White flaking on nipples?

[MaryMarg]

My sister has worked hard to breastfeed her son for the last 5 weeks since his birth, although various issues have arisen including cracked nipples. [We discussed latch and are working on getting to a LC.] Her nipples currently have a white layer on them--not sure how else to describe--it looks almost like a layer of skin peeling off that is directly around both nipples, diameter of approximately a quarter. The baby does not have any thrush and my sister has no burning or other indication that yeast is involved. It looks like she rubbed a thin paste of baking soda or some deodorant around her nipples. I just can't seem to find anything that accurately describes her problem--dematitis? Any ideas?

[Mamja]

I'm by no means an expert in BF, but I had something which, to me, sounds similar. Mine was simply a build-up of dry skin and lanolin. Is she using lanolin regularly? If she has issues with cracking, she might be. I got this soon after starting to BF and I think as my skin was getting used to everything, it sloughed off flakes a lot. But, since the lanolin is so sticky and moisturizing, the skin cells didn't come off as easily. Since she has no pain, I wonder if it could be the same thing.

What helped was using lanolin a little less, and *gently* rubbing the nipples with a washcloth in the shower.

[MaryMarg]

She IS using lanolin frequently b/c of cracking. This is a great suggestion and I've passed it on her! Thank you!