Older Baby, New Pain

I had the same problem with my son's new teeth! I had a hole on each nipple from his teeth. So painful! I started positioning him differently so that his teeth weren't near the sore spot which allowed it time to heal. I tried to do a football hold position with his feet legs and feet sticking up behind me against the back of the chair. Didn't take long for me to heal at all! Good luck!

Hi A.,

This happened to me a couple of weeks ago. My son is about a month younger than yours. I looked on kellymom.com, which is an incredible nursing reference website. Like everyone else, she suggested changing positions, so I began nursing him lying down. I also made him open really wide, because his latch had gotten pretty shallow. The combination of latch change & position change did it for me. Within a day or two I was pain free. Good luck! I was pretty scared that it was the end of breastfeeding for me, because it was so painful, but I'm glad we got it figured out.

D.

This happened to me just recently. My son was 16mo and was teething. My nipples got so sore and both got blisters but they couldn't heal and were painful. I called La Leche League and the lady was wonderful! She told me to try him in a different position. She also said to pick up some 2nd Skin burn wound bandages and adhesive tape in the first aid aisle at the grocery store. The bandages have sterile water in them so they offer a "wet heal while protecting." Thankfully, my son sleeps 10 hrs at night, so I used those then and between nursings and it took only 2 days for my nipples to heal. And I am happily still nursing my now 18mo. Hope this helps you!

I've been meaning to post for a while, so forgive me that this is so late. I took my second baby to my chiropractor who did very, very gentle manipulations on him and voila! his latch was better instantly. Don't let the chiropractor thing scare you--on babies what they do is more like accupressure than anything else. Look for one who is experienced in working on infants. Mine is experienced, as well as a father of three, so I felt comfortable with him. And my baby looked so relaxed while he was working on him, we both chuckled. I need to take my boy back because he's gotten lazy on his left-side latch. It's so odd how it changes!

If I was in your situation I would try using a "nipple shield" !!!

This is a super late response, but if you are still having soreness, Try Ching Wan Hung- Soothing Herbal Balm. It is a natural product that I was able to pick up from an acupuncturist. It is made with sesame oil and bees was and healed up all soreness when I used it with a Lily Padz breast pad. You can oly use the Lily Padz for part of the day/night. I wore them during the day with the balm, so it wouldn't stain my clothes, but didn't care if it stained my pjs.

The balm is safe for nursing. It can be wiped off before nursing or just left on. I just left it on and my daughter didn't seem to mind.

Hope all is much better after a months time and you are still able to nurse.
Good luck to you,
D.

I had this happen with both my younger girls. I didn't pay close attention after the first few months, and gradually baby got lazy! They weren't opening wide enough, and I didn't get sores, but I got plugged ducts. You need to break the latch consistently until your little guy is back in the habit of opening wide and latching properly. It should only take about 3 days of diligence and you'll be back to a good latch habit.

Hi A.. I have an 18 month old who has gone through a couple of different phases with her latch, particularly as she has gotten older. The way I deal with it is to talk to her about it. She knew by the time she was around 9 months old that if she messed around or was hurting me that I would take her off and that would be it for that session and we would try again in a while. Obviously at 18 months it is a much more cut and dried issue but they learn pretty quickly, especially if you are consistent about it.

I do agree with changing positions, but I also wouldn't underestimate your son's ability to understand that he needs to correct his latch so that it is comfortable for you both.

Hi A.... I feel your pain!! My baby had latch problems which resulted in open wounds on my nipples for several weeks. I agree with the suggestions to try to change position. There is also a prescription ointment (has to be made by a compounding pharmacy) that I finally tried and which finally healed my wounds. Here's a link that talks about the ointment and some other suggestions: http://www.breastfeed-essentials.com/allaboutcreams.html. Best of luck!

I had the same thing happen. My son has a monster suck when he's teething and has nursed me to the point of rawness and sores twice now. It was really really hard to heal up and what did it was lansinoh every. single. time. plus I work so I would get a break from his nursing. I also had to unlatch him and tell him BIG MOUTH, then relatch when nursing. I too was worried that I'd have to wean but I was able to get healed up - have a scar now. It's really painful and really hard.