Have you seen inverted nipples on your baby?

[winemal]

I'm not freaking out about it, or anything, but my 10 month old seems to have clearly inverted nipples. I'm a La Leche League Leader, so I feel that I can encourage her when/if she has her own babies, if this is a lasting thing, but I'm just wondering if you can tell something like this at such an early age. I have never seen her nipples poke out at all (unlike my older children) except a few times on one side, maybe. Has anyone else seen this? Might it go away? She is pretty chubby...

[TiredX2]

I've seen lots of inverted nipples on babies.  I'm not sure if they keep them their entire life, but it seems pretty common to me.

A quick search found lots of hits.

Here is one:

http://www.ivillage.com/baby39s-nipples-inverted/6-n-136934

Many babies, both boys and girl, are born with inverted nipples. Inverted nipples result when the tissue underlying the mammary pit (in your unborn baby) does not proliferate as expected and elevate the nipple and areola. Adhesions at the base of the nipple pull the nipple inward.

As a child's breasts develop, adhesions may stretch, and the nipples will extend. Some children's nipples begin to extend at the time of puberty, and others may not extend until the changes that take place during pregnancy and lactation. Truly inverted nipples are rare.

Even if your daughter still has truly inverted nipples when she's all grown up and having babies of her own, it does not mean she will not be able to breastfeed. Many mothers with inverted or flat nipples go on to successfully nurse their babies. So...don't worry about your baby's inverted nipples. No treatment is needed.

[Blanca78]

Huh. My 7 month old has inverted nipples and it never occurred to me that it was anything to worry about (weirdly, it was the first thing I said when she came out of me: "Oh, she has inverted nipples!"). My sister has them, too (at least, last time i saw them closely enough to notice, which was probably when we were teenagers). Thanks for the link, TiredX2--I didn't realize they often corrected themselves. I was just assuming my DD might have some challenges breastfeeding, but nothing serious.

[winemal]

Thanks for the link and it is good to know it is common! I'll be interested to see what happens!