Breastfeeding: Getting through the Beginning

by Kristal
(PA)

Some of the best advice that I was given was from a nurse in the hospital (who was also a mother of 4)

"If you can get through 9 months of pregnancy, you can get through the first few weeks of breastfeeding. After that, it is much easier and even more rewarding."

The first few weeks after birth are tough with recovery, schedule adjustments, hormone changes, etc., and of course learning how to breastfeed- both for the mother and the baby.

My daughter latched on incorrectly the day after she was born, causing a lot of soreness. It is hard for the nipples to have time to heal when they are being fed off of so many times a day, so it hurt to feed even after she was latching correctly.

I dreaded feedings because of the pain, but I kept going, keeping this bit of advice in mind. After the second week, I was healed, the baby had the hang of feeding as did I, and it became much easier.

It is a lot of work, tears, and adjustments at the beginning, but it gets so much easier.

I would liken it to the old cliche that it is like riding a bicycle- hard at first, but then something just clicks and it becomes like second nature.