Given that other mammals, as a rule, sure don't *seem* to be in pain with
early nursings, I vote with the "no pain" side.  And, like Jan a few days
ago, I have a theory.

I think it's not that our nipples "get tougher".  I think our babies "get
smarter".  For the most part we offer the baby a really wretched position -
one that puts his tongue right on our nipple and prohibits a good mouthful.
Separation and drugs mean he's generally not operating on all cylinders at
that point either, and even if he were, he "assumes" we've done our part
right by growing up closely observing bfing.  He may be able to get to the
breast with no help at all, but he's not really equipped to deal with
counter-productive "help".

So he takes what we offer and does his best.  It doesn't work terribly well.
Now and then, he accidentally gets a different, bigger mouthful, and lo and
behold the milk comes more easily.  "I'm going to repeat that if I can," he
thinks.

By about 6 weeks, the time by which most mothers say their nipples have
"toughened up" even if they change nothing, I think most babies have figured
out how to take our imperfect offering and get *themselves* farther on the
breast, back where the milk is.  It doesn't hurt that their mouth is growing
all the time, too.

To some extent, we mothers must do the same thing, gradually changing our
position from what we think is right to what seems to hurt less.  My
earliest nursing memories are of looking at my son's two fists as he nursed.
If I saw two, that means he was on his back, head turned.  But a picture
taken at a few months shows him turned entirely on his side, one arm up, the
other down.

I was sore with him for 6 weeks.  With my second, who nursed for 2 hours
right out of the starting gate but who was wholly facing me from the
beginning, I was "a bit sensitive" for part of a day...
--
Diane Wiessinger, MS, IBCLC  Ithaca, NY
www.wiessinger.baka.com

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