Preparing Your Nipples for Breastfeeding
If Google could share all of your breastfeeding search history it might look something like this:
“Will my breasts be different?”
“Where can I find cute nursing bras?”
“How much bigger will they get?!”
“Can I get an IV drip of coffee installed and still nurse my baby?”
“How do I prepare my nipples for breastfeeding?”
Questions about what your body might do or need to do to breastfeed are totally normal! But why, when breastfeeding is such a normal thing, does it feel like there is a secret formula to feeding your baby, and why do we have to do so many Google searches to find these secrets? The funny thing is, no one is intentionally keeping these secrets from you, because they don’t have any intel on the secrets either!
Spend enough time with a baby at your breast and you’ll develop a keen sense for the fact that you just don’t know all there is to know about breastfeeding. Every breast and every baby is different.
Other parents are just passing along information like a game of telephone. And somewhere along the way the information has gotten garbled.
“You’ll want to toughen your nipples, Beverly, or else it’ll hurt more!” (Hands Beverly some steel wool)
How many people are out there telling you to toughen up your nipples for the act of feeding your baby.. even though this isn’t a thing? It’s a piece of that telephone game- where information didn’t quite translate correctly.
We repeat, prepping your nipples for breastfeeding is not something you should or have to do to breastfeed your baby!
Breastfeeding is like trying to run the perfect bath. It has to have the perfect bubble bath to water ratio, be deep enough, and hot enough that the thermometer is shooting flames out of it’s ends. Anything outside of these qualifications is less than enjoyable. Your bath/breastfeeding enjoyment level will vary depending on the person. Because we all have different preferences, accessibility, and tolerances- And so will your baby!
Breastfeeding can feel just like this. It can feel like you’re searching for the perfect components to make the experience as comfortable as possible, and that is okay!
Oh, and about those Google searches?
Yes, they might be.
Target + Amazon.
Pacific Northwest Doulas is led by Laura Finnegan, also the owner of Eugene Birth & Family and an experienced Oregon doula agency director.
Our birth and postpartum doulas are welcomed in hospitals birth centers, and homes throughout the region. We work collaboratively with midwives, OB-GYNs, nurses, and pediatric providers to ensure families feel confident and supported.