Aunty Lactivist is all of us, so if you have any advice for this mum, any experience you can share or ideas that might help please leave a comment below.
Dear Aunty Lactivist Nipple advise ladies! I breastfed S exclusively for 6 weeks then introduced a bottle and continued with the boob too till she was 10 months. I hated every minute of it
I have never felt pain like it, worse than labour and birth. I got thrush in my nipple but even when that cleared up it was just awful. I continued cause I thought I should.
Anyway, I know like pregnancy that it could be completely different this time so I am going to give it a go so I’m after advise on how best to prepare my nipples. I don’t think my milk production was the best as never at to wear a breast pad and never had that engorged feeling others talk about, even when I stopped feeding. Really want to enjoy it this time so please help xx
any advice would be fantastic 
Mummy Milk Rocks – Shopping Bag 
Any Old Cow – Shopping Bag 
“Any old Cow” Short Sleeved T 6-12 months 
“Any old Cow” Short Sleeved T 3-6 months 
Care Instructions – Shopping Bag 
There isn’t really anything you can do to prep your nipples, but you can prep YOURSELF. Educate yourself. Attend LLL meetings, read, learn. Sounds like the latch might have been off. You should not experience PAIN when nursing. Some soreness/discomfort can occur in the early weeks, but if latch is correct, there should not be PAIN. You can use a good nipple cream during your last trimester or last few weeks, many use Lansinoh, but personally I prefer Motherlove Nipple Cream, which unfortunately, I’ve only been able to find online. But the cost is comparable, and it’s not sticky like Lansinoh. It’s olive oil based. If you feel PAIN when nursing, see an IBCLC or LLL leader and have baby’s latch evaluated. Sometimes a slight positioning change or baby’s mouth opened a bit wider makes all the difference in the world. Whether or not you leaked has no bearing on your supply. If you EBF on demand, your supply will keep up and you’ll make enough milk 99% of the time. When EBFing, you want to have at least 6 diaper changes in a 24 hr period, and if you get that, you will know baby is getting enough. Going back and forth from breast to bottle can affect it too, as sometimes, baby prefers the faster flow of the bottle, and suckles too hard at the breast, to get a flow similar to that of a bottle nipple, and that can cause pain. Your supply likely lowered because you were doing both breast and bottle, because unless you were pumping each time baby got a bottle, your body did not get the signal to make milk, so production could have slowed. This time, I would try to steer clear of bottles at least until nursing is well established and PAIN FREE. You are right, that it can be different with each child. I urge you to get help if you feel the same pain this time around. And, I nursed 2 children, and only leaked with the 2nd one, only the first 2 weeks or so. Some women leak and others don’t…means NOTHING regarding supply. Hope you find this helpful!
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Wow! I’m impressed you managed to feed for so long despite the pain!
I’m afraid there is no way to prepare nipples for breastfeeding. Apart from if you get thrush, nipples only really get sore if your baby isn’t latched on perfectly and that’s the only thing you can do to ensure that breastfeeding doesn’t hurt. It’s a sign that something’s wrong, despite what well-meaning breastfeeding helpers or midwives, or anyone says your latch looks like. If it hurts, then something’s wrong.
See this vlog that I did that explains why poor latch causes sore nipples: http://freeyourparenting.com/2011/07/11/breastfeeding-vlog-why-you-get-sore-nipples-when-your-baby-doesnt-latch-on-well-enough/
The fact that you had an issue with your milk production also suggests that your baby wasn’t latched on so well, which would make his feeding less efficient.
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