What Do You Do About Cracked Nipples From Breastfeeding?
December 16, 2009 by Guest Author
Filed under Breast Feeding Supplies
I started breastfeeding 1week ago. My nipples are cracked and sore. What shoud I do? Should I pump and bottle feed? Please help I am scared I may give this up.
Do not give up! The pain and bleeding will stop very soon! In the mean time after you nurse leave your breasts out to air dry. Try to express some milk by hand and put the milk on the nipple. This has been proven to help. Do not use soap on your nipples in the shower, just water is fine. All you can do is wait this out. It will be hell for a few days or a week but then it will be so easy. Also do not pump and bottle feed. That could cause nipple confusion and you will miss out on the physical part of the bonding.
PS- Don’t assume that you don’t have a good latch on. If it seems ok to you then Im sure its fine. People who say “your nipples shouldn’t bleed, somethings wrong” or “breastfeeding shouldn’t hurt” are clueless. Maybe they have tough nipples but mine bled just like yours and my latch was fine
i have for 2 weeks and a day and they are hurting now .. get some of that cream for breast feeding moms
good luck and hang in
Get some Lansinoh. It’s a lanolin cream for nursing moms, and you can get it at Target. Kind of expensive but worth it’s weight in gold! Use it after every feeding. (It’s also great for a bad diaper rash.)
And check with your local La Leche League or the lactation consultant at your local hospital. Nursing shouldn’t hurt, so chances are your baby isn’t latching on properly. Having someone watch and assist you through a feeding or two really helps.
there is a cream that you can buy and it’ll help with the healing…talk to your doc about it
Contact your local La Leche League or a Breastfeeding Consultant.http://www.lalecheleague.org/
Most likely your baby isn’t latching correctly or isn’t positioned correctly. http://www.llli.org/FAQ/positioning.html
After feeding, use plain water to rinse your baby’s saliva off your nipple and gently pat it dry. Keep your nipples dry and warm. Express a small amount of breast milk and put it on your nipples. Put a small amount of lanolin cream on your nipples. Lanolin is natural oil that is similar to the oil on our skin. Other creams and lotions will not help and should be removed before breast feeding.
You can also try putting warm tea bags on your breasts for a couple of minutes and then letting your breast air dry.
If you are using nursing pads to catch milk, use only the all cotton ones that have no plastic.
Hope this helps. I’ve been there a couple of times.
You need to find a lactation consultant or La Leche League leader right now. Don’t wait. You can do it! It’s so worth it to breastfeed, and don’t let anyone tell you that bottles are easier. They’re a big hassle. Find help now. Every new mom needs breastfeeding help and support. You can do it, I know! Find a LLL leader on the website and giver her a call.
I had the same problem when I first started breastfeeding and actually pumping was more painful for me. Use Lanisol cream on your nipples before each feeding. Also, when you take a shower DO NOT use soap on your nipples, it dries them out more, just wash them off with a wet washcloth. Also, my doctor would always tell me to hand express a little milk and rub it over the affected area. Good Luck!
Sounds like you have attachment problems. Make sure your baby is taking the whole nipple and a good amount of the areola into it’s mouth. Also try using nipple shields when breastfeeding. They will protect your nipples while feeding. Good luck! Rubbing a little breastmilk into the nipples will help with the healing process. Don’t use water, it will only dry the nipple out.
use lanosh brand lanolin ointment go to babies r us
From personal experience of nursing 4 children, 2 at one time(twins) and one currently those creams never worked for me. In fact they made it worse. The problem I ran into with the creams is that they would stick to the nursing pads and then when it was time to nurse again they would rip the sore open. What I ended up doing was I would just grit my teeth and bear it. The severe pain only lasted a few days and then it was fine but it is really tough to get past those days. That’s just my personal experience but you can try the creams because maybe they will work for you. I honestly hope they do, best of luck to you.
Your nipples should not be cracked, cracking means you are having problems. This needs to be resolved NOW. The best help is help in person, contact a Lactation consultant and/or La Leche League.http://www.llli.org/WebUS.html (Change the country in the upper right if you aren’t in America)
Creams and whatnot can help your nipples heal BUT ONLY IF YOU FIX THE UNDERLYING PROBLEM. Which is probably a poor latch, and possibly thrush. Both of which are highly fixable in less than 1 week, probably less than 48 hours. IF YOU GET THE HELP YOU NEED.
You’ve been given lots of great advice. The only thing I have to add is that lanolin ointment is GREAT…but if you are allergic to wool DO NOT use it! It will cause an allergic reaction like you have to wool. By allergic to wool, I mean, you break out in hives or get a rash when you come in contact w/ wool clothing type of reaction…not just that wool makes you itch.
Also, while you do want to find a local La Leche League leader, if you need help right this minute you can call their free 24/7 helpline at 1-877-4LALECHE
Keep up the hard work.
It’s hard to believe that things will get better when you’re in so much pain, but believe me — they will! Use lansolin, which is an ointment that you can pick up in Babies R’ Us, the infant section of Target, etc. Put it on A LOT after you nurse (and you don’t have to clean it off before nursing again). Also, expose your nips to air as much as you can — things only really started to get better for me when I started walking around the house topless all day. My husband got a real kick out of that
And forget wearing a bra for a little while. When I had to leave the house, I’d wear tanks with a very loose fitting built-in shelf bra to hold my nursing pads. But that’s it.
I didn’t like the plastic protectors for use under your bra because they didn’t permit enough air circulation and they tended to fill up with leaking breastmilk, leading to a very messy overflow situation.
Soothies, which you can get at Walgreens, Target, etc. didn’t really work for me but you can give them a try. I tried using those plastic nursing guard thingies that conform to your nipple, too, but stopped almost immediately because they seemed to mess up my baby’s latch (which was the problem to start with). I got mine from my pediatrician, but you can get them at most stores.
Which brings me to the last, obvious point. Make sure you’re doing things right! Stuff ALL of the areola in the babe’s mouth and DON’T nurse until he/she’s on there correctly. You’ll regret it.
I promise things will improve by day 14 or so. In the meantime, call your pediatrician or local lactation consultant to see if you can try some of these free.
You do not need to pump and bottle feed, it will get better with time.
Breastfeed from the uninjured (or less injured) side first. Baby will tend to nurse more gently on the second side offered.
The initial latch-on tends to hurt the worst – a brief application of ice right before latching can help to numb the area.
Experiment with different breastfeeding positions to determine which is most comfortable.
Keep nipples exposed to air when possible. When wearing a bra, use fresh disposable pads (change when damp). Some mothers use breast shells to protect the nipple from the dampness and friction of the bra.
Once a day, use a non-antibacterial, non-perfumed soap to gently clean the wounded area, then rinse well under running water. Using soap on the nipple area is not recommended unless the skin is broken.
I don’t really have much to tell you except that there is a website that I’ve found helpful which might help you too. Also, Lansinoh makes a lanolin cream that you can put on them which will help. Sometimes creams and lotions aren’t good though because they might have unexpected side effects for baby.