Longtime Painful Nipple

[NinasMommy]

My right nipple is always painful, especially when DD nurses, but especially when she latches on/off.

She has a habit of pulling away from the breast with the nipple still in her mouth and still latched on... could this be pulling at my nipple/breast tissue or something?

Also, this nipple now points slightly downwards :(

[sunwise]

How old is your baby? I am assuming from your post that there are no teeth involved yet.

Anyway, I don't have a definitive answer for you as to why you are having nipple pain, but I would recommend working to correct the issue of your DD pulling away from the breast with nipple in her mouth. I let my DS do that before he had teeth, and when the teeth finally came - OUCH! But it took very little time to correct. What I did (because we were dealing with biting) was stop him from nursing for a few minutes if he pulled off like that. That helped him figure out a cause and effect (unlatching poorly = not getting to eat right away). The other thing I did was spend a few days nursing with my pinky near the corner of his mouth, so if he was about to pull away with breast in his mouth, he got unlatched and I didn't get hurt. You might try that to teach your DD to properly release your breast when she is finished nursing.

I did have nipple pain for about the first 6 weeks or so, which eventually went away on its own. If you are still in the really early stages of nursing, maybe give it a little more time. The other thing that has occassionally caused me nipple pain is plugged ducts - you would probably know if you had them because there would be a painful and possibly hard-feeling area on your breast.

[NinasMommy]

hi sunwise, thanks for the advice!

DD is 9 mos old, and she actually does have 2 teeth, but when she pulls off like that, she doesn't use her teeth. she never bites, just pulls away with the nipple in her mouth.

i will follow your suggestions, i think they will work even though she's not actually biting.

a while back she was latching on and nursing incorrectly, and i didn't correct it right away... i think that's what initiated the pain in the nipple, and now she's got this pulling thing, but i'm gonna nip(ple) it in the bud.

Originally Posted by sunwise 

How old is your baby? I am assuming from your post that there are no teeth involved yet.

Anyway, I don't have a definitive answer for you as to why you are having nipple pain, but I would recommend working to correct the issue of your DD pulling away from the breast with nipple in her mouth. I let my DS do that before he had teeth, and when the teeth finally came - OUCH! But it took very little time to correct. What I did (because we were dealing with biting) was stop him from nursing for a few minutes if he pulled off like that. That helped him figure out a cause and effect (unlatching poorly = not getting to eat right away). The other thing I did was spend a few days nursing with my pinky near the corner of his mouth, so if he was about to pull away with breast in his mouth, he got unlatched and I didn't get hurt. You might try that to teach your DD to properly release your breast when she is finished nursing.

I did have nipple pain for about the first 6 weeks or so, which eventually went away on its own. If you are still in the really early stages of nursing, maybe give it a little more time. The other thing that has occassionally caused me nipple pain is plugged ducts - you would probably know if you had them because there would be a painful and possibly hard-feeling area on your breast.