Breast Feeding / Arousal

[flappergirl]

HEY ALL!


I'm not a mama yet--we are seriously planning for when I turn 36 (I'm 34 now). I am doing tons of reading and research and stuff...

So, I have some anxiety that when I attempt breastfeeding, I will become aroused. I really wanna bond with baby and give him/her all she needs via breastmilk, but how do you deal with this thing that seems inevitable? Boobies have been a source of sexual pleasure in life, so this new actoin will be awkward I fear. It all seems so uncomfortable and strange to have this conflict of boobies happening.


Advice? Voices of experience?

:)

[courey]

It's normal to feel some form of "pleasure" when you breastfeed because the same hormone that is released when you have an orgasm is released when you breastfeed. That doesn't mean you're going to feel "turned on", though... usually it will just make you feel incredibly relaxed. Don't worry, sore nipples will take care of the rest ;)

[1500]

Don't let that put you off from breastfeeding. Although I never experienced anything like that with my 2 girls I know it happens, but it isn't anything to be ashamed of or to be scared of.

And like COurey said it isn't like your going to get turned on or have an orgasm or something it's just a relaxing sensation and nothing more.

[devas]

I've heard of people who found it arousing, but I never really understood that myself. I didn't feel anything like that when I breastfed my son. I don't understand how you can get aroused at your child feeding... I understand breasts are sexually stimulating in certain situations, but it is your kid... You also aren't going to be aroused by seeing them nekkid either. I dunno, I guess it does happen and should'nt be something you should worry about. I think the whole "breasts are sexual even while breastfeeding" thing is blown out of proportion.

devas

[naws]

i don't see the arousal thing happening either, just relaxed when he's got a good latch and doing well (we're still struggling with the process since he was early, a little weak, and still needs a bottle a couple times a day).

it's almost impossible for me to see my bbs as sexual right now when they can spray milk like a shower.

[grumpydawn]

When your breasts start changing during pregnancy, the first thing you notice is how sore they are. And round, and sometimes the nipples change from pink to brown.

My husband thought they looked their best then, but I was like- Don't even look at them!! They were way too sensitive!

Once you start lactating, you might feel full of milk and the need to express it is not a sexual turn on. You sometimes feel sharp pain in your breasts. And the feeling you get from breastfeeding is more like the relief you feel when you need to pee badly- aahhhh. If you become engorged, your breasts feel hard as rocks and very uncomfortable.

Generally, breastfeeding always made me feel sleepy.

The only time I can recall breastfeeding and sex having anything to do with each other was when I had a big orgasm and having the milk flowing freely. Hormones are so out of your control.

[Ryoko!]

it's not a sexual arousal, it's more like a "ahhhhhh relief" arousal, especially when you haven't bf'd all day and you finally get to. I feel very relaxed when i breastfeed, sometimes sleepy. Your baby will more than likley fall asleep as well, which doesn't help your own sleepy feeling!

[Vik]

I understand why you would "worry" about this, but for myself, I didn't feel aroused at all from breastfeeding. Though it did make them kinda off limits to my hubby for a few months cuz I was self-concious that I'd squirt milk on him (and I"m SURE I would have, and probably did anyway...)

[flappergirl]

This is all very helpful info you guys, thanks. I think the thing that makes me anxious is that my breasts are so sensitive, it just seems like it would be over stimulation--almost like if someone starts tickling your underarm and won't stop. Aside from arousal issues, that area's hypersensitive already, and then to have this contant sucking seems like it would almost hurt because it's so sensitive. Does that make sense?

:)

[Vik]

Breastfeeding DOES hurt for a few days.

My best friend kept hearing "if it hurts, you're doing it wrong" so she gave up. :a

Be warned.... It will hurt, but then a calus (sp??) develops (basicly) so it doesn't keep hurting. :)

[Ryoko!]

i didn't feel any pain during nursing, unless Logan was latched on wrong. You may feel a tingle as your let down reflex goes. I have super sensitive nipples as well, and even though they seem to only be even more sensitive (to cold especially, it HURTS when i get cold) I've never felt any discomfort from the actual nursing itself (cept when he would latch on wrong).
the thing is, you should try if it's something you want to do. Make sure you have lots of support, plan on going shirtless for the first 2 weeks ( i walked around shirtless for the first month heh...i was FREEEEE! at last!), and remember that the first 5 weeks are the hardest. I swear, the first five weeks I did nothing BUT nurse! I thought it would never stop. It gets better though...with time.

Also, if you try and it doesn't work out for you (for whatever reason) don't feel guilty, a bottlefed baby is just as loved as a breastfed baby. Feeding should be about bonding, not resentment or discomfort.
:)

[Sparkly Girl]

Not to sound gross, but I have always felt like my nipples had a direct connection to my clitoris. Any stimulation at all and I was sexually aroused. I am going to breast feed, but I won't be one bit surprised (or grossed out) if after the soreness goes away I experience that feeling.

I'm one semester away from being a registered nurse...we had our maternity material and rotation two semesters ago and I learned a lot about pregnancy and breast feeding and for some women, the arousal thing is very real. It's important to realize is that it is simply a biological body function...nothing more. For some women it is enough to cease breast feeding, because they fear that it is some sort of signal that they are feeling something impure/incestual about their child. At that point it turns psychological. The reason we were educated about this 'phenomenon', is so that as nurses we could educate our breast feeding clients about the possibility of this happening so that it doesn't come as a shock if it does happen.

[soMnUS]

I had severely dried, cracked & bleeding nipples no matter what I tried for the first two months. I found NOTHING arousing about breastfeeding.

[grumpydawn]

It's good to talk about this stuff. The doctor doesn't usually know what to say to questions like that.

Ryoko makes a good point about latching- it's the most important thing about breastfeeding's success.

I felt like a cow by the end of the 3rd month- I fed on demand. I had to get hubby to cut my dinner for me and had no problems feeding the kids wherever I happened to be. Dressing rooms in dept stores are wonderful. ;L I learned to adjust.

But, no way was I walking around topless! [post03]

[Clementine]

arousal?
what a LAUGH.

i can't imagine sexual arousal EVER happening.
#1 it's usually a very PAINFUL the first few weeks what with nipple cracks and bleeding....mastitis and the like.
#2 it's your child for heaven's sake. it's not a yummy kind of ooh i'm in the mood kind of suckling. it's a DRINKING MILK feeling and it AIN'T hot. it's relaxing, but SO not arousing.

but that's just my experience and if people say it happened to them, then i guess it is so. but i can't fathom it at all.