Breastfeed or not to Breastfeed

[denise_23]

My dilemma..... don't know if I should breastfeed or not, I know the great benefits are to breastfeeding, buuut I tried with my son and my experience with that was extremely painful.

[bryleefulk12]

You don't have to breastfeed for a long time if you decide to. I was only able to breastfeed for a little over a week because my milk dried up in my left breast due to an infection from a nipple piercing and scar tissue. But the doctor said even though I couldn't do it for long, my baby still got the benefits.

[ericatoday]

It shouldn't be painful after the first 1-2 weeks. If it's painful after the first week you need to see a consultant because you're probably doing it wrong. That's what I did and I'm now 4 months pp and it hasn't hurt since he was 2 weeks

[denise_23]

Yeah that's what I'm thinking I'm definitely going to try again as much as I can handle and as long as I can too Thanks for the helpful advice :)

[specialmom]

Hey, it is totally up to you.  I personally think bottle fed babies are just as healthy based on all that I know.  I did nurse my kiddos but my sister didn't.  MY kid is the one with all the allergies and gets sick easily.  Go figure.  :>)  Just think about what you really want to do.  There are advantages and disadvantages to both.  I ultimately stuck with nursing because in all honesty, I loved the bonding experience with baby.  You do get that from bottle feeding too (and dad can help more with that!! which sure is nice) but there is something special about nursing.  I also found second time around it didn't hurt much like it did with my first.  With my first, I had a rough start---  bloody nipples and all as he wasn't latching properly.  It was brutal.  Thank goodness for lanolin!  But I did supplement with formula during that per doctor's advice because our first couple of weeks wasn't going great.  I didn't want to give up on it so the supplementing helped.

I think if you are really torn, you can try and if you aren't liking it, then switch to formula.  Your baby will be awesome either way.  :>)

[joannagonzalez]

Its really up to you,if you can ride along the pain go for breastfeeding i did it for 16 months it has its up and downs but it was so worth it i kinda miss it now

[scillacts]

Try the nipple shield it works wonder.! (: it just like a bottle to them

[kelley_bump]

Breastfeed! :)  Its going to be painful but worth it if you can stick out the pain that's only temporary. I'm a ftm exclusively breastfeeding my 9 week old.

[Emalee132]

If you wanna give it a go again, maybe try pumping more? I heard that helps and it'll take a little bit to get over the hump of pain!