my 2 babies were easy to breastfeed. They knew what they were doing. Plus I got useful info from Estonian breastfeeding consultants before giving birth.
I only checked that babies had the right position – lower lip curled outwards and visible muscle movement near their ear.
Bepanthen (www.bepanthen.co.uk) helped to cure sore nipples.
I had mastitis couple of times (due too tight bra). Best cure for that is cabbage leaves. (Google gives plenty of UK links). It also helps to relieve the tension during the first days when the milk arrives.

Breastfeeding got a lot easier after just a few weeks. I remember the first three weeks as painful – downhill during the first week, and slowly uphill during the following two as my nipples were healing. But after that everything went really well. 6 weeks after birth we were definitely in a routine.

I had two more cases of… something. (I think it’s called milk stasis but I’m not sure.) Painful breasts and the beginnings of a fever, in any case. Both times it happened because I let Ingrid sleep on top of me while I was reclining in the sofa. I think the pressure on my breasts didn’t let the milk flow as it was supposed to. In both cases it passed within a day or two – I just applied some heat, rested, drank lots of water, and possibly took a painkiller.

It took a while for my skin to get used to her having teeth, when those came. It didn’t exactly hurt but was a bit uncomfortable for a while. I think it was just a matter of the skin needing to be desensitized a bit.

The three weeks of struggling were definitely worth it. No doubt at all. Ingrid enjoys it so much – half-closes her eyes and relaxes and goes off into a world of her own. And I enjoy watching her enjoy it.

I know you wrote this blog some time ago and beautiful little Ingrid will be a toddler by now, but I wanted to say I love the honesty in your writing, coupled with the adoration for your baby that shines through your posts. I don’t know if you’ll even get this but I thought I’d ask a question, now that you’ll be looking back with hindsight.

I’m expecting my first baby in August and plan to exclusively breastfeed, but I have a pre-existing pain condition and worry a little about the pain (any I experience will be amplified by my nervous system, which will make birth an…interesting time!). Did you find that breastfeeding the little one became much easier over time? I know the pain and fever from mastitis passed fairly quickly that first time, but was it an isolated incident or did you have more inflammatory episodes? Hope you don’t mind me asking, but you’ll have almost 2 years more experience in the parenting arena than I will! ;-)

I have such respect for you for being ‘stubborn’ in support of what’s best for Ingrid, by keeping nursing through the pain and problems you mention in this post! Hope this finds you and your family happy, healthy and smiling. Best wishes to all of you.

Gill, up in Edinburgh. xx