My LO is now 3 days old. She seems to be latching on great, but my nipples are sooo sore! My right one also appears to have cracked and had a little bit of blood on it. I have been putting lanolin on th after each feeding. Any advice for how u releave really sore nipples and healing cracked ones quickly? My milk still hasn't come in yet so she is just getting colostrum.
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Been there girl! Hot showers, lanolin, and air drying after each session helped me. Also, expressing some milk or colostrum and letting it dry. You can also take a break from thet side and pump if really painful.
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The comfort gel pads are awesome at healing nipples between feedings when lanolin won't cut it!
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I know exactly what you mean. All I can say is keep doing what you're doing and hopefully you'll be healed soon.
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You will make it through. I second air drying, milk on it and when it gets to be too much pump. We went a few days eating from only one side and pumping from the other.
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Great job! Is tough but keep it up because it does get better. These are all great suggestions but if you have to, pump the sore side for a day or so to let it heal.
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hang in there....I promise it gets better.
To be completely honest, it might get worse before it gets better. My LO has a great latch but I still got some sores on my nipples and they bled. HOWEVER I am now exactly 2t weeks into it and my nipples feel completely normal. I feel no more pain!
for me, putting cold compresses on them and using Simplisse nipple cream helped.
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from what I understand, if you are hurting, your lo does not have a proper latch. I went to a lc in my area b/c my nipple were hurting so bad & I was starting to get scabs on the ends of them & she was able to show me right away what I was doing wrong & ooooh my goodness, it made such an immediate difference. everything was healed up within a day. I strongly, strongly recommend that you go see a lc in your area to help you make sure you & lo have the proper latch. if you don't know where to go, check the local la leche league & they ough tot be able to assist you
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I put the lanolin on all the time. Especially after showering. But also first thing in the morning and just randomly throughout the day.
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Those first weeks are tough! I was so attached to my lanolin. I found that when my nipples were cracked, it really helped if I squeezed some breastmilk out and covered my nipple with it and let it air dry. Breastmilk does amazing things! Maybe you could try that when your milk comes in.
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@katdevargas: yes, pain is often from a bad latch but unfortunately even one bad nursing session can cause damage that causes pain for days. Even though the Lactation consultants verified I had a good latch, the damage was done from one bad session and it just took time for me to heal and "toughen up".
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I agree with the lanolin, breastmilk and gel pads. My LO had a good latch from the start but I did have one really sore nipple for a few days. I think during our night time feedings I got lazy and allowed a not so great latch and I ended up with a crack. I was most sore before my milk came in but once it did things got better by the day. I'm about three weeks in now and things are great, have been probably since ~ 2 weeks on.
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Air drying helped me the most, and I like to use Motherlove nipple cream if I have time to walk around topless for a bit (it's kind of greasy). I pretty much went topless for the first week or so, and I still let them air dry while I'm burping LO. And showering hurt SO much, but putting lanolin on beforehand helped a lot.
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Im large breasted and LO struggles to get lots of areola in her little mouth!! Any tips?
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@Nskillet: Try compressing your breast tissue with your hand in a u-shape if you're cross cradle holding or a c-shape if you're using a football hold. Make sure you aren't holding too close to the nipple - you shouldn't be touching the areola at all. Compress like your holding together a fat sandwich. The goal is to get more of the bottom areola in the mouth than the top of the areola. The whole areola doesn't need to be in baby's mouth to get a proper latch.
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