How to Survive Breastfeeding and Deal with Painful Cracked Nipples

For most breastfeeding mothers it is no secret. Breastfeeding hurts. In the beginning, that is. But you need not stop breastfeeding. Many women give up because they don't have the support and "push" that they need to continue.

The average time for a woman's milk to come in is 2-4 days after birth. That means that for the first 2-4 days you are just producing colostrum. Colostrum is a sort of "pre-milk" designed to nourish your baby until you are producing regular milk. It also helps the baby to eliminate meconium because it helps to stimulate the bowels.

If you were lucky enough to surpass the woes of latching that many women experience, you probably felt as if breastfeeding was going to be a breeze. Don't worry. It's okay that you were wrong. I remember thinking it was a piece of cake and bragging that I felt no pain at all. And then one day I woke up with terrible soreness in my nipples. It was so terrible that I actually cried when my son would cry to nurse. But I got through it and since then I have gone on to nurse another baby successfully.

My first tip is to make sure that the baby has as much of the areola in their mouth as possible. This sort of goes along with latching well, but many women that seem to have no problems still do not get this one right. They tend to let the baby latch onto the base of the nipple instead of around the areola. Take your thumb above your areola and your four fingers underneath your areola. Squeeze your thumb and fingers toward each other so that you are "condensing" the areola for the baby to take in as much of it as they can. "Tease" their lips with your nipple and do not attempt to place the areola into their mouth until they have their mouth opened as wide as possible. Making sure you are following that tip will keep trauma to the nipple to a minimum.

As soon as you begin nursing you should be using a lanolin product to protect your nipples. You can pick one up at most any store that sells baby items. Follow the instructions on the label, but you generally just apply it and go about your day. The special formulas help to moisturize and heal cracked, bleeding and sore nipples. Using it ahead of time can help keep the areola area as moist as possible.

Make sure that you nurse your baby as often as possible to prevent engorgement. There is nothing worse than trying to nurse a baby with engorged breasts and sore nipples.

What if everything you try fails? What if you find yourself weeping right along with your baby? If you were my friend, I would tell you to grit your teeth for the first minute and that it would get better. I'd tell you that in another week you would be healed and feeling wonderful. You may not believe me, but it's true. It may seem like a nightmare to have to nurse a baby with the terrible pain that cracked nipples can bring, but after the initial latch the pain usually fades quickly. Your pain relievers that were prescribed to you in the hospital can also come in handy.

If you practice proper latching techniques, apply lanolin, nurse often and make it through the first minute, you are already a successful breastfeeding mother!