4 Essentials to Alleviate Breastfeeding Pain and Discomfort
Breastfeeding is a learned practice. Yes, breastfeeding is natural in the sense that it’s a miracle your body is able and knows exactly how to produce breastmilk, however, it is definitely not intuitive. One of the biggest pieces of advice I give to first time moms is to give yourself and your baby time and grace to learn how to breastfeed.
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How do I know if my baby has a good latch?
Breastfeeding also comes with a lot of ups and downs. Some of those downs might include discomfort at times, especially in the early days when adjusting to breastfeeding. Although its common to experience some tenderness or slight discomfort, breastfeeding should not be consistently painful. If you’re in pain try adjusting your baby’s latch. Typically pain comes from too narrow of a latch, meaning the baby has just the nipple in its mouth. Your baby should have a wide latch, which includes the nipple and part of the areola. A narrow latch can cause damage to your nipples and cause you a lot of pain so its important to work on getting a good latch early on.
Where to find a lactation consultant
If you need help or just want to reinforce the success of your breastfeeding journey, please please see a lactation consultant early on! Your hospital or birthing center will typically have a lactation consultant on site that you can see right away after your baby is born. You can also continue to see a lactation consultant when you get home. Private lactation consultant services are an option or many times local healthcare systems will host baby weigh-ins for new moms to meet with a lactation consultant. These weigh-ins are essentially open office hours where you show up and weigh your baby before nursing, breastfeed your baby, and then weight your baby after feeding to see how much breastmilk your baby is eating during a nursing session and ensure your baby is gaining a healthy amount of weight.
I attended these sessions weekly for the first month with Ada and I believe they were large part of why we had a successful breastfeeding journey. Because she had jaundice we really struggled with sleepy eating. I also had an oversupply of breastmilk in the beginning, which caused engorgement and made it hard to get a good latch. The weigh-in sessions allowed me to ask all of my questions directly to the lactation consultant, make sure that my baby was latching properly, and ensure she was gaining a healthy amount of weight each week. Even after you get the hang of breastfeeding, you will inevitably experience some discomfort every once in a while. Here are some of my favorite products to help alleviate any pain or discomfort you may experience from nursing.
Best breastfeeding products to relieve pain and discomfort
Lansinoh Soothies Cooling Gel Pads: These are by far my favorite nursing product and one that I always include in gift baskets for my friends who just had a baby. They’re essentially a gel pad that you stick directly on top of your nipple. Breastfeeding can cause a burning or heated sensation and these gel pads provide a cooling effect to relieve discomfort. The gel pads can be put in the refrigerator for even more of a cooling effect. They are also reusable; just make sure you don’t put on nipple butter before you stick the pads on as the nipple butter will ruin the stickiness of the gel pads.
Ice packs: Similar to cooling gel pads, ice packs provide relief from the burning sensation that breastfeeding can cause. I felt this the most in the first several months when I was feeding every 1-3 hours and especially when cluster feeding at night. Ice packs work great when your have free hands, but cooling gel pads are preferable when you are holding a baby or using at night because they are sticky and you don’t need hands to apply like ice packs.
Frida Mom 2-in-1 Lactation Massager: The lactation massager is primarily used to help dislodge clogged ducts. I put the lactation massager on my baby registry and while I didn’t use it as much as I thought I would, it was still handy to have around. I’ve also heard of mamas using an electric toothbrush to work out clogged ducts. Same concept! I primarily used hand massage to work out clogged ducts.
SILVERETTE The Original Silver Nursing Cups: I ended up buying these several months into my breastfeeding journey when I was experiencing discomfort from open sores. They are made of silver, which has anti-inflammatory properties to help protect and heal. The silver cups are worn in your nursing bra between breastfeeding sessions and prevent the fabric of your bra from rubbing against your nipples. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend registering for these on your baby registry because they are expensive and may not be necessary for you, but keep them in mind or save to an Amazon “breastfeeding” list for later. Then you can easily purchase the silver cups if you get to the point where you feel like you need them.
