before they are born?

Is there anything that I can use before my babies are born that
will make things less sore when they are born and start to BF???

 

Is there anything that I can use before my babies are born that
will make things less sore when they are born and start to BF???

 

Nope. Just educate yourself. If you prepare mentally ahead of time, it'll go smoother. Be flexible, yet be your babies advocate. Your babies do not need a lot of 'milk' those first few days before your milk comes in. They get what they need. Education is a huge part of success. That and support.

 

Ditto Jackie. THE most important thing you can do now is to read up on breastfeeding. I really love "The Nursing Mother's Companion" by Kathleen Huggins. Great book! The threads at the very top of this forum are also extremely helpful. Another thing that helped me a lot was getting in touch with the lactation consultant at my hospital. I set up a meeting with her and we talked for about a half hour. She was a wealth of info, and it was great to have connected with her before the babies came, so I felt very comfortable going to her for help afterwards.

In terms of soreness, lanolin is a must. Also, Soothies gel pads were a godsend for me. Getting your latch right will make a huge difference, so educating yourself on proper latch technique will help a lot.

Michelle

 

I agree with Jackie an Michelle - just educate yourself. I was on this forum constantly before my babies arrived, it's a great way to ead about a wide variety of issue and different solutions.

I feel like I was much more prepared than I would have been otherwise. I already feel like reading about what other moms have experienced as "normal" has made me less anxious and nervous about being able to produce enough milk and stick to breastfeeding.

Good luck - I've only been nursing mine for a few days but it is an incredibly rewarding feeling not to just breastfeed-but to breastfeed 2!

 

The older generation might tell you to do things to "toughen" your nipples. Don't listen!

As the others have said, education, using the lactation consultant if available, lanolin, and keeping a positive attitude -- you CAN breastfeed twins. Also, it helped me to remember that the pain is temporary. I was sore at first but by 3 weeks, there was no pain at all.

 

Thanks!! I am doing LOTS of reading about BF - and I read every post on this site!!

 

I just wanted to chime in - I've been breastfeeding for 3 weeks and a bit now...

FOCUS on latching properly at first... it's so important... I had nurses shove my breast in my baby's mouth (actually it was more shove the baby on the breast) in a way that didn't feel natural at all - and nobody really "showed" me what a good latch was... I ended up with a blister like thing on my left nipple - which could have totally been avoided... Another thing - i ended up having to stay in the hospital for 5 days following the birth because of my pre-e symptoms - and I have to say that I got WAY WAY too many "opinions"... the nurses don't all show the same stuff - i had some tell me i was doing GREAT while others tell me i was doing it all wrong... and some were too hands on - it felt invasive... SO... all that to say - stand your ground - know that it's feasible and take what they say with a grain of salt... ask the "right" experts if you have questions!! Had I not been determined I think one of the nurses could have turned me completely off!! (not that this will happen to you!!)

READ about latching before they get here - you might not remember everything when the babies get here - but I think it might help... I really wish i had done that!

My babies are finally gaining weight like they "should" be -- and it's SO rewarding... because it's a lot of work

(by the way - be prepared to somewhat feel like a machine - i know I do... I still have too much pain on the left to tandem - so it takes me about an hr to feed both each their turn - and that's with my dh doing diapers! and then i get a MAX of 2 hrs "off" and then i'm back on...! again: INCREDIBLY worth it - but just wanted to give you a heads up!)

Goodness - that was sharing WAY more than you asked for!!

 

No - I REALLY APPRECIATE ANY INFO!!! I'll take all the info I can get and the best info comes from people with experience!! I breastfed my 3 boys but never made it past well - between 4 - 6 weeks with any of them! and I want this time to be different!
THANKS!!!