Does Breastfeeding Hurt?

There is no joy as fulfilling as being a mother. Giving birth to a bundle of joy and then raising the baby is an experience that all women long for. An important part of taking care of the baby is breastfeeding it. The experience though beautiful can be a tough time for some females as they experience pain while breastfeeding. 

There are quite a few reasons why breastfeeding hurts and the experience can be vastly different for every female. Certain conditions such as breastfeeding a baby who is teething can be all the more troublesome and painful. There are different ways in which you can lessen the hurt though.

Pain During Breastfeeding

It would be no stretch of the imagination to say that almost every female goes through pain and discomfort while breastfeeding. To say that the experience is only beautiful is painting a rosy picture that bears no resemblance to reality. Though the pain is by no means horrifically painful, it is more or less of a discomfort that mothers feel when the baby latches on to feed itself. So, is this discomfort normal?

Since it happens to every female there is no way that it can be a medical problem. Breastfeeding experts such as Dr. Jack Newman say that some tenderness during the first few days is completely normal though it should be temporary and not persist over a longer period. It should definitely not be so bad that the mother fears to nurse because in that case, it is surely not a normal problem. Pain that is nowhere close to mild happens because the baby is unable to latch properly.

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Different Perspectives

The medical community and nursing mothers are divided on their stand on the whole breastfeeding hurt experience. The mothers who have nursed babies would recommend new mothers to give it time and let the nipple toughen; the experience gets a whole comfortable once you get used to it. The medical community though does not stand by such belief and say that there is no such thing as nipples toughening up. If breastfeeding hurts, then there is something wrong, and you need to fix it as soon as possible. There are of course those who feel that the proper way of dealing with hurt during breastfeeding is somewhere amidst the two. It doesn't necessarily require the nipples to toughen up, but it does need some time to get accustomed to. If the pain is really too much then it is better to consult a doctor.

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Does Breastfeeding Hurt When The Baby Has Teeth?

The toughest situation though is when the baby is rooting or in other words has tiny teeth which can pose a huge problem for nursing mothers. In such cases, most mothers have to squish their nipples down so that the baby can latch on properly without chomping the breasts, which is surely really painful.

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Ways To Make The Experience Better

Firstly, one needs to eliminate all the negativity that surrounds the whole experience of breastfeeding. Nursing mothers hear a lot of things that produce a false image and make them think that the experience is always going to be terrible. Secondly, the main reason for discomfort or sometimes even the pain can be due to the baby not latched on properly. Some mothers who experience cracking or bleeding swear by lanolin ointment that greatly helps. It is also advisable to sit down with a breastfeeding expert and let them help you through the entire process and eliminate any cause of worry.

Do you think there is a lot of unnecessary false information surrounding the whole process of breastfeeding? Share your views using the comment box below.

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