I have a quick question about nursing mother's letdown. My daughter is 6 weeks old today. I met with a lactation consultant when she was a week and showed her my form and she said everything looked great. When I start to nurse my daughter, it is painful for the first minute or two and then subsides. I just curious as to what other mamas letdowns feel like. The LC said that i may just be one of the women that when my daughter first latches it may be toe curling everytime. My MIL said that hers felt like the tingly sensation when a body part falls asleep or pins and needles. I just wanted to see if that is normal or not...
TIA!!!!
Yep totally normal. I had this with my third baby for several weeks until it finally stopped. I didn't have it with my first two so it was weird to me to have it with my third but it did get better as time went by.
Totally normal sensation and lessens in time. Mine felt more like pins and needles.
A proper latch should not hurt. But let down...wow...for me it made me hold me breath, every time. Pins and needles to the tenth degree. It got less intense over time but never went away. And both sides would let down every time for me, no matter which side was being nursed on. Of course, once the intense let down passed (always at the 2 minute mark for me), the rest of the feeding was cake. Good luck to you! And I agree with a previous commenter...your LC should be on speed dial and come visit several times.
At first letdown hurt and was kind of pins and needles for me, but after a while, it was more just a dull pinch but not painful.
You don't have any blisters or anything, right? And does she open wide for the latch? If you have blisters or are very sore afterwards in addition to the initial pain, it could be that she doesn't open wide enough at latch, and kind of sucks her way into the right position. This you can fix by make sure she opens really wide to latch on (tips for this on www.kellymom.com).
I get the tingly sensation in the other breast when my son nurses. I also had toe curling latch on pain. But both of those were gone by six weeks. So I would keep in contact with the lactation consultant. It shouldn't be painful to nurse after a few weeks.
Talking with a lactation consultant is not a one-time thing. Program their number in to your phone. As you get used to it and your baby grows and your body continues to adjust...it's a good idea to consult. I, too, hurt a lot in the beginning, for the first few weeks. I wasn't used to that kind of suction on a consistent basis on such a sensitive part of my body. You and your daughter will get your rhythm. I had to reset my son's latch and make sure that my nipple was nearly down his throat. Now, he's got a mouth full of teeth and I hardly notice.
Oh, to answer your question--YES, that is normal. It's all "normal".
Mine hurt (toe curling is a great description) during letdown for several months. I had a really, really strong letdown.
I had that with my 2nd child, but only on my right breast. I knew what my normal latch and letdown felt like since I had nursed my first one too. I examined myself in the mirror and noticed the nipple on the right side had more "give" and that's what was causing the toe-curling pain. I called up the LC at the hospital I had worked with. She said that I had a cracked nipple! But, there was no blood. Just the fact that it had more "give" and that it was causing pain is how she diagnosed it to be cracked. Later on, I did see a spot of blood in my nursing pad and it was cracked in the middle of the middle. She advised to pump on that side for a few days while it heals. So, my pain wasn't during letdown, it was during the initial latch.
Normal, if will be away soon --in the next few weeks. Actually, I'm nursing right now, and my baby is 13 weeks. I can still feel it, it just doesn't hurt anymore!
