Um, my baby is puncturing my nipples- Update #2 in Post 52- JUMP FOR JOY!!!

[MsVyky]

I X-posted this in breastfeeding challenges, but I got NO replies.

Lyra cut her first tooth and it's very sharp- serrated. Seriously. She cut my sister when she bit her. Well.. imagine the damage she's doing to my poor boobies. I have three puncture wounds on my nipples, one of which is about 3-4 mm deep (1/8"). I can't nurse or pump on that side at all. The nipple is swollen, inflamed and bleeds when I try to pump from it, so I am left hand expressing what I can from that side.

The other side isn't in quite as bad of a shape, but is still very painful to nurse on. I have a photo of the wound, I'm not sure if it's against the UA to post a link to it, but it is really bad.

I don't know what to do. Help!

[MeredithK]

Oh no!! I don't have any advice, but just wanted to send hugs. Dylan has bitten my nipple a couple of times. I'm afraid of these top teeth coming in. I hope someone has some advice for you!

What about using some Lanolin? Maybe that would help? Feel better!

[Mom2M]

Whenever my babies got a new tooth, it seemed like it took a few days until they got the latch back to being the right way so that it didn't hurt. Maybe hold it for her so she just attaches to the breast? I don't know if I'm explaining that right.

DD's teeth were like razors too when they first came in! After a few days they got duller. Of course she gnaws on wood so that probably helps! Give her a block!

I never got bitten hard so I can't offer anything but and I hope you heal quickly! I can't imagine how painful it must be!
I agree with the lanolin idea. Nice and thick on there.

Good luck!

[jess152]

Owww!!!

Try nursing her when you know she's hungry...then watch for her waning interest and pull her off early, rather than let her hand around and 'get bored' when she's most likely to chomp. There is a visible difference between a baby nursing and one at the breast, just kind of lolly-gagging around, IYKWIM.

Secondly, to heal up, go topless around the house as much as you can. To speed it up, put your blow dryer on cool and blow some air on those wounds. They aren't going to heal if they are kept in a bra all day.

You could have your pharmacist mix up some Dr. Newman's nipple cream. It's probably something you'd need your dr to send a prescription over to the pharmacist. I used it for some minor nipple problems. Not just sure what's in it, likely something like polysporin, but safe for baby to ingest.

Good luck! It will pass. I remember looking down at my nursling and telling my 1 year old 'Ow, don't bite mama! That hurts mama!' and he didn't do it again.

[StephandOwen]

I'm so sorry mama My nipples were like that at one point too and it sucked. That was the one and only point that I hated nursing ds. I would cringe everytime he wanted to nurse. BUT there was a light at the end of the tunnel and I nursed ds for over 3 years so it does get better!!

The only thing that worked was one time he bit my (still healing) nipple. I SCREAMED out in pain and put him down on the floor and walked away (and cleaned and bandaged my bleeding nipple). Yes, it freaked him out. No, it wasn't nice. But it was certainly the nicest thing I could have done to him at the time because IT HURT. When I was calmed down enough I came back in the room and got him. I apologized to him and explained that it hurt mama when he bit. I don't know if he understood that or whether it was the fact I screamed so loud and scared him.... but whatever it was worked because he didn't bite again after that!

[TortelliniMama]

It may help to try different positions for nursing for a while. If you can find a way to hold her (or not, as in having her lying down and being on all-fours over her) so that the tooth isn't hitting the same injured spots, that can give the wounds time to heal.

Remember that she can't be actively nursing and bite at the same time, because her tongue should be over her lower jaw when she's nursing. Some moms find if they pay careful attention (which means you can't read/watch tv/whatever while nursing for a while), they can tell when a bite is going to happen, because they'll feel the change in the latch and the baby will stop actively nursing. If you can pick up on those cues, you can slip your finger in the corner of her mouth and break the latch before the bite happens. You described the punctures as being on your nipples, which would mean she's biting when her latch isn't a good nursing latch, so you might have a good chance of noticing the change and interrupting the cycle.

If she does bite, try not to pull back. It can be hard, because the instinct is to pull away and try and yank yourself out of her mouth, but you'll have less tissue damage if you instead pull her toward you (and then insert a finger in her mouth to get her to open up). Doing that is also likely to result in her releasing sooner.

I'd try to get as much milk as possible out of the breast you said is too painful to nurse/pump with. I'm concerned that if you're not able to empty it effectively, then that engorgement in combination with the wounds providing entry to germs could result in mastitis. As the nipple heals a bit, you might have better luck nursing on that side second, so that she's not as hungry and isn't sucking as hard.

Hope some of this helps, and that your dd realizes things go much better when she's not chomping on mama!

[stephanie95]

My DD bit me often. I had bleeding nipples for months. I found giving her camillia by boiron just prior to nursing helped tons. It became ritual for a while. I also concur with lanolin. It gave the barrier so the wounds could heal. Also, I would take her off as soon as she bit. She did lots and lots of nursing so she cared if she didn't get too. I tried talking to her about the importance of not biting mommy. Not sure that helped but it made me feel better and less angry. Now that she is 3.5 years old, I can see where her personality was part of the problem. She is a stinker and likes to tease. The more something she does bothers you, the happier she is to do it. I tried lots of things even scaring her, but she didn't care. So it became all about prevention.

[annettemarie]

I'm going to move this to the general breastfeeding forum since it's a pretty common issue.

[MsVyky]

SO I went to visit a lactation consultant and she said that I'm in rough shape. She also felt Lyra's tooth and made a face like this:

The wounds are pretty bad and are excruciatingly painful. SHe basically said unless I want to suffer through it (I really don't), that I should pump and cup feed for a couple days and let the wounds heal up a little, and be on the lookout for symptoms of thrush, yeast and infection. I have a rented Symphony so at least I am prepared. I tried to nurse with a nipple shield on, but she absolutely would not take it. She refused it vehemently.


I will definitely try and get her something to gnaw on to help take the edge off those teeth- thanks for that suggestion!


As for the behaviour itself: When she bites, I yelp, unlatch her, tell her that biting hurts Mummy and I walk away for a few moments. I try and catch her before she does it, but it seems to happen most when she is sleepy, and she won't go to sleep without nursing (Daddy can put her to sleep without it, though, so bedtime will be his show for the next little bit)

[annettemarie]

Earth Mama Angel Baby makes an awesome nipple butter that really helps heal wounds like this up. Another thing that helps is nursing in different positions, so they aren't always hitting the same spot with the teeth.

It's hard. I remember my first was like this and for the longest time I had to keep my pinky finger *right there* ready to unlatch him. And he didn't try it; it often happened as he was drifting off to sleep. I hope it gets better for you soon.

[MsVyky]

we normally nurse in cradle or side lying, so I tried football and even upside down, LOL. A friend even gave me a tip to kinda twist my whole boob.

Can I link to the photo of the damage in question or is that against the UA?

[annettemarie]

I think it should be OK if you're comfortable with it, knowing nothing on MDC is truly private.

[MsVyky]

eh, my boobs became public property with the birth of the baby in question

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...y/P6100004.jpg

that's the one side. Since that photo was taken, I've collected two identical wounds on the other nipple.

[firewoman]

Yowch, Vyky! That looks painful. She's a little alligator. This is her first tooth? It should be one of the bottom ones, correct? I have a couple of thoughts. When she is latched properly her tongue should be covering those little bottom teeth. If you look at your breast while she is latched you should see the flesh of your breast, Lyra's tongue and then Lyra's bottom lip. It sounds like for some reason she hasn't got her tongue out far enough to protect your breast. Is she able to fully stick her tongue out? My son had tongue tie that prevented him from sticking his tongue out far. It was so tight that it was forked in the middle making his tongue look heart shaped. We didn't discover he had it until he was seven or eight months old. Could this possibly be contributing? I have had problems with soreness attributed to teeth, but it has always been with the top teeth. Was her first tooth on the top?

[MsVyky]

no, it's the bottom tooth. When she is eating, and actually eating, her tongue is properly positioned, it's just when she gets sleepy or angry/upset that she bites.

[widemouthedfrog]

Ow! That looks very sore.

I found that dd would do a sleepy nursing thing where she would clamp down and up with her teeth as she slipped off the breast and fell asleep. It was excruciating. I tried doing the Pantley Pull Off and slip her off the breast prior to this. If I had to use some rocking instead and nurse her in the rocking chair and then rock her to sleep for a while, that would save my nipples too.

Is she angry about something in particular, or angry that the milk is not coming the way she wants it? If the latter, perhaps it's a latch issue...if the former, it might be time to look at other techniques for soothing her when she is angry. Nursing was always my first go-to technique, but I did find that bouncing dd worked as well.

[Autumn Breeze]

Originally Posted by MsVyky

no, it's the bottom tooth. When she is eating, and actually eating, her tongue is properly positioned, it's just when she gets sleepy or angry/upset that she bites.

If this is the case I would probably find another way to get her to sleep, and quick!


I might go so far as to let her nurse for 5 -10 minutes (for my quick nurser it would have been 5) and then unlatch her and talk to her. Then go back to the same breast for another 5-10 minutes.

That looks absolutely AWFUL!! I remember having such extreme pain when I had thrush I felt like I was being stabbed in the nipple with every suck.

[MsVyky]

DH is good at getting her to fall asleep; he walks with her and puts a bounce in his step- just putting her down stirs her a bit, so I tend to use my boob as a bandaid to settle her back down. time for a new approach.

it really is very painful. The other nipple has two sores similar to that one that occurred last night.

[Autumn Breeze]

whew,mama stay strong! This will heal!

[MsVyky]

we are making progress! I was able to nurse long enough last night on my left breast to completely drain it! But once we were done with that, my right was engorged so badly and I had to get up at 4 am to pump.

This morning I was able to tolerate her latching on to the right for a few minutes, but not of the left

I guess another day of pumping....