Lactation Consultant

One thing I wish I had known before I had my baby was that breastfeeding could be painful and challenging. I know this is not the case for some women. For me personally, I thought that breastfeeding would be a blissful bonding experience between my daughter and me. Instead, I suffered from boughts of thrush (link to more info on this), as well as a baby with an incorrect latch. For the thrush part, I used various creams to kill the yeast, and finally, it did go away. But the latch problem lasted throughout our nursing relationship. Basically, the baby is supposed to have quite a bit of the nipple and surrounding areola in their mouth. (See link to info on “The Proper Latch” – TBD). My daughter insisted on taking in only the tip of the nipple. This provided a painful experience, and crushed my hopes of blissfully nursing my baby. I went to a couple of lactation consultants who showed me the proper latch. They said that if the baby latched incorrectly to remove her from the breast and try again. This tactic was not successful. However, I was determined not to give up. I found the following things helped ease the pain during nursing sessions:
1) Get into a comfortable position, with pillows propped as needed
2) Keep a glass of water to sip
3) Most important: I tried to stay focused on the fact that I was providing my baby with nutrients and anti-bodies she could not get anywhere else. I also made sure I was in a comfortable position.
Obviously, every woman is different, but hopefully this will inspire someone in my situation not to give up.