cracked nipples HELP!

[Kalamiphile]

My daughter 3 days post c section has a beautiful girl who loves the nipple. They are already getting sore with little cracks. She will be heartbroken if she is unable to continue and the nurses at St Marys are rubbish, tried to give baby Mums antibiotics!

All advice happily received xx

[Fuschia]

Lansinoh cream is the best but sounds like a positioning problem. Find ut if the hospital has a bf expert and get her seen by that team if postnatl aren't very good?

[edanna]

Yes, Lansinoh is good. If she has delicate skin it's probably going to happen regardless of positioning etc. It did for me. But it's worth perservering because her nipples will toughen up and be fine in a couple of weeks. I share her pain though - ow!

[GinaG3]

I third Lansinoh, life saver. Another thing is also her own milk, if she smothers her nipple in breast milk every time she feeds (then let air dry) that will help with cracked nipples too. Its worth having the positioning of the baby checked, more often than not a little help with latch solves nipple soreness. As the above poster says, they will toughen up over time.

I have heard a good few people that are also not happy with post-natal care at St Mary's, being misadvised on both breast and bottle feeding. I'm sure there is a lactation consultant there, I will try and find some contact details. She could also seek advice from her local breastfeeding cafe. I can get details for this too if needs be.

[GinaG3]

I'm unsure whether you know, there is a breastfeeding drop in session running from 12.30-2.30 at Mickeys Star Playgroup on St Michaels street. Around the corner from St Marys. If your daughter is interested in going she may want to call first to see whether they are open during the 6 week break, 0207 262 5784.

I hope it gets better soon :)

[Kalamiphile]

you are all stars, many thanks. she lives in willesden GinaG3 if you have any info for that area xx

[GinaG3]

Give Willesden Treetops Children's Centre a call, I'm pretty sure they will provide some sort of breastfeeding support. The number is 020 8838 3901

Hope that will put you on the right track.

[Kalamiphile]

xx Thanks

[alieh]

I had this, and my lactation consultant said that the traditional advice about letting boobs dry out between feeds is the exact opposite thing you need to do for badly cracked nipples (if they are dry, then each feed just re-cracks and reopens the wound). The trick is to keep them clean but moist. When mine were really bad, my GP prescribed wet dressings that I put on my nipples between feeds. I also had these silver nipple cups, which made a huge difference: http://www.breastfeedingheaven.co.uk/breastfeeding-products/silverette-healing-cups/prod_138.html

Finally, the silicone nipple shields can really help when the pain gets unbearable. If it is to the point where you're considering giving up breastfeeding, these can really help get through a bad few days while your nipples start to heal.

And if the pain persists - look especially to see if the nipple is flat or misshapen when baby comes off - there is probably a latch problem and/or something else impeding baby getting a good latch (like tongue tie). In this case, she needs to seek help from one of the breastfeeding cafes, or a proper breastfeeding/lactation consultant.

[gwod]

I second what alieh says. Some advisors advise letting them dry out and some advise keeping the nipples moist between feeds. For me letting them dry out when my babes were small meant that they crusted up and the pain at the next feed was prohibitivly bad. I was advised to use used parafin dressings that are usually used for burns which worked really well at healing while damp and stopped my boobs getting stuck to the nipple pads as well.

They are like this and you can buy them in any chemist

http://www.betterlifehealthcare.com/view_product.php?prodID=7992&ref=google_base.

Also nipple sheilds can help temporarily.

http://www.boots.com/en/Boots-Nipple-Shields_334235/?CAWELAID=334508285&cm_mmc=Shopping%20Engines-_-Google%20Base-_---_-Boots%20Nipple%20Shields

You dont get a great latch with them so not great for long term use but if things are too bad to continue they will give a bit of respite - allowing a couple of non nipple cracking feeds in which your daughter's boobs can recover a little.

Good luck - my toes are curling while I remember it!

[Kalamiphile]

Thanks for that. My toes are curling at the memory and that is from 36 years ago!!!! Sadly all this help was not availble so I very quickly went to the bottle :((

[Dulwich Born And Bred]

Definitely slater the nipples in Lansinoh cream, as it does not needs to be washed off either before a feed, for the first few months I was constantly putting Lansinoh cream cream on and as a result I did not get cracked nipples. I hope she gets from relief soon, it is not easy breastfeeding.

[Fuschia]

It's Ok to take painkillers, too.

[nicolemodesti]

Funny but Lansinoh didn't work for me but lathered them in Kamillosan and worked a treat!!

[Saffron]

I know an excellent private lactation consultant who helped me with a similar breastfeeding problem. My nipples were not only cracked, but also badly bruised. It was so bad, I used to cry when I was nursing my daughter. We called the lactation consultant on a Saturday, and she can to us on a Sunday. She was recommended by Pickle, a fellow forumite.

6 months since, and we're still breastfeeding, hurray! I'll PM you with the contact info.

[Pickle]

I'm so pleased you managed to continue breastfeeding Saffron, and that my recommendation was of use :)

I didn't find Lansinoh was much help in the early days, however Kamillosan was a total lifesaver. I remember all too well how sore it can be, but it does get better.

P x

[canadianlisa]

Hi

Like others I found Lansinoh helpful as well as the very useful assistance of the Lanes midwives. In our case the latch was fine but my daughter had a teeny, tiny mouth and could just about get it around the nipple. It took my nipples about a week to 'toughen up' and then I was fine. I had little cracks and bleeding as well but it did get much easier quite quickly. I am still breast feeding now 9 months on. It is so good to perservere if you can - good luck.

[sanity girl]

I found pure vitamin e oil excellent for cracked/sore nipples when I started breastfeeding. You can get it from most chemists/ health food shops, and you don't need to wash it off before feeding.

[Fi from West Dulwich]

hello brings back horrid memories as had terribly cracked nipples but 16 months later and O is still feeding famously, so if she can grin (or weep) and bear it all will resolve. but, a couple of tips - lansinoh good as per other posts, and also, i would advise her to take the baby to see a cranial osteopath who treats infants, as the baby may have a misaligned jaw after trauma of delivery. O did and all midwives said was latched on fine but I just knew it wasn't right and sure enough had horrible nipple trauma which a chiropractor and cranial osteopath said was in fact due to jaw misalignment, easily remedied and baby much more comfortable too. Good luck!

[esme]

Lansinoh once a day at least - even when they're not cracked or sore (as preventative measure) but generally this is down to baby not latching on properly so would agree with above, good idea to go to breastfeeding cafe and get some tips... my baby didn't latch on properly for first few days and best advice i had when struggling a bit with tiredness of BF was to wait til 6 weeks and it would then get easier, thankfully it did!

good luck, it's worth it, think of the benefits for baby x

[Kalamiphile]

many thanks to all of you with your welcome advice. Baby is now 2 weeks old and is feeding beautifully, it was as so many of you said she was not latching on properly despite being told she was. Once she was seen by lactation nurse all turned out well, many thanks once again

:)) xx

[GinaG3]

I'm so pleased you got it sorted.

Poor latching is by far the biggest cause of broken and cracked nipples. Its usually easily helped with a bit of guidance. I suffered latch problems for 2 months so well done you for getting it all sorted by 2 weeks. I hope breastfeeding is everything you hope it will be and more. Good luck with the rest of it.