Don’t worry, this isn’t going to be one of those posts featuring horror stories about bleeding nipples and mastitis. Well, it does include bleeding nipples, but not in the way you might think.
Like my post on the funny things they don’t tell you about childbirth, this is instead a reflection on things I’ve discovered while breastfeeding three babies, most notably what I’ve learnt in the first week.
This time round I’m an ambassador for breastfeeding experts Medela, and as a #MedelaMum I’ve been asked to share an honest account of my breastfeeding journey. So here goes.
Things no-one tells you about the first week of breastfeeding
1. Don’t be surprised if your baby makes honking noises. Think a pig snuffling a truffle. The words snorting and grunting also spring to mind. Or perhaps it’s just my babies.
2. Cracked and bloody nipples are normal. I don’t care what they say about bleeding nipples meaning you’ve got the latch wrong – I’ve exclusively breastfed each of my three and each time I’ve had bleeding nipples in the first few days. We haven’t got the latch wrong and we are doing it right – it’s just that your nipples haven’t been used for a while, or perhaps not all. It passes within a day or so after they ‘toughen up’ and I’d hate for anyone to give up breastfeeding because they think they’re doing it wrong or it’s always going to be like that. Medela has some great nipple care tips for anyone at this stage of breastfeeding.
3. You’ll probably spend a significant amount of time unhinged. I don’t mean mentally deranged (although what with the sleep deprivation it can feel that way in the beginning) I mean literally unhinged. What with the burping and the resettling of the baby after a feed I often look down and realise I’ve been walking around with a boob hanging out for a good half an hour. Even the postman doesn’t bat an eyelid – he’s seen it all before.
4. Not all breasts are created equal. I don’t mean your breasts and someone else’s – I mean your actual breasts. Don’t be surprised if, owing to milk supply and your baby favouring one side over the other, one boob is significantly bigger than the other. Thanks mother nature.
5. Not all breast pads are created equal. It’s taken me years to find a brand I actually get on with, my main beef being ones with too much paper around the edges making them scratchy. Try Medela’s disposable nursing pads which have a super soft lining.
6. Watch where you put your breast pads. When I’m feeding I take mine out of the side I’m feeding on and tuck it under one leg. Just don’t forget it’s there and get up to do something else. Coupled with the baby sick and goop that’s probably also about your person a soggy breast pad stuck to your thigh is not a good look.
7. Make sure you’ve got everything you need to hand before starting a feed. A drink of water, your phone (there’s absolutely nothing wrong with brexting in my opinion), the TV remote, snacks. Because you don’t know how long you’re going to be there and there’s nothing more infuriating than the thing you want being just out of reach and trying to get it with a baby stuck to your boob.
8. You’ll drink gallons of water. Forget taking a glass of it to bed with you – I take a 2-litre bottle.
9. Always have a minimum of two sets of nursing bras and tops. Because I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve put on a clean bra and nursing top only to be puked on two seconds later.
10. By the end of the first week you’ll have mastered the art of doing pretty much everything one-handed. Chopping vegetables, going to the loo, eating your dinner. It’s just one of the many parenting superpowers you’ll develop in the first year.
Did you breastfeed your baby and was there anything unexpected you learnt in the first week? I’d love to hear what it was!
I’m proud to be working with Medela as a #MedelaMum sharing the ups and downs of my third breastfeeding journey. As always all opinions are my own and based on my own honest experience.
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I remember all this from my first! Great tips. #bestandworst
This is such great advice hun. I never realised it was normal to have such painful cracked nipples and I am so glad I persevered! No 6 made me laugh I remember that distinctly happening to me and my father in law using one as a coaster! #FamilyFun
I like your tip about cracked and bleeding nipples, although no one told me it was normal. I gave up exclusively bf on day 5 and expressed due to Thai reason. Everyone was telling me the latch was perfect but they were also telling me bf shouldn’t hurt or cause pain. Coupled with baby blues I gave up. I’m pregnant with my second now and will do my best to fight through the sore nipples.
There’s some great tips and advice here! Really interesting post #bestandworst
I really, really wanted to breastfeed all three of my babies, I didn’t realize that it was going to be a struggle, the longest I managed was 3 weeks then I gave up and used a bottle, I’m sure that if the support that is available now, was there 100 years ago when I was trying I might have successfully breastfed for a lot longer#familyfunlinky @_karendennis
Haha I’m always walking around with a boob out! #bestandworst
I totally agree with point number 2 – I spent the first few weeks thinking I was doing things wrong because I was in pain, but everyone I talked to experienced the same thing. Your nips just need to get used to being used! #FamilyFun
I spent my entire first week in hospital, so I learnt to trust my instincts. I knew when he was hungry and that he was fine to sleep longer than an average baby but it shakes you when a professional tells you your wrong. The water and readily available snacks and TV remote I learnt within days of being home! #bestandworst
I hate it when you leak a bit, and it somehow gets on your bra, and within an hour it absolutely sinks! It’s horrible! #familyfun
Number two is the biggest one for me – I was so paranoid I was doing it wrong, that we didn’t have the latch right, because I found it really painful. Everyone I spoke to said ‘if it’s painful you’re doing it wrong’ but I think it just takes a while for your nipples to adjust to the sensation. I had so much unnecessary worry from those comments though – I wish I’d saved myself the stress and just got on with it! #FamilyFun
Ha ha, the wondering breastpads. I had that issue a lot. I’d definitely recommend the ones with the sticky it on the back to help them stay in place. I had some once that didn’t have that and they were forever coming up. Trust me, you will get something very strange looks indeed walking round with half a breast pad sticking out above your top!
#Bestandworst
#3! We were in the hospital for a week and a half because the baby was in the NICU, but we were still trying to breastfeed at least somewhat. I’m pretty sure every nurse in that hospital saw me half naked, and it was the first time in my life that I could not have cared less. #ablogginggoodtime
This is just brilliant – and ever part is so so true! Every new nursing mama should read this. That first week is so tough but if you can get through it, it’s so rewarding. Loved this xx #coolmumclub
I loved it in the beginning when I could do stuff one handed while feeding. Now Zach is a massive 10 month old I need to be sat properly! #coolmumclub
It definitely isn’t only your baby that makes those noises, my LO attracts some very funny looks. I think my top tip is to find support because it’s going to get tough, but having others around who know how you’re feeling and who you can laugh about all these things with helps you know you’re doing the right thing for you. #coolmumclub
I wish I’d read posts like this before I started breastfeeding. All I’d had was an NCT lady who’d filled my head with the ridiculous notion that it’s easy! Great post as always! #coolmumclub
Oh I remember it well! Such a great, honest account!
My babies both grunted so loudly when they were breastfeeding. I remember trying to discreetly breastfeed in church (so it was a very quiet room, with just the guy at the front talking), but they were so loud that I gave up and went and sat in the back room! Haha.
I also totally agree with your comment about bleeding not necessarily meaning a bad latch. I fed baby 1 for 18mths so I knew exactly what I was doing when baby 2 came along, but I still had pain (and a bit of bleeding) for about 3 weeks while my boobs got used to it all again. #coolmumclub
Loved this post so much… and had such a laugh, because you just reminded me of everything I went through all those years ago (Zee is 7 now).
“after a feed I often look down and realise I’ve been walking around with a boob hanging out for a good half an hour. Even the postman doesn’t bat an eyelid” – my favourite part! My husband would always tell me that he wondered which day I’d leave the house with a boob on display because I’d always forget to re-clip my bra/top strap haha. 😀
xx #familyfun
I started off well. But the blisters got the better of me eventually. I remember the grunting, snuffling. I had some lovely washable breast pads they were so soft but they got very gooey and sticky. I wish so much that I’d carried on. Next time I WILL NOT give up. #coolmumclub
Ah jeez this took me right back! Strangely I seemed to avoid the cracked bleeding nips thing but I put that down to gallons of Lanolin!
Thanks for linking up to #coolmumclub
Ha, this is all so true – especially the snuffly pig noises! Alfie was so loud when was feeding, you could hear him a mile off! And also the breastpads – my husband used to get so infuriated finding random breastpads everywhere, especially when he’d wake up in the morning with one stuck to the side of his face!! Brilliant post #coolmumclub
I wish they’d told me that when adjusting yourself you may squirt a bit of milk out the window…#awkward haha! #ablogginggoodtime
Ahh what a great post, really reassuring that lots of strange things happening with your body when breastfeeding can be normal 🙂 Thanks for linking up #bestandworst
Ha I love this and so true. They definetly are not created equal I remember looking in the mirror horrified once and wondering if they would ever go back to normal (they did fortunately). Also once you find a good breast pad – stick to it I say. The crappy ones just not worth it. I was also totally unhinged but in every way lol! Thanks for joining us at #familyfun xx
What they don’t tell you is how bananas you’ll go on the day the milk comes in…or maybe they do and you don’t listen….#KCACOLS
Yes, yes and yes to all of these! The breast pad one really made me laugh as one of our NCT group used to leave hers everywhere! It was a running joke. How cool that you’re a Medela Mum – #blogginggoals #KCACOLS
Oh the joys of breastfeeding for the first tine, I remember being shocked and in such pain. The cracking, the bleeding, the engorgement, the spraying!
#KCACOLS
Stopping by again from #coolmumclub
I remember all of this! Also my nipples really hurt for a full two weeks. With my first, my HV said I must have my latch wrong but when my second came and I was a pro it still happened again! I wish healthcare professionals accepted that not everyone is the same!
#KCACOLS
This is SO true! I felt like Freddie was stuck on to me for the first few weeks {months} haha. #KCACOLS
Ahh bleeding nipples, I remember Alex sicked up loads of blood when he was a few days old, I could oletely freaked our and then I realised my nipple was bleeding so he obviously drank it during a feed…gross!! That first week is hard but it definitely gets easier xx #postsfromtheheart
I was surprised that it was nowhere near as natural to me as what everyone had said it would be! I sucked (baby didn’t) – was flat out the hardest thing for me about being a new mom! #postsfromtheheart
I thought it was an amazing experience to breast feed my two and I am so glad that I could without any problems. Drinking water during feeding was my biggest learning curve, the way the thirst just hit me everytime was so strong. Oh and the other biggy was for no-one to say ANYTHING during those first 5 seconds when the baby clamps on!!
Mainy
#KCACOLS
These are good tips. I don’t think that anything you read can describe how breastfeeding will feel for each individual woman. I really struggled and was convinced I didn’t have enough milk – the midwives gave Cygnet formula in hospital and it took a while for my milk to come in so I was playing catch up from day one. I managed it in the end though and fed Cygnet until he was nearly 2. I particularly like the fact that you’ve said that it hurts and you may bleed when you are getting it right. This is so true. So many women give up when they don’t need to because they feel they are doing it wrong. I have to say I did love my modela swing Breast pump. I tried a couple and the medela was definitely the best. Pen x #KCACOLS
Great post. I have so much admiration for women who breastfeed (I failed )
Your tips are spot on. The more posts there are like this the better in my opinion so more women don’t have to feel like I did in the first weeks of breastfeeding.
#KCACOLS
This would have been bloody useful to read when or before I started breastfeeding! I struggled through for 9 weeks and was then told I had to switch to bottle as she wasn’t getting enough which broke my heart but I think these tips would have been really useful when I thought I was doing it all wrong!
Thanks for linking to #ablogginggoodtime
These are so true! I wish I had read this post prior to starting breastfeeding! #KCACOLS
I breathed for 12 months and this post is spot on!!!! Especially the thirst. And I. The early days it’s like as soon as they latch you feel like you’ve been walking through the desert for 6 months lol.
If I have a second I really wanna try the washable bamboo breast pads.
Ps. I love my medela pump. It travelled far and wide with me and was just a life saver, boob reliever and magic maker.
#KCACOLS
I breastfed all 4 of my boys – first for 6 months, 2nd for 2 years, 3rd for 15 months and currently nursing my almost 1 year old. I’ve been lucky to not have many problems, but I found the same with sore cracked nipples for 1-2 weeks then they were fine. No latch issues but my kids have crazy suction and sucking abilities!!!
So many things I didn’t know when I started it all! I was so naive at the time and it didn’t take long for me to give. That plus I has too much blood pressure and was on heavy drugs after Baba’s birth so could not breastfeed. It’s such a hard thing! Thanks so much for linking up at #KCACOLS. Hope you come back again next Sunday.
This is a fab blog! You don’t get told anything about breast feeding other than it’s the best way of feeding. Honking noises this made me giggle 🙂 #kcacol
Number 2 – yes! For a good few weeks it really hurt for me, when my daughter first started a feed. I think it was as my milk let down, it was just weirdly painful. I was so relieved when a community midwife told me this was normal! x #KCACOLS
I answered the door to our postman with leaky milk patches on my Tshirt. Didnt even flinch, apart from he did keep me talking for a while ????
Thanks for linking up with #TodaysMomentInTime
This takes me back! I remember the first week we’re every time we sat down to feed I didn’t have a drink or the TV remote was just out of reach! It’s a good job my OH was there because breast feeding is thirsty work! #KCACOLS
Really great tips and encouragement for anyone starting their breastfeeding journey. Unfortunately my experience wasn’t a positive one and my nipples never actually healed after the initial damage, but this is great advice. #KCACOLS
Ah this makes me smile. I miss breastfeeding!! I just remember them feeling so sore and sitting topless to get air to them! And lanisol, all the lanisol! And food in the night, it made me so hungry! I used to take a banana and breakfast biscuits to bed with me and munch on them at 3 in the morning! x #ablogginggoodtime
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