my baby is due really soon and I am going to breastfeed, how many of you already do and how is it working out for you? I hear it often really hurts but I don't know..What are the most common problems you run into??

I breastfed my daughter for 3 mos and ended w yeast really bad and its really painful and i just couldnt get rid of it so i had to stop. with my son we were staying at my fiancee's parents house and it was kinda hard to breastfeed and bc i had him 2 1/2 wks early my milk didnt come in right away but when it did it was extremely painful so it lasted a few days w him but i still pumped and gave him breast milk in a bottle. I'm due w my 3rd around april 08 and i'm going to try to breastfeed again. big differences between my son and my daughter i noticed is shes never sick and was sleeping through the night at not quit a mos my son is sick quite often and didnt sleep through the night till he was 2 1/2 mos old. breastfeeding is also cheaper and more convenient. alot easier then buying formula and making bottles. just make sure u listen to your dr about positioning and stuff if u dont get it right yes it can be very very painful..and just remember not all babies will breastfeed so dont give up or get frustrated if he doesnt do it right away.good luck and i hope everything works out for you!

I breastfed my boys only a couple weeks, but I breastfed my daughter for 14 months. It is so much easier than bottle feeding, especially once you get past the first 6 weeks. I would suggest speaking with a lactation consultant before and after delivery to get help with latching. I had zero pain, bleeding or cracks with my daughter because she had a really good latch which is the most important thing.

Hey...i gave up breastfeeding my daughter when she was 6 weeks old. In the beginning she wasnt attaching right and it was very painful. She managed to maul my nipples that bad that the lactation consultant was telling me to consider my options. I had to express what i could and she got some formula, but it got too painful to even express. They gave me a nipple shield which let me breastfeed but these things kill off your milk supply. I was told by a dr when she was 3 wks to use formula top-ups because i didnt have enough milk and gave it up entirely at six weeks because she still wasnt putting on enough weight. If you want to breastfeed that is great, but dont feel bad if you cant. I had guilt placed on me by lots of people, but my midwife (i saw her until 6 weeks after the birth) was very understanding because there was nothing i could do about it. Try to avoid using a nipple sheild at all costs and stop using it as soon as you can if you have too...it will kill off your supply and baby will have to be bottle.

i tried, but i had a bad expirience with a very bad nurse forcing things on me and my baby when we were in the hospital so it scared my baby from breastfeeding for like 3 or 4 weeks and by then my milk supply was drying up and my baby got thrush and gace it to me so it was painfull to have him latch, i had even tried to pump to get my supply to go back up but i was living with my in-laws so things were stressful and i never had private time unless i locked myself in my room...so i had to quit trying...but when i had my next baby im going to...but like someone else said get a lactation consultant and talk to her before and after u have ur baby...good luck!

Hey I breastfed my son until 17 months, and the bonding process of breastfeeding is so awesome. But you really have to watch your diet, I didn't eat junk food or anything, and no coffee or alcohol (well, yeah, I did drink when I was out some times but I pumped milk out beforehand lol).
It was really painful for the first 10 days, my nipples bled, and that's a normal occurence. And the baby has trouble latchigno n at the beginnign usually, that's normal as well.
But after that, it was awesome, and I'm sure it was healtheir for my son than formula, which he's never had.
It stops being painful after about two weeks, and then you're usually on track. That's my experiences with breastfeeding anyway.)