Ladies...I am hoping you can help. I am breastfeeding my 10-month-old and his teeth have never bothered me until just now. His new tooth seems positioned perfectly to bite down and it didn't really phase me until one day my skin broke and now there is an open sore on one nipple. Now every time he feeds off that breast, he reopens that sore and so it doesn't have the chance to heal. My OB looked at it and said it would eventually heal on its own in a week or two and just told me to use my breast milk and lanolin to lubricate it... but I am hoping there is something else I can do. The pain is excruciating and I have to make my son latch on in some interesting positions that you can imagine, he does not find fun... sometimes he even gives up. I have had issues with Mastitis before so I am not keen on just feeding him on one side, especially for two weeks because I want to keep my milk production up. Has anyone had this problem? Thanks!
HI years ago,51, my daughter. bit my when she was 3 months old. Al ouchildren had a tooth at that age. My brother was born with 2 teeth. So I guess irk was Hereditary.
Anyway I used Neupercanl Ointment, used for Hemorroids, but it really numbed the spot so pain was lessened and keeping th ointment on the rest of the time healed the spot quicker.
Hope this helps.
D.
Hi S.,
Ask your breastfeeding center about breast shields. I think you can get them at Babies R Us too. They are these clear plastic shields you put over your nipple while nursing and it helps to ease the pain of sores and cracking so you can still continuing to nurse. My sister-in-law said they did wonders for her!! Hope this helps!
I wouldn't pump because in my opinion the pump was always more harsh than a nurser.
Keep nursing on BOTH sides.. you don't want to get mastit. again.
Definetely try using breastmilk.. it works wonders!
Also if he's biting check his latch and see if he is latching properly. If he bites then say NO BITE and take him off and put him down.. he will hopefully get the cue quickly.
My son also did this when he had his first teeth and I remember wincing every time he'd go to latch on.
Keep in mind too that if he's teething breastmilk actually has ingredients that help with his teething pain as well as the actual movement of his jaw when nursing helps as well...
Not trying to knock OB's, but I'd say if you have breastfeeding questions ir issues check with your local La Leche League leaders.. they are the ones that really know the facts about nursing..
Keep your normal routing with nursing on the sore breast. You don't want to diminish your supply or get engorged by not nursing on that side. Your son is at an age where he will understand if he bites you quickly saying "Stop". I have a thing with introducing the word "No" at such a young age. Then your baby learns to say it back to you. The most important thing for you to do is air out your nipple. Leave your shirt up and your bra off/nursing flap down. The air will cut your heal time in half if not more.
Good luck!
OUCH!!! I'm so sorry mama those sores are horrible! After he is done nursing put a little breast milk on the sore and let it air dry. Try to keep it as dry as possible between nursings. Have you tried to nurse him lying down? I hope this helps :)
Hi S., I am leaving town in the morning for company meeting and cruise from Miami. If you get to me with your address today I will send you some free samples of apricot kernal oil (sealed and safe) that is safe enough to eat as your skin does. Very rich in Vitamins A, D and E with carrot oil as well - great for healing sores inside and outside of bodies.
Lanolin comes from sheeps wool and NOT good for your skin or your baby to eat. It does nothing for healing skin, just coats and clogs the pores.
email me your address today and I will have my hubby mail it to you. I loved nursing my 4 sons, and understand your problem.
God Bless, Gladys Yonker ____@____.com
First, if he is biting you, that must stop. Does he only bite on THAT side? At Le Leche League, they recommended if your baby bites you, take them off the breast with a firm "NO" and set him on the floor. He will get it. The lanolin and breastmilk application to your sore is the best help for that, along with letting it "air out" so it can heal. The airing out is really important. So is continuing nursing on that side. If it is too painful, gently pump on that side until it is healed. You are doing all the right things...keep up the good work!
I would recommend using Breast Shells. These are NOT Brest Shields which are warn during nursing, but you wear these inside your bra in between feedings. They have air vents that help you heal faster. I had to use these when I started nursing my daughter as I had some open sores that would not heal on their own. These worked WONDERS. Here's a link to the BabiesRUs site where I ordered mine.
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2403352
Vitamin E is also good to help, get it in the capsules and puncture them and squeeze the gel onto the wound.
Best wishes!
I can totally relate!! At about the same age, my son bit me also opening a sore on my nipple that I dealt with for a long time until a friend told me about Dr. Jack Newman's all purpose nipple cream. She learned about it from her lactation consultant. I searched for it and found a link with the recipie on the New Parents Guide. http://www.thenewparentsguide.com/breastfeeding-treating-...
I took the recipie to my OB who wrote the prescription for me. You will probably have to get it filled by a compounding pharmacy. There is a good one in Taylor called True Care Pharmacy ###-###-#### address: 7130 Paradise, Taylor 48180. Or based on where you live you can find one on in the phone book or online.
Good luck!!! I breastfed my son for a long time and it has been the greatest thing.
feel free to email me personally if you have questions.
Veronica ____@____.com
ouch. To help the pain put ora gel on it. Do you have a nipple cover? They are babys r us. That will help it from opening and to heal
Hi S.! That seriously stinks! However, I do disagree with one of your responders. If you nurse on one side and pump on the affected side I would be amazed if your supply diminished. You're so established in your nursing it very likely won't be affected. Especially if it's just a few days or so. I had a clogged duct and continually nursed on one side and pumped on the other with no problems (for about 3 or 4 days).
Try only feeding him on the non sore side, and pump the sore side. I had to use the soft shells because my I had no milk when my daughter was born and the regular shells on the pump hurt. Also try talking to a lactation consultant, Genesys has a hotline that you can call and talk directly with the lc.
OH! I SOOOO know how you feel. Not only did I have the same issues when my daugther started getting teeth, but early on in our nursing relationship we had several issues. One of which was latch issues and I had open sores on both nipples. Nursing WAS a labor of love for sure.
What I did was greased it up good with lanolin (Medela has a good one) and would nurse first on the unaffected side. This will help satisfy baby a bit and they won't be sucking quite as vigorously on the second breast. No, you don't really want to just nurse on one side. It will affect your supply. However, you COULD pump on the affected side. If you get the pump positioned really really well, it hurts much less. Just keep in mind that pumping is not like a baby sucking and it could also affect your supply.
For me, by nursing on the unaffected side first, helped a lot. The first couple of sucks on the affected side were that burning I want to scratch my eye balls out kind of pain. But it quickly subsided.
After you are done nursing, put some breastmilk on the open sore and let it air dry for a bit. Seriously, breastmilk is AWESOME as a healing agent. It has wonderful wonderful antibiotic properties. I even used it for pink eye! Somehow I ended up with pink eye, didn't think to use breastmilk at first, and went to the doctor. Got the normal regime, and it cleared it up. But, a day or so later I noticed my daughter was looking like SHE was coming down with it. So, I squirted some in her eye. Next day NO pink eye. A couple of weeks later I started having the same symptoms again. Squirt with the breastmilk. NO pink eye.
I know allowing the milk to dry on your nipple means your hanging out there for a bit and really won't work if you are out and about. If that is the case, put some lanolin on after nursing. It will help with the moist healing process.
It passes and suddenly it just won't hurt anymore. I'm sorry I don't remember how long it took.
Good luck!
A friend of mine had this happen and she put a playtex nipple over her nipple and was able to still breast feed with out the pain!
Ouch ... sounds miserable. Have you considered continuing to breast feed him on the side that is not sore and then pump from the injured side until it has time to heal. Then you could avoid the mastitis issue but allow the sore to stay closed long enough to heal. Good luck and I wish you a speedy recovery!
So use a pump meanwhile, so you can heal. Why put up with the pain? With teeth coming in, you'll have to wean the baby anyway soon enough. So it happens a little sooner.
