What do you think about the experience of breast feeding?
8 November 2009 18 Responses
A Parent asks, -What does it feel like? Does it hurt?
-Do you feel comfortable breast feeding in public places?
-How do you feel about breast feeding around older chidren?
-Do you think it is okay to breast feed older children (4-5 years old)?
-Was it ever difficult for your children to suckle your nipple due to small size?
Thanks 
I am almost sure I will choose to breast feed, but just wanted some other insight. I am already aware of the numerous benefits.
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It hurt when I was trying with my newborns, but neither one of them could latch on, with help from the hospital lactation consultant! I really wish I could have though. If you can, I would do it!
-After the initial start up..it just feels like gentle tugging. It did hurt a little bit in the beginning..but not terrible..my nipples just got a little sore
-I don’t feel comftorable bfing in public, simply b/c my husband and I both have bad tempers and if someone were to look at me(in a negative way)..we would both end up putting that person in there place..and we dont want any assualt charges : )
-I see no issue with bfing around older children, its how babies are fed..and there is nothing wrong with them knowing that
-Nothing really to think about bfing older children. If mom and child both feel comftorable with it…then thats there business
-I had small nipples and small boobs ..my daughter has never had a problem..but also..they aren’t sucking your nipple..they latch onto the areola
>>>>>
kathiangel711: Just out of curiosity, you say its weird for a mom to breastfeed past one…and that she should just pump and bottle feed. I just wanted to comment and let you know that…lots of moms who choose to breastfeed past one year..are not able to pump..and lots of those babies also refuse bottles..so what would you suggest for those situations? Do you think they should not breastfeed, b/c they cant pump? Sorry but Pumping sounds easy when its said..but its not.
It takes me some time to do in public places to get comfortable. People are looking at me and wondering want I am doing.
I have a 7 year old son and a 4 year old son has well and I do breastfeed in front of them. It doesn’t bother them. My 7 year old thinks she eating out of my stomach that want he tells my mom.. Which I think it kinda of funny. But he doesn’t watch me or anything.
No it doesn’t. No matter want you would need to teach the baby to get latch on the breast which I had to do.
It doesn’t hurt me at all. If it hurts there could be reason. The baby isn’t latch on perfectly or correctly. If there a breast infection I would say. My baby has a good suck.
It has been a wonderful experience for me. I will miss it when she is weaned.
- I don’t notice it anymore except for when my milk lets down. Then I feel a slight tightening sensation in my breasts. It did hurt at first when my milk came in and until we got a good milk supply established, but it didn’t last more than a week or two before it stopped hurting.
- I am pretty comfortable feeding my baby in public places. I stay covered and if there is a nursing area available, I take advantage of it.
- I feel fine about it.
- I don’t believe that is appropriate. I’m sorry but at the point it’s not done for the nutrition, it’s done because mommy can’t cut the cord. Past 2 years old is too old in my opinion.
- Nope. My daughter had no problems latching on.
Good luck in what ever you may choose!
It was very positive for me
-at first it does hurt but after the first couple of days it didn’t hurt at all
-I was comfortable nursing anywhere – if you are not that is cool too you can always use a cover up if you want to
-I breast fed around my son who was 12 when his sister was born, all of my nieces and nephews were around and it was never a big deal.
-as long as kids know what is going on they will have no issues with it – they are actually more excepting of it then some adults.
-I never had any nursing issues but if you do any good lactation consultant should be able to provide guidance.
I think it is so worth a try – at least if you give it a try you won’t ever have the “I wish” situation.
Good Luck and Congrats on the coming baby.
EDIT – I so miss read one question – I DID NOT NURSE MY SON TILL 12 LOL – I did let me kids self ween – they were done at 16 mnth, 23 mnths and 24 mnths. (wow – I am either getting old or I am way too tired LOL)
It feels different… doesn’t hurt.
Yes, now I do but I didn’t with my first child
I think its fine
I think its kinda weird, but it fine as long as its at you home
No
Good luck breastfeeding!
-It feels weird at first. A slight tugging sensation, but after a while you get used to it. I only notice it if DS has a bad latch.
-I proudly nurse in public with out a cover. I believe that is the only way people will get used to it and stop it from being taboo.
-I think nursing around older children, even if they’re not my own, will help promote that nursing is normal and nothing to be ashamed of.
-I personally wouldn’t go past 4 if I had the support, but if a woman and her child wish to continue nursing that’s their choice.
-I have flat nipples so there was latch issues at the beginning. We persevered and are going strong at 13 months. Besides it’s breast feeding not nipple feeding. The child is suppose to have the nipple plus as much aureole as possible in it’s mouth.
It hurt at first but the pain passed after the first couple weeks. If you have pains it’s due to a bad latch though so it’s fixable. Get help immediately if you have pain, in my experience one feeding with a bad latch causes pain for a while. I didn’t feel comfortable at first and tried to pump and give a bottle in public. I found myself with a very hungry baby that refused a bottle at the zoo. I spotted another mom breastfeeding and sat myself down next to her to feed my son. I got a good cover(hooter hider) and got over it. It doesn’t bother me a bit now, my son is 10 months old. I breastfeed discretely so I don’t care who is around. The age that the breastfeeding relationship is up to the individual. I don’t think breastfeeding past 2yrs old is for me though. I have large breasts and very small nipples, strange I know. It may have caused some of my initial pain but we got over it.
It’s a very strange feeling. In the beginning it did hurt quite a bit, mainly due to sore nipples. Mine cracked and led and hurt like hell, I cringed every time my son wanted to eat. It has gotten much better though and doesn’t hurt anymore. I feel comfortable feeding him in public places, although when he was a newborn and I took him out the first couple times I was self conscious. I don’t think there’s anything wrog with breastfeeding in front of older children, but then again, I always cover myself with a blanket and would not feed my baby without a blanket in front of children. I think it’s sick and wtong to breastfeed a child over 2, and I personally won’t nurse my son after 1 year. Lastly, small nipples weren’t a problem for my son, he latched on perfectly the day he was born…I lucked out!
1. at the start, it hurt like blue bloody blazes. she was very weak and couldn’t hold a latch if the nipple was wet. on top of it, i have small nipples – after 22mo, i just find this out now, lol – and she would fall asleep after 30 seconds. so i nursed her every 10 min and that, plus her bad latch, meant cracked nipples. i used to cry when that freakin timer went off because i knew the jolt was coming – once she was actually on and nursing, though, it didn’t hurt at all. one day, about a week and a half later when she was up to feeding about every 40 minutes, it suddenly went away almost overnight!
2. totally. i have no problem with it at all. here in toronto, it’s against the law to interfere with a breastfeeding mother so that helped, as did a wrap – http://www.mamankangourou.ca – when you’re strolling around the CNE with a latte in one hand and a map in the other, nobody thinks you’re breastfeeding, lol. now, though, i don’t care if she whips up my top and i end up flashing – doesn’t hurt me if someone cops an eyefull and if they don’t like it, they got eyelids.
3. not a problem – i do it frequently when i visit friends and relatives. the parents who object just tell their kids to go downstairs and play for a while but there’s not many and it’s usually only the boys. omg, i have to tell you about this one time we were visiting his relatives and i had to nurse saari, who was about 3mo old at the time. the boys were shooed upstairs but as soon as mom went to do laundry, they came thundering back down to stand in front of me and inform me i was doing it all wrong. i said what? they pulled out a book called “baby and child care” and said “see? you have to do it like this picture”. i told them that picture was a very tiny newborn baby and when the baby gets bigger, you have to change the position and they thought that was very clever of me to figure out, rofl!
4. yep – not me, personally, but, like gay marriage, i have no concern at all what other ppl want to do with themselves and their time cause it’s none of my business. it’s good for the child and as long as the child is willing, i don’t have anything to say about it. my daughter is 22mo old now and in our family, we often start reading about 3yrs of age. the thought of her reading the paper over breakfast is a bit off-putting so if she’s not weaned by 3, we’re gonna have a chat.
5. yes, at the beginning she had a rough go but i just nursed her as often as she needed and it wasn’t long before it all sorted out.
It did feel a little weird at first but you get used to it. lanolin cream will help your nipples be less sore. I also planned on breast feeding for at least three months. Unfortunately I was not producing enough milk and had to switch to formula. I did hear later that if this happens to drink more water. Best of luck to you and your baby; breastfeeding will be wonderful and worth every moment!!
It is like a gentle tugging. It did hurt in the beginning. I used a lot of ointment to keep my nipples moisturized. I don’t remember it hurting very long. Maybe the first few days after his birth.
With my first I COULD NOT breastfeed in public. Even if I wanted to, I would get so nervous, my son would not latch! For some reason with my second child, I could have cared less. I breastfed him walking through wal-mart!!
I was always very discreet while breastfeeding in public. Not many people even knew I was nursing. If older children were around I would not breastfeed around them. However, my son was 3 1/2 when my second child was born and I did breastfeed around him. I feel like breastfeeding is a very natural thing. I was never ashamed of it. I wanted to be a positive influence on my son so that if one day his wife chose to breastfeed his children he would be supportive.
I cannot answer you last question because I do not have small breasts/nipples!!
I hope you do decide to breastfeed. It is the most wonderful bonding experience. I only breastfed my first son for 3 months and I regret stopping so earlhy. I breastfed my second child for 11 months and it was so hard to wean him because it was such a special time for me. I just cannot explain it!!!
breast feeding is definitely a personal choice, I did not do it with my first..I was 18 and it was not something I was comfortable with besides I know when my husband at the time would try to suck on my breast it was very annoying, when I had my second child he was a preemie and the dr’s recommended that I do it because it was better for him, so I did it, at first I had that same annoying feeling but I got past that, It definitely gave us our time it was not something someone else could do. I breast fed my 3rd child who was also a preemie. I did this for 3 months and then went to bottle, I do not agree with women who breast feed kids older than 1, even that is a bit old I feel as though you can pump and give the breast milk to them in a bottle. I don’t believe in someone sitting in a stadium feeding either, I think although a natural thing you can do it in private also. there is no reason for the world to see. Even when breast feeding in my own home I would place a blanket over me, my younger children knew what I was doing but didn’t need to see the act it self…just my personal feelings on it…There is nothing wrong with trying it if it is not for you then you stop or if you want your baby to have the breast milk then you can always pump..best of luck
-What does it feel like? Does it hurt?
It kinda hurt at first, but once we got the latch-on down, it doesn’t hurt anymore.
-Do you feel comfortable breast feeding in public places?
Sure, under a blanket it though. I’m not one to whip out my breast.
-How do you feel about breast feeding around older chidren?
…I don’t have any older children.
-Do you think it is okay to breast feed older children (4-5 years old)?
I don’t see why it wouldn’t be. It’s good for them.
-Was it ever difficult for your children to suckle your nipple due to small size?
I don’t have particularly small nipples.
Kathi: You can’t “always” pump. If I just pumped for my baby, I wouldn’t be able to get nearly enough. I can only pump like 2oz per session. Some people can’t pump very much, it’s not that easy. Besides, the milk isn’t as beneficial when it’s pumped. Milk straight from the breast is best.
Once you and baby finally learn and get a hang of it it just feels like a gentle tugging and doesnt hurt at all. I do not nurse in public just because thats my personal preference. If I had older kids I probably wouldnt see a problem, but probably wouldnt around others, you never know how the parents feel. I have an issue with nursing older kids. Once they can eat real food and can talk to you I think its too old, sorry thats just my personal opinion.
To be honest and not sugar coat, breastfeeding is not easy and i felt everyone made it seem like it was. I didnt get to attend a class due to having her early. The nurses tried while in the hospital but she had latching issues. It continued for weeks and she was given a bottle due to jaundice and needing to eat. She is now 2 months and it is finally going smoothly!!! It took us a while and I almost gave up multiple times but am proud that I didnt.
I did all my reading when I got pregnant, and I was determined to make it to at least one year and I would have walked through fire to get there (and I did).
For most, it doesn’t hurt if the baby latches on correctly and a lactation consultant can help if the baby isn’t latching correctly. For me, it did hurt. The first few months were really painful. I checked with a lactation consultant and the latch was perfect. I just had really sensitive nipples. Plus my daughter had reflux, so she pretty much nursed every 30-45 minutes around the clock.
But regardless, I was going to make it to a year, no matter how much it hurt. I figure if I bring a child into this world, it’s my duty to give her the healthiest start, so I just beared through the pain and would not let myself make any excuses.
After a couple of months, the pain subsided and it was pretty much smooth sailing from then on. I had some plugged ducts and I leaked everywhere and anywhere and anytime, but those were just inconveniences more than anything else.
At first it made me a little uncomfortable to nurse in public, simply because I really hadn’t seen it except a few times here and there. So I bought one of those covers and tried to find a private place to nurse. After a while, it felt “more natural” to me to breastfeed and I realized that I was probably drawing more attention to myself by covering and hiding than I would if I just nursed wherever I was.
So I started doing just that, and I realized that my theory was right. 99.9% of the time, people had no idea. In fact, my dad had a massage right in front of me and the massage therapist, even though carrying on a conversation with me, had not realized I was nursing until I mentioned that her full belly was why my daughter fell asleep.
I pretty much nursed wherever after that. I pulled up my shirt just enough, and I nursed walking through the mall, in restaurants, at an air show…whereever she got hungry and most of the time, no one even noticed.
I don’t feel weird about breastfeeding around older children. In fact, I think it’s important for them to see that there is another way of feeding a baby than with a bottle. I mean, I was so used to seeing bottles that I had actually thought that formula was an essential part of feeding a baby until I got pregnant and started reading!
As for breastfeeding older kids…I’m on the fence there. I’m all for breastfeeding to about 3 years old, but then it starts to seem a bit excessive.
No, it was never difficult for my child to suckle. Breast size or nipple size has nothing to do with it because they don’t really suck on the nipple. They take in the area around the nipple (the areola), so your nipple size really means nothing.
Anyway, in the end, I nursed both my kids for just over 2 years each. Now they are 5 & 8 and I really miss that time. It was such a nice thing to just be there at 3 am in the dark and quiet just singing or rocking my baby and nursing. My children are very affectionate even today, but there’s just something about nursing that is calming and just sweet…it’s hard to explain.
I was deathly afraid of breast feeding. I have always had very sensitive nipples and smaller breasts. Several older women told me that during the last half of my pregnancy that I should scrub my nipples with a wash cloth every time that I take a shower. I didn’t use a cloth but I did use a scrubby ball thing. It was uncomfortable at first but I kept doing it.
My baby latched good right away and it was just a bit of a tug. It didn’t hurt at all. I never cracked or bled. I like to think it was a combination of me “toughing up” my nipples and good latches.
When my milk came in I had some troubles with my daughter latching because my flat nipples got even flatter due to the fact that my breasts were like huge softballs. But with a little help from a lactation expert I was back to breast feeding without a hitch.
I feel absolutely comfortable in public. I usually wear a nursing tank under my shirts so that I feel comfortable about not showing my belly when I have to lift up my shirt. I also had a nursing shawl that I wore at first but now I do it all the time in public without it. You will find that you can feed without showing any part of your breast.
I do feed around older children. For the boys, their parents have had the talk with them that staring is not appropriate. The girls have never cared about anything except for the baby.
I don’t have an opinion about feeding children 4-5 years old. It’s a personal decision and one that I will not choose to do.
I didn’t have any problems feeding my child because of my small nipples.
I love breast feeding. It’s hard, really hard at times for the first few weeks but it is such a wonderful bonding experience. I love it more than I ever thought that I would.
I am expecting my first child and will breast feed.
I feel comfortable breastfeeding in public, but I have already bought a nursing wrap and will cover up while doing it.
I do not feel it is okay to breast feed older children. I think at that point it is the mother imposing some of her feelings and desires to contunie breastfeeding on the child who does not know any better. I think it is damn close to child abuse. There is no nutritional need for a 5 year old to breastfeed and there are much more productive ways of bonding with your child than having a 4 to 5 year old suck at your breast. Would you want your 4 or 5 year old wearing diapers??? Would you want your 4 or 5 year old sucking on a pacifier in kindergarten???
I have no problem BF around other children, just be prepared to be stared at and have questions asked. Kids are curious.
And nipple size does not affect breastfeeding. The child taked the entire nipple and large portion of the areola in to their mouth, they do not just sucks on the nipple because the milk ducts would not be pressed and no milk would come out. The only problem you;d have with nipples is if you had an inverted nipple. Whcih is where your nipple retracts in to the breast and does not stay out of the breast while being sucked and stimulated.
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