Breastfeeding essentials

I've done several posts about breastfeeding: how good it is for babies and mamas and the challenges I've had.  I'm happy to say that breastfeeding is going a lot better for me now.  I still have a crack the size of Big Cottonwood Canyon on my left nipple (it used to be the size of the Grand Canyon) and it's still healing.  I'm still using a nipple shield (which has been a lifesaver), but I hope to stop using it soon.  It's not conducive to nursing anywhere in public because it takes a while to position it directly over the nipple.  And then, as soon as you get the baby positioned, he has a startle reflex and knocks it off your breast and you have to start over. 

Close contact nipple shield.  Can buy it on Amazon.com.  I use a small...it's got a 20mm diameter at the base.  There is an extra small, medium, large, and extra large.  

I bought three nursing bras to start: two of them are for comfort and one is for going out.  The comfortable ones are made out of a stretchy fabric and the back is like a sports bra.  

Medela nursing bra

The other bra is not as comfortable, but doesn't come up as high as the comfy one so I can wear it with lower cut shirts.  

Medela nursing bra

Just today, I bought a nighttime nursing bra, since I've been sleeping in my two comfy bras and spending 24 hours a day in the same bra makes me feel kind of gross.  The nighttime bra doesn't have the front breast flaps.  You have to grab them and pull them aside, but there's a lot of give in the fabric and it's soooo comfortable to sleep in.  It's like a nightgown for your boobs.  It's great.  

Medela Sleep Nursing Bra

I've also been using the Lansinoh nursing pads.  I have a few reusable nursing pads that Christy had given me, but because my nipples were cracked, they would stick to the fabric and it would hurt, no matter how much lanolin I would put on them.  The disposable nursing pads don't stick as much.  However, I was using just one a day.  I learned that you had to change them every time you leak because if you don't, the pads start smelling like sour milk or sourdough.  

I started using Neosporin on my nipples to help heal the cracks.  My lactation consultant recommended it and it's been really great.  I think it's sped up the healing.  She said that if I used the nipple shield, the cracks would heal within a week.  Well, 2 weeks later and they're not healed.  I think it's because even though I'm using the shield, Desmond still sucks a good amount of nipple and areola into the tip of the shield and each time he does that, it opens the crack up just a bit.  Gross, I know. 

I also always keep a burping cloth or small hand towel nearby the places I breastfeed to catch the drips and squirts of breastmilk that happen when I try to get Desmond to latch on.  They're a bra and clothing saver.  Also great if you don't particularly like the feel of liquid running down the skin pouch hanging over your pants.  

So, if you want to minimize weeks of sore breasts and having to shower hunched over because even the pressure of the water directly on your nipples hurts, make sure you read up on how to breastfeed and what signs to look for that things are not going well.  And if you hurt or are in doubt, consult someone (LLL leader, lactation consultant, your doctor/midwife).  You'll be so so so much happier that you did.