Sudden Pain While Breastfeeding Toddler

[IngaAnne]

My son is 22 months old and breastfeeds about 5 times a day (usually no night feeds). Things have been without issue for a long time, but I am now suddenly so sore. As soon as my son latches on, my nipples really hurt and sting. Today, I actually cut his nursing down to three times since I couldn't handle anymore. He had been nursing for longer sessions prior to this pain starting, but in the past the pain would go away within a day or so, especially with the skipped sessions. Any ideas how to deal with this? 

[lactatinggirl]

Could you be pregnant? 

[IngaAnne]

The thought did cross my mind, but I haven't missed a period and we always use condoms (and it took 9 months of trying to get pregnant on purpose the first time) so it's very unlikely.

[lactatinggirl]

Do you still check latch? Sometimes kids get a lazy latch over time. 

[Beppie]

My first thought on reading your post is: THRUSH!

I nursed 2 girls until 2 years old no problem.  Now I'm nursing my third.  Suddenly, out of the blue (about 2 months ago) nursing hurt SO BAD --- after a while of managing this, someone suggested thrush to me (I'd never had it before).  I looked in dd3's mouth, and sure enough, her tongue was white.  We've been battling thrush ever since.

I would look into that if I were you!  Thrush really hurts.  I also thought it was a latch problem, but why would that happen out of the blue when she/he was nursing so well before?

[lactatinggirl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beppie 

My first thought on reading your post is: THRUSH!

I nursed 2 girls until 2 years old no problem.  Now I'm nursing my third.  Suddenly, out of the blue (about 2 months ago) nursing hurt SO BAD --- after a while of managing this, someone suggested thrush to me (I'd never had it before).  I looked in dd3's mouth, and sure enough, her tongue was white.  We've been battling thrush ever since.

I would look into that if I were you!  Thrush really hurts.  I also thought it was a latch problem, but why would that happen out of the blue when she/he was nursing so well before?

Oh I hadn't thought of that! Definitely a good idea to check it out though. DD and I had thrush for a few weeks when she was a newborn. She never had the tell-tale sign of white tongue, but she still had it. If it's sharp pains that feel almost like they're going up your ducts, then it's definitely thrush. Even if you're not sure, you can always increase both you and babe's (live) yogurt intake to see if it helps. 

[IngaAnne]

I haven't noticed a white tongue, but I'll look more into thrush. We can't do dairy or soy yogurt due to my son's allergies. Sometimes I eat coconut yogurt, but haven't been able to get my son to try it. With that said, I'm thinking it may actually be more of a latch issue. His favorite boob is definitely the more sore of the two. After nursing sessions, I've been noticing some tooth marks right above the nipple. This is common if I'm not paying attention and leave him on the boob too long (after he gets his milk he sometimes just stays latched for comfort), but it's been more frequent these days. He's getting a tooth in, so I'm wondering if he's adjusted his latch to alleviate some pain with that tooth. How do you adjust/correct a toddler's latch?

[lactatinggirl]

Found this today and it's perfect for your situation! http://www.kellymom.com/bf/older-baby/sorenipples-older.html

[JMJ]

Originally Posted by IngaAnne  How do you adjust/correct a toddler's latch.

I've been working on this one for a couple months with some success, though not as much as I would like.  A lot of the things I try just make her mad.  Sometimes, when she's tired and crabby, it's just not a good time to set limits, and I do what I can and deal with the discomfort.

-Pull out her lower lip.  I  don't have to completely take her off the breast.  I just have to get my finger under her lower lip to pull it out a bit.

-Try different positions.  Sometimes a different angle will be more comfortable or help the child to fix their latch.

-When acrobatic nursing is getting out of hand, lie down and require your child to lie down before latching as well.  Then, put your hand behind your child's upper back.  I find that DD has a harder time being rough when I do this.

-Switch breasts.  When 1 breast has had enough, use the other one.

[Beppie]

I just wanted to add that when dd and I got thrush, only one of my boobs hurt really bad, the other didn't hurt much at all.  Also, I did notice what looked with her tooth marks, and I thought it was her latch for about a week or two, until the pain got so bad -- only then did I ask around.  In fact, the first time a friend suggested thrush to me, I thought that it couldn't be it!

This is another great source of information:

http://www.drjacknewman.com/help/Sore%20Nipples.asp

and

http://www.drjacknewman.com/help/Candida-Protocol.asp   as Jack Newman writes, "The pain due to Candida albicans is often confused with pain due to poor latching, and/or pain due to vasospasm /Raynaud’s phenomenon." 

I hope it gets better for you soon!

[AJHCFamily]

Ovulating?

I had sudden intense pain during latch on and initial periods of nursing when I started ovulating again when DD1 was 20+ months. It would happen for 2-3 days with varying levels of pain, then it would disappear completely until the next month. It was a mystery to me for a couple of months, but sure enough, on schedule the pain came each month. I asked around and my LLL and almost very few people had heard of it or experienced it.

[IngaAnne]

Thank you to everyone for the advice. For the past couple days, I've switched to starting the breastfeeding session with the less sore side. I've also been adjusting my son's position and simply paying more attention in general, so we can adjust before the pain gets worse. We had gotten lazy! Every time I feel a twinge of anything, I'll slightly change his angle to alleviate the pain. He has the tendency to pull away on one side while nursing , so much to his annoyance I've been smooshing him into me more. I'm also giving him less hang out time on the boob (hang-out = latched but not actively drinking). I've noticed fewer toothmarks and significantly less pain.

I did have obvious signs of ovulation a day or two before this all started, so that very well could have contributed to this.  I will continue to keep thrush in the back of my mind if things don't continue getting better on their own, though.

Thanks :)