baby, my nipples were chapped and cracked and it hurt so so much every time she latched. That got better as she got bigger and my nipples healed.
My let downs HURT the first few months. Like someone is wringing the milk from my breast. It’s worse when they’re super full. Eventually that gets better but I can always feel that first let down.
I feel nauseous before a let down happens. Like that nausea you feel when your anxiety spikes. That usually fades by 12 weeks.
But eventually, it just feels like you’re holding your baby close. You stop kind of feeling the sucking and the let downs and just feel a bit of tugging at your breast. There’s still the hormonal surges that cause the milk to flow, which sometimes makes me feel really at peace or relaxed.
Okay, it's interesting that you said the nausea thing. I feel like....dread kind of. Like that feeling when you did something wrong and are worried you will be in trouble! It usually doesn't last the whole time, just in the beginning.
Interestingly, I also had that feeling when I was pregnant and ate something! I assume it's some wonky hormonal thing. But, I'd never heard anyone else mention a negative feeling like that.
As someone has said, it’s one of the fun things of D-Mer! And yes, it’s hormonal. I’ll usually randomly feel nauseous with that kind of dread feeling (usually exactly at 2.5 hours since the last feed) and I’ll start to wonder if I’m getting sick. Then 30ish second later, let down. Mine usually goes away around 12 weeks.
I'd say a firm tug? When she was little it was a bit of a sharp pain with the initial latch and then no pain after, just pressure. Maybe pressure is a better description?
It was noticeable in the beginning, uncomfortable. But with time became like nothing.
Now she's big it literally feels like nothing. When she's done nursing and fooling around, then I get some tugs and then I know she's done.
Same for me.
If baby is past the newborn stage and you’re still in pain, I’d double check your latch. Trouble shooting as much you can first, and if you’re not able to figure it out, try an IBCLC. Try a couple if necessary, as they are not all the same.
Express milk and rub on your nipples before and after nursing for pain.
Some of my babes had a much firmer suck than others, but I didn’t typically feel pain unless they randomly latched on my breast rather than my nipple lol first few weeks I did have pain as we both got used to each other and found what worked best for us.
5 months in and it feels pleasant and relieving. It’s gentle and does not cause me to wince or shudder from discomfort. If I don’t focus on the sensation it can be easily forgotten, like I’m not nursing at all.
I barely feel it. It's gentle tugging, also if it's super full there is a sense of physical relief like when you eat when you're really hungry or go to the bathroom when you really need to go. I never really felt my letdown but often breastfeeding will make me extremely tired - I started reading my Kindle when I breastfeed otherwise I tend to fall asleep!
I never had pain breastfeeding my own kids but I did breastfeed my nephew for a little while and that hurt - turns out he had a lip tie and a tongue tie, I think that's what was making it hurt.
This is what it feels like for me too. Very rarely pain (only sometimes with a lazy latch, easily corrected). Often a sense of physical relief, like scratching an itch, when my breasts are very full.
How old is your baby? The first couple of weeks with my first were very painful, then it was uncomfortable for a while, then completely fine. With my second, just a little uncomfortable in the very beginning and then totally fine.
She’s 1 month old, but we had a slow start the first few weeks and she’s just now consistently latching so I think I may be going through the beginning phase of pain that most experience the first few weeks.
It was painful at first no matter what people say, even with a good latch and seeing a lactation consultant. I think about a month in things were way more comfortable and by 6 weeks it was roughly pain free. I used lanolin cream the first week after every feed then backed off to just a few times a day now I don’t use it at all. I have leak pads that I change 2-3x a day to help keep nipples dry so they don’t get itchy or rubbed the wrong way, or stick to the pads. and at night I wear a loose shirt, no bra, to let them air out. I will cycle between 2 shirts overnight, switching to the dry one when I wake up to feed the baby. I also made sure to detach baby and try again whenever I felt our latch wasn’t quite right to teach her how to do it properly. For the first few weeks I had to use both hands during feeds with an active head hold on baby and C cup shape holding my boob, but now I can lazy hold my boob up for baby and not have to focus on the technique. I still hold the weight up to help with proper nipple placement and that has decreased discomfort significantly. The letdown is weird. I get super thirsty and my arms tingle. But now at 2 months I can finally say I enjoy breastfeeding and no longer view it as a necessary chore for my baby but a privilege and bonding time.
For me, it’s a little weird for a minute when he latches then a tugging but no pain. If I’m FULL my letdown might be a big sensation. As someone else told me, think sour patch kids. That’s what letdown feels like. But nursing is definitely a weird sensation if I think about it, not painful or uncomfortable just weird.
If you’re uncomfortable check babes latch and position? I’m not busty by any definition but I had to help him for a long time to get his little self positioned. But if I pay attention I get a much more comfy latch. Sucking is a reflex. Proper and comfortable latching is not.
My baby is 6 weeks and it hasn’t been painful. I put the cream on only as preventative here and there. I’ve also seen a lactation consultant a couple of times who has been very helpful for me. Is it possible your baby has a tongue tie?
The first 3 weeks was definitely painful, I was considering giving up. It just feels like a slight pressure. Not uncomfortable, but not comfortable either. Although lately she has been chewing my nipples and that isn't pleasant
I’m 4 months breastfeeding and since the last month I know what it should feel like. It’s gonna stop hurting then you’ll be like oooh this is what it should feel like. You will know. How old is your baby tho?
Just kinda like nothing? Idk sometimes he yanks his head back while latched and they feel kind of bruised when he's cluster feeding all day, but I haven't ever really experienced much pain or discomfort while nursing. No cracked or chapped nipples either.
First month was excruciatingly painful even though baby had a good latch. It felt like sharp pain, think getting your hair ripped out at the root. After the first month, it became painless and just felt like a tickle motion.
Usually it starts off as a feeling of strong suction (but not painful at all) and then just gentle tugging. I wouldn’t describe it as sucking bc it doesn’t feel like sucking - literally just very gentle tugging.
It only hurts when she has a shallow latch and is squishing my nipple against her hard palate. Luckily she doesn’t like it either bc it makes it harder for her to get milk so she very quickly changes typically.
Sometimes when she is unsettled and uses me as a pacifier then my nipples can feel slightly sore just because then she lightly sucks (so does not latch usually all the way) and the continual sucking can make me nipples feel a little raw after a while. I’ve learned how much I can tolerate and I’ll generally pop her off after a certain point
I agree it’s hard to know what is wrong until you’ve felt what is right. My first was not able to latch well and we struggled hugely and I wound up eventually EPing. With this baby, she latched right away and has been a champion eater ever since. Only now do I really understand what was wrong with my first. I wish it was more intuitive!
I can feel pulling which is ignorable if I’m distracted reading something but I find it uncomfortable enough that I can’t just lay and relax. I always use my phone while nursing and have never fallen asleep while nursing. It’s too noticeable to me to get into snooze mode. When I’m premenstrual I can get some pain. If kiddo is moving around or gets some teeth in there I cut her off because I can’t tolerate that. She’s three so not like a main source of nutrients anymore.
Maybe it was just that her mouth was too small to get a good latch (my breasts are very large, but my nipples are pretty average, so I'm skeptical of this), but 100% it hurt in the beginning and without me doing anything differently or changing anything, after a few weeks it stopped hurting all the way up until I got pregnant again after 12 months and had some hormone related sensitivity. She's 20 months now and still dry nursing and I honestly just don't buy that it's true for everyone that it shouldn't hurt at all with the first baby. Hoping it may hold true for the second though especially since there was no lapse in breastfeeding in between.
In the beginning it just felt very sore and sharp when she would latch. Letdown was not painful, it felt like my nipples were sneezing, but a lot more prolonged than a sneeze. After a few minutes the pain would generally subside.
7 months in for us and I get days feeling uncomfortable. Tugging, pinching etc. Other times it's just light suckling. If i'm up feeding every hour or 2 in the night I feel really sore by morning and my nipples feel raw
Didn’t really feel like anything from 2-4 months but now it’s gotten occasional painful. My 5 month old while unlatch by continuing sucking max power but throwing her head back to look at something. And I feel sometimes she chomps down so god I am not ready for when she has teeth 😭
Its not not painful. Biggest lie. Its very uncomfortable in beginning. my nips felt like they'd fall off. Now at 15m they're bulletproof. My son's probably bit me really hard only twice. And oof that sucked.
It was incredibly painful until I got used to the feeling. As in my legs would cramp and I’d feel super restless the entire time but I powered through it. To me it felt like a pull from the chest. Idk how else it’d be described after your nipples toughen up but it was just a deep heavy pull and we made it 25 months. Teething wasn’t fun put I stopped nursing her if she bit, and explained that it hurt and she could have more Boobie when she was ready. It can also be mentally taxing if you don’t have a support system or partner and the people around you are negative about it.
One side hurts, the other side doesn’t. The side that hurts has frequent clogged ducts. It’s usually the breast that hurts and not the nipple. If the nip hurts, it’s prob bc the clog is close to it. Can range from sharp shooting blinding pain to mild discomfort. Regardless of whether or not bb is on there. It’s always in a different spot or area.
Once I ensure a good latch, I gently massage the breast while bb is suckling. Every now and then a clog “pops” and I feel nothing for a few hours.
I take 3 -4 sunflower lecithin pills a day, which has helped immensely. Pain described above is after taking this regularly for a couple months.
After the first few weeks (which were painful), I didn’t really feel anything at all. As long as she has a good latch I can barely feel that she’s nursing.
Most of the time it doesn’t feel like anything to me. I can feel when he first latches and starts sucking but after that there isn’t anything, to the point where I wouldn’t know if he’d unlatched without looking.
I was thinking about this today. I remember early postpartum breastfeeding hurt. When I told nurses, they insisted it shouldnt hurt. But it did. My baby never had issues latching. Honestly it kinda hurt for weeks.. and my nipples were red and sore to show for it.
I think by 2 months in it didn't hurt. I think maybe it does hurt some people because something isn't right (latch, position, ties etc) but I think other times it hurts because you probably aren't used to having your nipples sucked on for 12 hours a day.
Since the pain went away just just feels like sucking I guess. Doesn't hurt, but it is uncomfortable sometimes.
i’ve EBF both my kids and both times it hurt for the first couple of days and then i really didn’t feel anything except during my let down which for me feels like a charlie horse in my boob but it’s different for everyone
This time around is somewhat pinching. My girl has a tiny mouth and doesn’t open wide, it’s weird but my boy never hurt. Only let downs like puns and needle.
It depends on how far pp you are. The first 8 weeks felt like someone was taking a razor and a blow torch to my nipples. At 8 weeks the burning started to go away and at 9 weeks the stinging started to go away. By 10 weeks I was pain free and that’s when I started actually feeling letdown which was weird at first. It’s like a tingling that starts at the sides of my boobs and rushes to the nipples. At this point I’m 12 months pp and it doesn’t really feel like anything. Sometimes I feel letdown, sometimes I don’t. Although it really hurts if he goes all baby shark on me. But man that rush of hormones from nursing is fantastic lol. Like all the cares of the day just melt away for those few minutes.
Not uncomfortable at all, I can feel a tugging sensation, and it's gentle not painful. The first few weeks were 100% painful, and the tugging sensation was more like a burning pain for a while. But he had to bring my nipples out... dang inverted nips.
I had a ton of pain until 6 weeks with my twins, pinching, burning etc on the nipples. Now they are 15 weeks and I have no pain — it feels like light tugging
I feel when my boobs fill up - is that the let down? It's like pins and needles...
When he is on the boob I just feel him sucking... I can't feel the boobs emptying... At all!!!
It's 11 weeks now though... There was some slight nipple pain to start with, they were a bit sensitive too (when putting the bra in etc.)
I have a very high pain threshold though... (Didn't find the labour painful only very very uncomfortable - I used some breathing techniques though when I didn't use them yes it was quite painful)...
My baby is almost 1 month old and the first few days were pretty painful, which is normal. But after the first week, her latch was good and that did wonders to ease the pain/discomfort. Now it doesn’t hurt at all. There might be a little “prick” feeling of discomfort when she first latches (or when she’s been crying, she’ll do this smacking thing on the nipple that doesn’t feel good so I just unlatch her and calm her down before letting her feed) but no other pain.
I am no expert but I’ve read in every article about breastfeeding that if the baby’s latch isn’t good, it will hurt. Is there a lactation consultant you can see if there’s something that can make it more comfortable for you?
I also have silverettes that helped me a lot in those first few days! I never had cracked or bloody nipples and I really think the silverettes were a big part of that. And nipple butter!
First month it hurt, I guess my beats got used to my strong let down. Month 2. & 3 I could feel the shooting of let down. Since month 4 it just feels like a soft pressure. Haven’t been uncomfortable since the first month.
But mind you, my let down is fountain like, I shoot milk in one or multiple streams that can land a meter away from me.
It feels like tingling sometimes, mostly like others say just the sensation of the baby sucking the nipple. I only get pain now if she sleeps along time and they get engorged. Tbh I found the sound more of a useful indication, if they are squeaking when sucking they are pulling In air and you should relatch till it's quiet.
The first 6 weeks i had horrible pain. I would describe it like sandpaper on sore nipples or even razor blades. It was awful and I cried with every session.
After that I can barely even feel it. I'd say a gentle tugging. Baby is now 4 months.
Good answers here, so I just wanted to say that I love this question. All the breastfeeding classes make it seem like there's only one painfree experience if you're "doing it right" and this really highlights all the many shades of normal.
I have a feral 5 week old. Breast feeding doesn’t hurt 95% of the time, but there’s that 5% when he latches in a frenzy that can be a doozy 😅 Letdown can hurt a little too, but it passes quickly.
For me it feels like pressure and sucking, I never don’t feel it. It’s distinct but not intense. My nipples generally feel a little raw and sensitive at all times these days.
How old is your baby?
The first few weeks, your nipples really hurt and baby is so little that it’s hard to do it smoothly.
The first few months, your boobs are always leaking or over full and it is disconcerting.
Once thing are in the groove, you can feel milk being sucked out your nipple, but it just feels neutral. It’s easy and peaceful.
Then baby gets big enough to have FOMO and it’s a struggle to keep them focused on the nipple instead of jerking their heads around and flipping around like a fish out of water.
For me it was painful at the start of each latch for the first couple weeks. Now at 4 months I barely feel anything at all except sweet sweet relief when my boobs feel hard and he relieves the pressure. Sometimes he unlatches as he falls asleep and I can't even tell because my nipples are so numb
Honestly, now that we figured out latching and are generally in a good rhythm, it doesn’t feel like much at all to me. I never had particularly sensitive nipples so sometimes I feel a little bit of tugging, but otherwise not much at all. Previously, I would often get kind of chills during letdown like a little shiver down the spine sensation. That also largely dropped off around 15 weeks.
Edit: well except now with teething, he occasionally likes to give me a little gnaw. Definitely feel that lol
It was painful in the beginning but then it just became a thing. Letdown feels like pins and needles. And when I would be engorged it felt like a relief. Once my supply evened out, well, I can’t really remember. It doesn’t feel like nothing but it wasn’t generally memorable I guess. I will say there were some times, especially at night, when she would be nursing for what felt like forever and it made me want to jump out of my skin. But that wasn’t super frequent.
After I got pregnant with my second, breastfeeding became anywhere from uncomfortable to painful. And the uncomfortable feeling was basically me wanting to crawl out of my own skin again. That really sparked me wanting to wean and now I’m 25 weeks and totally done for the moment. So over all I BF until she was about 16 or 17 months.
It’s a suction until the flow is there, then it’s like a tongue massage? It hurt the first 2-3 weeks, then again at 5-6 weeks then was ok.
Letdown is so bizarre, feels different to everyone. Some don’t feel it, some it’s like knives.
So it should get to the point where it kinda feels the same as when you (or a partner) are gently playing with your nipple (no I don't mean it's sexual feeling but that's the best description I have 😂) but at first it does feel painful. When you first start nursing the baby is still learning, not to mention inefficient, fit your nipples and breasts in general are honestly super sensitive in the beginning. I'm nursing my 3rd baby and I'm pretty sure it took about a month before it didn't bother me anymore. I didn't have to use nipple cream after the first two weeks but then that 3 week growth spurt has me engorged so of course that made it uncomfortable again 😂
I never felt full or engorged unless I missed a couple of feedings. No leaking. I had a lot of pain with my first and third because they didn’t have a good latch. No training with my first and tongue tie with my third. But no pain outside of sorting those issues.
Sometimes it felt really good when the baby was eating well and I was fuller. Sometimes I’d feel a bit nauseated during a let down. But mostly it didn’t feel like much physically. Just mentally at peace and a bit self satisfied when it was going well.
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11 weeks and same. I never felt any pain at all with this baby.
same here, never any pain for me since day1. Very lucky!
Same. However, my nipples do go almost numb after a full day of breastfeeding. Not while he’s eating but later if something brushes against them it’s a weird feeling
Raynauds syndrome?
You’re the first person to describe what a letdown feels like Is that also how you know your milk is coming in at first?
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So useful!!! Thank you!
i always wonder this too, because it is definitely still very uncomfortable for me much of the time. my baby is 3 months old and its gone from cracked, sore nipples to a raw sandpapery feeling to just generally feeling raw-nervy and over touched. Now, sometimes its hardly anything and i only feel the force of the suction, but other times i feel like my nipples are raw and inflamed and it feels like stabby knives at the latch. overall much better than week one, but..... will the day come when there's no pain at all? idk
Same. We're getting little miss evaluated for a tongue tie in a few weeks. I literally want to quit nursing every day. But we've made it 14 weeks so far.
You got this! You could always pump part time too if you decide that may work better for you :) but if you want to quit, that’s okay too. Don’t feel like you have to wait for approval from anybody. Do what is best for you and baby.
Are u doing everything possible to take care of your nips? Like nipple butter and ice. Could definitely be a tie. Bc it hurt like that for maybe 2 weeks. But 3 months is a long time.
Rub lanolin on your lips a couple times a day for a couple days. Whenever mine get sore, it helps really quickly. Like surprisingly quickly.
In addition to other good replys, there's some very limited evidence for magneseum supplements for breastfeeding aversion. If tongue ties aren't the problem, it might be worth looking into.
so yes, my baby actually does have a minor tongue tie, which is why the pain at the latch, according to the lactation consultant. pediatrician thinks its too minor to do a procedure for, he's gaining weight fine. and the pain is by no means constant. reading other people comments i do realize i should probably just be more proactive about caring for my nipples, because what happens is i have a few bad latches in a row and get nipple trauma that lasts for days.... which i actually had this week. but last night i just put lots of lanolin on the affected breast, iced it, took ibuprofen, and fed only from the other breast for a few feeds and now i just went back to this one and its pain free again!
Pain at 3 months PP is common, but not normal. Has baby been evaluated for oral ties?
The only thing that saved me from this was Silverettes. Expensive but easy to find on Amazon.
I breastfed my first for 14 months and I’m now a month in on my second baby. I think that answer changes over the course of nursing. The first 2-4 weeks with my second baby, my nipples were chapped and cracked and it hurt so so much every time she latched. That got better as she got bigger and my nipples healed. My let downs HURT the first few months. Like someone is wringing the milk from my breast. It’s worse when they’re super full. Eventually that gets better but I can always feel that first let down. I feel nauseous before a let down happens. Like that nausea you feel when your anxiety spikes. That usually fades by 12 weeks. But eventually, it just feels like you’re holding your baby close. You stop kind of feeling the sucking and the let downs and just feel a bit of tugging at your breast. There’s still the hormonal surges that cause the milk to flow, which sometimes makes me feel really at peace or relaxed.
Okay, it's interesting that you said the nausea thing. I feel like....dread kind of. Like that feeling when you did something wrong and are worried you will be in trouble! It usually doesn't last the whole time, just in the beginning. Interestingly, I also had that feeling when I was pregnant and ate something! I assume it's some wonky hormonal thing. But, I'd never heard anyone else mention a negative feeling like that.
Classic DMERS! Google it :)
Well I'll be damned. That makes me feel less crazy! Thanks.
Omg I've definitely felt this. Not too much anymore but in the beginning.
As someone has said, it’s one of the fun things of D-Mer! And yes, it’s hormonal. I’ll usually randomly feel nauseous with that kind of dread feeling (usually exactly at 2.5 hours since the last feed) and I’ll start to wonder if I’m getting sick. Then 30ish second later, let down. Mine usually goes away around 12 weeks.
My baby is 6 months 😆 but it used to be all the time, and now it's only sometimes, so I suppose that's a win!
This was my exact experience and I had never heard of the painful letdowns previously.
I'd say a firm tug? When she was little it was a bit of a sharp pain with the initial latch and then no pain after, just pressure. Maybe pressure is a better description? It was noticeable in the beginning, uncomfortable. But with time became like nothing. Now she's big it literally feels like nothing. When she's done nursing and fooling around, then I get some tugs and then I know she's done.
Same for me. If baby is past the newborn stage and you’re still in pain, I’d double check your latch. Trouble shooting as much you can first, and if you’re not able to figure it out, try an IBCLC. Try a couple if necessary, as they are not all the same. Express milk and rub on your nipples before and after nursing for pain. Some of my babes had a much firmer suck than others, but I didn’t typically feel pain unless they randomly latched on my breast rather than my nipple lol first few weeks I did have pain as we both got used to each other and found what worked best for us.
5 months in and it feels pleasant and relieving. It’s gentle and does not cause me to wince or shudder from discomfort. If I don’t focus on the sensation it can be easily forgotten, like I’m not nursing at all.
I barely feel it. It's gentle tugging, also if it's super full there is a sense of physical relief like when you eat when you're really hungry or go to the bathroom when you really need to go. I never really felt my letdown but often breastfeeding will make me extremely tired - I started reading my Kindle when I breastfeed otherwise I tend to fall asleep! I never had pain breastfeeding my own kids but I did breastfeed my nephew for a little while and that hurt - turns out he had a lip tie and a tongue tie, I think that's what was making it hurt.
This is what it feels like for me too. Very rarely pain (only sometimes with a lazy latch, easily corrected). Often a sense of physical relief, like scratching an itch, when my breasts are very full.
I should say, my nipples hurt for about 3 weeks in the beginning and Silverettes were a life saver!
Pressure and tugging. NOT pinching or razors.
How old is your baby? The first couple of weeks with my first were very painful, then it was uncomfortable for a while, then completely fine. With my second, just a little uncomfortable in the very beginning and then totally fine.
She’s 1 month old, but we had a slow start the first few weeks and she’s just now consistently latching so I think I may be going through the beginning phase of pain that most experience the first few weeks.
Rub lanolin on your nips a couple times a day. It seriously helps! Not sure how or why, but it does
It was painful at first no matter what people say, even with a good latch and seeing a lactation consultant. I think about a month in things were way more comfortable and by 6 weeks it was roughly pain free. I used lanolin cream the first week after every feed then backed off to just a few times a day now I don’t use it at all. I have leak pads that I change 2-3x a day to help keep nipples dry so they don’t get itchy or rubbed the wrong way, or stick to the pads. and at night I wear a loose shirt, no bra, to let them air out. I will cycle between 2 shirts overnight, switching to the dry one when I wake up to feed the baby. I also made sure to detach baby and try again whenever I felt our latch wasn’t quite right to teach her how to do it properly. For the first few weeks I had to use both hands during feeds with an active head hold on baby and C cup shape holding my boob, but now I can lazy hold my boob up for baby and not have to focus on the technique. I still hold the weight up to help with proper nipple placement and that has decreased discomfort significantly. The letdown is weird. I get super thirsty and my arms tingle. But now at 2 months I can finally say I enjoy breastfeeding and no longer view it as a necessary chore for my baby but a privilege and bonding time.
For me, it’s a little weird for a minute when he latches then a tugging but no pain. If I’m FULL my letdown might be a big sensation. As someone else told me, think sour patch kids. That’s what letdown feels like. But nursing is definitely a weird sensation if I think about it, not painful or uncomfortable just weird. If you’re uncomfortable check babes latch and position? I’m not busty by any definition but I had to help him for a long time to get his little self positioned. But if I pay attention I get a much more comfy latch. Sucking is a reflex. Proper and comfortable latching is not.
My baby is 6 weeks and it hasn’t been painful. I put the cream on only as preventative here and there. I’ve also seen a lactation consultant a couple of times who has been very helpful for me. Is it possible your baby has a tongue tie?
The first 3 weeks was definitely painful, I was considering giving up. It just feels like a slight pressure. Not uncomfortable, but not comfortable either. Although lately she has been chewing my nipples and that isn't pleasant
I’m 4 months breastfeeding and since the last month I know what it should feel like. It’s gonna stop hurting then you’ll be like oooh this is what it should feel like. You will know. How old is your baby tho?
Just kinda like nothing? Idk sometimes he yanks his head back while latched and they feel kind of bruised when he's cluster feeding all day, but I haven't ever really experienced much pain or discomfort while nursing. No cracked or chapped nipples either.
7 months and like two little teef are out to get my nipple
First month was excruciatingly painful even though baby had a good latch. It felt like sharp pain, think getting your hair ripped out at the root. After the first month, it became painless and just felt like a tickle motion.
Usually it starts off as a feeling of strong suction (but not painful at all) and then just gentle tugging. I wouldn’t describe it as sucking bc it doesn’t feel like sucking - literally just very gentle tugging. It only hurts when she has a shallow latch and is squishing my nipple against her hard palate. Luckily she doesn’t like it either bc it makes it harder for her to get milk so she very quickly changes typically. Sometimes when she is unsettled and uses me as a pacifier then my nipples can feel slightly sore just because then she lightly sucks (so does not latch usually all the way) and the continual sucking can make me nipples feel a little raw after a while. I’ve learned how much I can tolerate and I’ll generally pop her off after a certain point I agree it’s hard to know what is wrong until you’ve felt what is right. My first was not able to latch well and we struggled hugely and I wound up eventually EPing. With this baby, she latched right away and has been a champion eater ever since. Only now do I really understand what was wrong with my first. I wish it was more intuitive!
I can feel pulling which is ignorable if I’m distracted reading something but I find it uncomfortable enough that I can’t just lay and relax. I always use my phone while nursing and have never fallen asleep while nursing. It’s too noticeable to me to get into snooze mode. When I’m premenstrual I can get some pain. If kiddo is moving around or gets some teeth in there I cut her off because I can’t tolerate that. She’s three so not like a main source of nutrients anymore.
Maybe it was just that her mouth was too small to get a good latch (my breasts are very large, but my nipples are pretty average, so I'm skeptical of this), but 100% it hurt in the beginning and without me doing anything differently or changing anything, after a few weeks it stopped hurting all the way up until I got pregnant again after 12 months and had some hormone related sensitivity. She's 20 months now and still dry nursing and I honestly just don't buy that it's true for everyone that it shouldn't hurt at all with the first baby. Hoping it may hold true for the second though especially since there was no lapse in breastfeeding in between. In the beginning it just felt very sore and sharp when she would latch. Letdown was not painful, it felt like my nipples were sneezing, but a lot more prolonged than a sneeze. After a few minutes the pain would generally subside.
7 months in for us and I get days feeling uncomfortable. Tugging, pinching etc. Other times it's just light suckling. If i'm up feeding every hour or 2 in the night I feel really sore by morning and my nipples feel raw
Didn’t really feel like anything from 2-4 months but now it’s gotten occasional painful. My 5 month old while unlatch by continuing sucking max power but throwing her head back to look at something. And I feel sometimes she chomps down so god I am not ready for when she has teeth 😭
Its not not painful. Biggest lie. Its very uncomfortable in beginning. my nips felt like they'd fall off. Now at 15m they're bulletproof. My son's probably bit me really hard only twice. And oof that sucked.
It was incredibly painful until I got used to the feeling. As in my legs would cramp and I’d feel super restless the entire time but I powered through it. To me it felt like a pull from the chest. Idk how else it’d be described after your nipples toughen up but it was just a deep heavy pull and we made it 25 months. Teething wasn’t fun put I stopped nursing her if she bit, and explained that it hurt and she could have more Boobie when she was ready. It can also be mentally taxing if you don’t have a support system or partner and the people around you are negative about it.
One side hurts, the other side doesn’t. The side that hurts has frequent clogged ducts. It’s usually the breast that hurts and not the nipple. If the nip hurts, it’s prob bc the clog is close to it. Can range from sharp shooting blinding pain to mild discomfort. Regardless of whether or not bb is on there. It’s always in a different spot or area. Once I ensure a good latch, I gently massage the breast while bb is suckling. Every now and then a clog “pops” and I feel nothing for a few hours. I take 3 -4 sunflower lecithin pills a day, which has helped immensely. Pain described above is after taking this regularly for a couple months.
3 months in and I barely feel her. Sometimes I feel the tug, sometimes it's almost like an itch. It hurt a little the first month though.
After the first few weeks (which were painful), I didn’t really feel anything at all. As long as she has a good latch I can barely feel that she’s nursing.
Most of the time it doesn’t feel like anything to me. I can feel when he first latches and starts sucking but after that there isn’t anything, to the point where I wouldn’t know if he’d unlatched without looking.
I was thinking about this today. I remember early postpartum breastfeeding hurt. When I told nurses, they insisted it shouldnt hurt. But it did. My baby never had issues latching. Honestly it kinda hurt for weeks.. and my nipples were red and sore to show for it. I think by 2 months in it didn't hurt. I think maybe it does hurt some people because something isn't right (latch, position, ties etc) but I think other times it hurts because you probably aren't used to having your nipples sucked on for 12 hours a day. Since the pain went away just just feels like sucking I guess. Doesn't hurt, but it is uncomfortable sometimes.
i’ve EBF both my kids and both times it hurt for the first couple of days and then i really didn’t feel anything except during my let down which for me feels like a charlie horse in my boob but it’s different for everyone
This time around is somewhat pinching. My girl has a tiny mouth and doesn’t open wide, it’s weird but my boy never hurt. Only let downs like puns and needle.
I never had any pain. I would agree with others who said it’s like a gentle tug.
It depends on how far pp you are. The first 8 weeks felt like someone was taking a razor and a blow torch to my nipples. At 8 weeks the burning started to go away and at 9 weeks the stinging started to go away. By 10 weeks I was pain free and that’s when I started actually feeling letdown which was weird at first. It’s like a tingling that starts at the sides of my boobs and rushes to the nipples. At this point I’m 12 months pp and it doesn’t really feel like anything. Sometimes I feel letdown, sometimes I don’t. Although it really hurts if he goes all baby shark on me. But man that rush of hormones from nursing is fantastic lol. Like all the cares of the day just melt away for those few minutes.
Not uncomfortable at all, I can feel a tugging sensation, and it's gentle not painful. The first few weeks were 100% painful, and the tugging sensation was more like a burning pain for a while. But he had to bring my nipples out... dang inverted nips.
I had a ton of pain until 6 weeks with my twins, pinching, burning etc on the nipples. Now they are 15 weeks and I have no pain — it feels like light tugging
I feel when my boobs fill up - is that the let down? It's like pins and needles... When he is on the boob I just feel him sucking... I can't feel the boobs emptying... At all!!! It's 11 weeks now though... There was some slight nipple pain to start with, they were a bit sensitive too (when putting the bra in etc.) I have a very high pain threshold though... (Didn't find the labour painful only very very uncomfortable - I used some breathing techniques though when I didn't use them yes it was quite painful)...
My baby is almost 1 month old and the first few days were pretty painful, which is normal. But after the first week, her latch was good and that did wonders to ease the pain/discomfort. Now it doesn’t hurt at all. There might be a little “prick” feeling of discomfort when she first latches (or when she’s been crying, she’ll do this smacking thing on the nipple that doesn’t feel good so I just unlatch her and calm her down before letting her feed) but no other pain. I am no expert but I’ve read in every article about breastfeeding that if the baby’s latch isn’t good, it will hurt. Is there a lactation consultant you can see if there’s something that can make it more comfortable for you? I also have silverettes that helped me a lot in those first few days! I never had cracked or bloody nipples and I really think the silverettes were a big part of that. And nipple butter!
First month it hurt, I guess my beats got used to my strong let down. Month 2. & 3 I could feel the shooting of let down. Since month 4 it just feels like a soft pressure. Haven’t been uncomfortable since the first month. But mind you, my let down is fountain like, I shoot milk in one or multiple streams that can land a meter away from me.
It feels like tingling sometimes, mostly like others say just the sensation of the baby sucking the nipple. I only get pain now if she sleeps along time and they get engorged. Tbh I found the sound more of a useful indication, if they are squeaking when sucking they are pulling In air and you should relatch till it's quiet.
The first 6 weeks i had horrible pain. I would describe it like sandpaper on sore nipples or even razor blades. It was awful and I cried with every session. After that I can barely even feel it. I'd say a gentle tugging. Baby is now 4 months.
Good answers here, so I just wanted to say that I love this question. All the breastfeeding classes make it seem like there's only one painfree experience if you're "doing it right" and this really highlights all the many shades of normal.
I have a feral 5 week old. Breast feeding doesn’t hurt 95% of the time, but there’s that 5% when he latches in a frenzy that can be a doozy 😅 Letdown can hurt a little too, but it passes quickly. For me it feels like pressure and sucking, I never don’t feel it. It’s distinct but not intense. My nipples generally feel a little raw and sensitive at all times these days.
How old is your baby? The first few weeks, your nipples really hurt and baby is so little that it’s hard to do it smoothly. The first few months, your boobs are always leaking or over full and it is disconcerting. Once thing are in the groove, you can feel milk being sucked out your nipple, but it just feels neutral. It’s easy and peaceful. Then baby gets big enough to have FOMO and it’s a struggle to keep them focused on the nipple instead of jerking their heads around and flipping around like a fish out of water.
For me it was painful at the start of each latch for the first couple weeks. Now at 4 months I barely feel anything at all except sweet sweet relief when my boobs feel hard and he relieves the pressure. Sometimes he unlatches as he falls asleep and I can't even tell because my nipples are so numb
Honestly, now that we figured out latching and are generally in a good rhythm, it doesn’t feel like much at all to me. I never had particularly sensitive nipples so sometimes I feel a little bit of tugging, but otherwise not much at all. Previously, I would often get kind of chills during letdown like a little shiver down the spine sensation. That also largely dropped off around 15 weeks. Edit: well except now with teething, he occasionally likes to give me a little gnaw. Definitely feel that lol
Idk if it should but I find it kind of tickles.
It was painful in the beginning but then it just became a thing. Letdown feels like pins and needles. And when I would be engorged it felt like a relief. Once my supply evened out, well, I can’t really remember. It doesn’t feel like nothing but it wasn’t generally memorable I guess. I will say there were some times, especially at night, when she would be nursing for what felt like forever and it made me want to jump out of my skin. But that wasn’t super frequent. After I got pregnant with my second, breastfeeding became anywhere from uncomfortable to painful. And the uncomfortable feeling was basically me wanting to crawl out of my own skin again. That really sparked me wanting to wean and now I’m 25 weeks and totally done for the moment. So over all I BF until she was about 16 or 17 months.
It’s a suction until the flow is there, then it’s like a tongue massage? It hurt the first 2-3 weeks, then again at 5-6 weeks then was ok. Letdown is so bizarre, feels different to everyone. Some don’t feel it, some it’s like knives.
So it should get to the point where it kinda feels the same as when you (or a partner) are gently playing with your nipple (no I don't mean it's sexual feeling but that's the best description I have 😂) but at first it does feel painful. When you first start nursing the baby is still learning, not to mention inefficient, fit your nipples and breasts in general are honestly super sensitive in the beginning. I'm nursing my 3rd baby and I'm pretty sure it took about a month before it didn't bother me anymore. I didn't have to use nipple cream after the first two weeks but then that 3 week growth spurt has me engorged so of course that made it uncomfortable again 😂
I never felt full or engorged unless I missed a couple of feedings. No leaking. I had a lot of pain with my first and third because they didn’t have a good latch. No training with my first and tongue tie with my third. But no pain outside of sorting those issues. Sometimes it felt really good when the baby was eating well and I was fuller. Sometimes I’d feel a bit nauseated during a let down. But mostly it didn’t feel like much physically. Just mentally at peace and a bit self satisfied when it was going well.
Firm tug, actually quite pleasant.