I had read that basking..

thanks haleighsmum :)

that's probably a good thing that you can feel when you're about to leak!  Ive heard also this is the same for when you are full of milk & baby is due for a feed.. that you're pretty much in tune with each other.

I have just found out that I'll be having the same midwife who I eventually get to see in a couple of weeks visiting me at home after bubs is born as well! Yay! 

very comforting to hear from others that they make sure you have it sussed before you're on your own!

- hayleighsmum, look at your ticker! baby could come any day now...how very exciting.. good luck with your birth

I was told you can't do anything to prepare your nipples for breastfeeding, and my midwife told me that rolling your nipples between your fingers in the later stages of pregnancy can help start labour...I was sitting in a hospital bed the night before my induction looking very dodgy!

The sunlight thing was told to me once DD had arrived and my nipples were cracked and sore and tender. I was told to sunbathe my nipples, rub breast milk on them and let it air dry and to use purelan, all of which helped. Some birth centres also have a steam machine thing that they use to help alleviate the pain of cracked nipples when they are really bad. I had that done a couple of times (my midwife organised it) and it was bliss! Like a localised sauna for your nipples. Sounds odd, but it was great.

I could squeeze out a bit of colostrum while pregnant, used to rub this on my nipples as well...not sure that it helped.

ETA: the sunbathing thing was inside, just find a patch of sunlight coming through the window and lie on the floor in it for as long as you can. I had to sunbathe DD for her jaundice as well, so we were both sprawled on the floor at various points around the house as the day progressed and the sun moved!

Edited by Mazzy

yeah not long to go now, thanks

Don't worry if you don't think you've produced colostrum yet - it'll be there when you need it.  My midwife told me that expressing a drop of colostrum if you're able to, and rubbing that on your nipple and leaving it to 'air dry' before putting your bra on can be good for preparing those nipples.  And I found Purelan (Purelan and Lanisoh are different brands of basically the same product - pure lanolin that's safe for breastfeeding) invaluable once I started breastfeeding, as for me it hurt for those first 4 weeks.  Also, get yourself some disposable breast pads for when you're using a lanolin cream, and save the cloth ones for later if you plan on using cloth.  Another godsend was nipple sheilds - like a tiny latex sombrero hat with holes in the top that sits over your nipple while you feed - great for if baby has done some decent damage and you're in pain trying to feed them.  They're cheap (well, one brand is anyway) so worth having sitting there just in case you decide you need to use them at 3am one day!    I paid $5 and they seemed to work as well as I imagine the $20 ones would. 

And here's a weird one - a friend was advised to brush her nipples with a soft toothbrush  in the shower every day to harden them for breastfeeding!!!  She actually did it, and had no pain feeding her first baby, but didn't for her second and that baby had to break her nipples in for the task.  So I'm trying it next time round, if I can bear to!  Sunlight works a treat once you've started, as it's a natural antiseptic and healer.  I did the lounge sunbathing thing too, with my tiny orange baby next to me! 

thanks andie 

very helpful! I have heard about the dry toothbrush thing too! also sounded a bit painful but.. in saying that - I'm certain it wouldn't be as painful as the pain or sore cracked nipples!!

thanks again!

 

oh yeah I agree the nipple shields are a godsend.
I used avent ones for Haleigh but cant remember what they cost.
But I liked the tommee tippee ones I used in hospital better than the avent and will get the tommee tippee ones again.
They arent expensive, I found them very reasonable in price esp since htey really do help with the pain. I liked them cause I could see if Haleigh was actually getting milk, so it put my mind at ease a bit knowing she was getting fed :)

bloody hell catrad! Lol!!!