With Mav it came almost effortlessly,
Aside from a few minor latching troubles in the beginning I was completely head over heels about breastfeeding my baby.
It was easy, it was free and painless. It helped me bond a deeper love for my son than it ever thought possible. When he started to wean off his night feeds at 13 months I was even sad.
Breastfeeding Ty had been a completely different experience.
I've done this before. It shouldn't be this difficult.
I've actually told my husband more than once I don't want to do this anymore... But I still am going .. Strong..
I cringe when he wants to eat, there have been moments where I have even cried. It hurts so much. I've tried different positions, I know how to line myself up, everything starts out promising and as soon as he takes that nipple into his mouth he does something that hurts so bad at times I lose my breath. Short of using a x ray to see into his mouth there's not much else I can do.
I use nipple cream like its a drug, I must have it . Missing? Find it. Can't find it? Quickly go buy some more.
Dry cracked nipples? Yup got them.
Thrush? Yup got that again too.
Mastitis? For the second time yup have that too.
I've tried a nipple shield but it doesn't help in the long run because he won't empty the breast and that creates more problems.
He's almost 3 months and I am having a difficult time seeing myself continuing for much longer. The thought of stopping even makes me happy... Happy until I really think about it and then I feel horrible.
I've spoke with my doctor and she had nothing useful to say and so I suppose I will humor myself with a visit to the breastfeeding nurse. I say humor because I was trained to teach new moms when I was a student.. But until I've tried ansolutely everything I will has to carry on. It has to get better at some point... Right?
1 comment:
I don't have any useful suggestions either...I did almost zero actual breastfeeding. I did do a lot of pumping, largely because there were two of them and feeding them both at once was like a weird circus act! That would likely solve your pain issues, and make sure he was still eating breast milk (also allow others to do more middle of the night feedings!) It can be super weird, though, and it's certainly less intimate...it's not perfect.
Beyond that, just make sure you don't worry about what anyone else may think. You make your own decisions based on what you think is best, and don't let the breast-feeding mafia tell you that you're a bad mother or are somehow slacking because you stop. The best thing for you may be to continue, it may be pumping, or it may be formula...or a combination thereof. But whatever it is, it's your decision and your decision alone.
It sounds awful, but I wouldn't even give your husband that much input...it's your pain, not his. The baby doesn't benefit from having a miserable, pained mother!
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