VERY Sore Nipple While BREAST FEEDING - OUCH!!!!

2 months!!! You need to see a doctor. This could have begun as a blocked milk duct but by now it is probably mastitis or even an abscess. Or it could be a yeast infection in the breast. None of these things can be diagnosed over the phone, so I would not listen to your midwife. You should also ask your pediatrician for a referral for a lactation consultant to make sure you are using proper form. Is your daughter nursing on the areola or the nipple? It should be way up on the areola and not on the end where it can cause pain.

I'm not sure if bacitracin is OK as there may be some residue on your nipple, therefore your baby is ingesting some. They sell lanolin by medela and gel pads for sore nipples.
You should consult with a lactation consultant to assess your nipple and the baby's latch. Don't give up! Good luck!

I used Lanolin on my nipples, it doesn't hurt the baby and it was a GOD send. It helped protect my nipples, and helped it heal up. I also had one worse than the other myself! Good luck to ya, and I know how badly it hurts :-(

The bacatracin will only help if there is something on the surface. I would recommend contacting a lactation consultant or LeLecheLeague. It sounds like it could be a positonal problem and having someone evaluate the position and latch may be very helpful. You can also try nursing her in different postions and see if that helps.

as Billee said, go to La Leche League, they will definitely know what to do. she is also right about using bacitracin only for surface injury.

to find LLL that's convenient for you, and in Manhattan there are a LOT of meetings, google La Leche League International and click on "resources"; or, call Realbirth at 54 W 22nd St, you can google them for the phone number, they have a lot of meetings there.

good luck
J.

Hello E.,
It sounds like you have a clogged milk duct. It can be a pretty intense pain. Try lanolin on it, it worked great for me. Also when the baby finishes nursing, take a drop or two of breast milk and rub it on the sore area. I know it sounds crazy , but it works. I am a mom 5x's over and all my children have been breast-fed. One more thing go online and look for info about this issue on the " LA LECHE LEAGUE" website. I hope this helps, let me know.

I think you should see a doctor or lactation consultant. Until then, I have found the website kellymom.com to be an excellent resource for all of my breast feeding questions. Their advice got me through an awful bout of mastitis. Pain really should not be ignored, your body is telling you something is wrong. Good luck!

Do you feel a burning sensation in your breast that comes and goes away? You might have mastitis, which is an infection in the milk ducts.

When my nipple hurt I used to apply lanolin and that helped a lot.

good luck.

Hi, I'm so sorry to hear about your pain. I have an almost 8-month old baby girl and am going through the same problem right now. As many others stated..please see a lactation consultant. If you don't want to have someone come to your home, you can go to a drop-in breast feeding support group at the 92nd street Y (on Thursdays, I think at noon) and see Heather Kelly. She is an excellent lacation consultant and will be able to advise you. The group is $20. You can also go to realbirth. I went to a breastfeeding support group last week at their chelsea center specifically to see Susan Burger(another excellent lactation consultant) about my nipple problem. It turns out that I have a yeast problem. Realbirth has two locations in NYC and their drop in groups are also $20.
I have also heard of a Dr. in Manhattan named Dr. Gabbay. she treats women with breastfeeding issues, however she does not take insurance.
As someone else mentioned "Kellymom" is an excellent resource on the internet as well.
Best of luck to you and baby.