
Alisha - posted on 05/04/2009 ( 27 moms have responded )
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I have a 6 day old baby girl that looks like she latches on great, but my nipples are scabby and bloody and it hurts sooo bad to nurse her. This is my third child and I nursed both of my others until about 18 months, so nursing is not a new thing for me. They have all had their own unique challenges in the beginning, but this one has been the worst. I have seen two lactation consultants who both say that she looks like she is latched on great. one of them said that she has a small mouth and I have a very large chest so give it some time. The other one said that the way I am putting her on may be the reason that I'm sore. she takes a few minutes to get a good latch, because she has such a small mouth it really hard to get her to open up big enough. So we just keep trying until she gets it right because I didn't/don't want her getting into a bad habit. She doesn't really even get frustrated, which is nice. I'm not sure I could handle the pain with a baby screaming her head off. So, my concern is my scabbing and pain. She spit up a little bit this morning and it was kind of pink, as it dries it has turned brown which lets me know that she's getting blood from the scabs on my nipples. I don't know how much blood, but enough to cause the milk that she spit up to be pink. I wouldn't think that the blood would hurt her, but I don't know that's why I'm asking all of you. What do you guys think? I'm afraid to take her off the breast and pump and give her milk in the bottle because she is so young and not really all that established at the breast. Again, please help and Thanks.
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Krystal - posted on 05/05/2009
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as odd as it may sound - tea bags on your nipples. soak them in warm water while you're nursing and then squeeze out the excess water so they're not dripping wet. then put them on your nipples, put a breast pad in your bra so you don't get wet circles thru your shirt :), and let them be for a bit. it really helped to 'toughen' up my nipples.
good luck!
Carrie - posted on 01/28/2012
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Mine cracked & bled. It was awful. I bought "Soothies" at the Mommy & Me store at the hospital which helped relieve the immediate pain. Kinda like gel pads that I put in the fridge, they absorb milk when you leak, & felt sooo good when I put them on. However, to actually help get my skin back to the way it was before nursing I bought the organic Peter Rabbit Therapy Cream sold at Whole Foods. I did a lot of research to find a nipple cream that could be safely ingested. And as a bonus, I use it for diaper rash cream, on the cheeks & chin for chapped face from drool, & even on my dry hands from washing. It's the best stuff & worked really well on my very painfully sore nipples & loved the fact that it was totally safe for my baby to ingest. Just don't use anything that has petroleum oil/jelly or products with mineral oil...mineral oil is just a petroleum byproduct!! This absolutely should not be ingested!! Petroleum jelly/oil & mineral oil act like saran wrap on the skin, it doesn't let the skin breathe, blocks pores, & doesn't let the body's natural ability to moisturize itself so you will have a continuous battle of chapped/cracked skin. For ex, you can take a cracker & put in water & it turns to mush, but if you take a cracker & put in baby oil even a day later you can take it out and it will crumble like a fresh cracker. No moisture can soak in the cracker so same goes with your skin. So, I highly recommend the Therapy Cream!
Tracy - posted on 05/06/2009
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Hi,it sounds like your baby has burst a blood vessel whilst feeing,I also experienced this with my 3rd son,plus I had such sore cracked/blistered nipples.You should try a nipple cream u can get a t chemist(sorry fgot t name of it) which is not harmfull to yor baby.you should also think about buying some nipple shields as these give your nipples time to recover & u will be able to stop using them once your sore nipples have healed without having to stop breast feeding.then you will always have the shields incase you need to usethem.I also recomend the reusable nipple pads as they don't seem to be so rough on the nipple,plus you save money too...
Hope this helps you in some way! good luck...
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I had the same issues with my daughter. She is just now two weeks. I think it is really a sign of how strong their little mouths are. It is like they suck the life out of your nipples. I had to use nipple cream to make sure you do not get any infections and to help heal, Lansinoh to soften your nipples, plus i used a nipple shield when I just could not take it, plus pumping is not as harsh on your nipples as the baby will be. So if you change it up on the baby like feeding her from a bottle after pumping, plus using a shield and feeding her on your breast it will not only help if you need to bottle feed at a later time but it will give your nipples a rest!
Alisha - posted on 05/06/2009
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Wow, you guys have given me some great tips/ideas, thanks. The pain is a little bit better today and hopefully I'm on my way to no pain. I'm curious, what does a yeast infection look like on your nipples so I'll know what to look out for? I've heard that it is super painful.