Hi moms,
I have a 15 month old daughter and we have had a great nursing career so far. For 12 days I have had a crack in my left nipple. I have been to a lactation consultant who told me that her latch is too shallow and to work on getting her to open more widely. It is indeed shallow as I can see teeth marks on my areola. I am trying to re-teach her how to latch on this side but as you can imagine this is very hard with a toddler. (especially when she is sleepy or wakes at night).
I have tried lanolin, pumping for 24 hours at a time (heals somewhat but then when we nurse again it opens up), saline rinses, giving it air. It is somewhat better with the pain (at first it was toe-curling pain) but it is just not healing. It is a very deep crack.
I need to figure out a way to get her latched on better on that side. I wonder if she has forgotten or lost her latch on that side -- or if she has been nursing that way all along but it now caught up with us now that she has lots of teeth - - (but she has had teeth for months).
I might have to just bite the bullet and pump for a week or something to really let it heal. But the lactation consultant advised me to try and get to the root of the problem, the latch, and with the right latch, even damaged skin shouldn't cause pain during nursing.
I would be curious to know if you have experienced challenges with cracks beyond the newborn period and what you did. It seems like a whole other ballgame with a toddler.
Thanks in advance.
Erica
I have a 15 month old daughter and we have had a great nursing career so far. For 12 days I have had a crack in my left nipple. I have been to a lactation consultant who told me that her latch is too shallow and to work on getting her to open more widely. It is indeed shallow as I can see teeth marks on my areola. I am trying to re-teach her how to latch on this side but as you can imagine this is very hard with a toddler. (especially when she is sleepy or wakes at night).
I have tried lanolin, pumping for 24 hours at a time (heals somewhat but then when we nurse again it opens up), saline rinses, giving it air. It is somewhat better with the pain (at first it was toe-curling pain) but it is just not healing. It is a very deep crack.
I need to figure out a way to get her latched on better on that side. I wonder if she has forgotten or lost her latch on that side -- or if she has been nursing that way all along but it now caught up with us now that she has lots of teeth - - (but she has had teeth for months).
I might have to just bite the bullet and pump for a week or something to really let it heal. But the lactation consultant advised me to try and get to the root of the problem, the latch, and with the right latch, even damaged skin shouldn't cause pain during nursing.
I would be curious to know if you have experienced challenges with cracks beyond the newborn period and what you did. It seems like a whole other ballgame with a toddler.
Thanks in advance.
Erica
