Infected holes on my nipples, I'm almost ready to quit bfing.

ouch! I am so sorry you are dealing with this! I dont' have any expert advice except make sure she is opening her mouth really wide when she latches and her tongue is out. Encourage her to open wide by opening your mouth wide too and showing her how to do it and also how to stick out her tongue.

Also try not letting her latch off herself...watch her and just about the time you think she is done, stick you pinky finger gently into her mouth to break the suction and she will delatch. You might also need to explain to her in a gentle way that she needs to be gentle when she is done nursing because you have boo-boos on your breasts. Babies are unbelieveable at what they understand even at 10.5 months.
Lastly, I would call one of your local la Leche Leage leaders for any other advice.


Good luck with it!

Look into your dd's mouth and see if she has any sores. The same thing happened to me once, and I interpreted it the same way. It seemed to start when she scraped her teeth along my nipple (she was teething, and she would *gnaw* -- annoying!) and broke the skin a little for the first time ever. But then I started getting the sores all over my nipples. As it turned out, dd's pediatrician found a viral infection in her mouth, which must have spread to me. I would guess that the beginnings of the infection may have been what caused me to be so sensitive to dd's teeth and break skin in the first place.
It lasted a couple of weeks and was really, really painful but went away on its own. (Which was all it *could* have done because I got all kinds of conflicting advice from LC, midwife, ped, and family practice doctor -- the last one gave me an antibiotic cream and told me to stop nursing dd for 10 days while I took it! Um, no thanks. Then I found out from others that it was actually safe to take and wipe off before nursing, but by then the infection had started to go away on its own...)

Anyway, it sounds like you were having issues before you got infected, but I just wanted to reassure you that dd's nursing habits are not necessarily (or even probably) making the infection worse. You might want to check with your favorite health care practitioner, because I was told that bacteria or even yeast could cause sores like that and might require some sort of treatment.

Hope you feel better soon!!!

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My DS does the exact same thing!! And not just once, he does it over and over....4, 5, 6 times in a row! He latches on takes a few sips and unlachtes in the way you have described : : and over again.

When they are this old it seems hard to control their latch does not it? They have mind of their own now and they like to do things they like :

I am sorry Andrea you have to go through this. Every time he hurts me with his teeth (he's got 8 teeth now) I keep thinking how on earth I made it through the first couple of months of his life?! :

I hope you'll get better soon!

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Thx, mountain mom, you are always so helpful to me!

Another plug for the APNO (all purpose nipple ointment)! Dr. Jack Newman's if you can get it! Also, I second the nipple sheild suggestion. The new ones are made of very thin silicone and, when used as they should be, shouldn't interfere w/ your supply. You might wanna get the opinion of an LC on this tho.

And, I just wanted to commiserate!!! I know *ALL* about the ole 'clamp and pull'! Ds usually only did this when he was just about done. If I broke his latch early enough as soon as he was winding up, it wasn't a prob, but if I waited too long.... . A friend told me to set him away from me when he did this. I lifted him to my eye level and calmly said "No, that hurts Mama! Ow!' and then set him down on the floor, facing away from me. For whatever reason, HE. HATED. THIS.! I can't say that I enjoyed it either, which is weird, cuz it's not really what I'd consider a punishment at all. Anyhow, I only had to do this twice (and I'd immediately pick him up afterward!!)

Oh, and have you considered a nursing necklace as a distraction? Or, at least to keep you from getting kicked!

So I get a dr. to make the all purpose nipple ointment?

andrea88,
You get a Doc to write you a perscription for the APNO and then a pharmacist will make it up for you. You can get nipple sheilds at some drug stores. You can sometimes even find 'em at toysrus! Any place they sell breast pumps would be good places to check. An LC could also get you some.

Has she always nursed this way, or has this been a recent development (wrt the pulling and kneading etc)? It could be a growth spurt, as well. Have you tried any teething remedies? Numbing up her gums with a frozen washcloth or some baby orajel or anbesol before a nursing session might help a little...Your poor nipples . Boiron makes a great homeopathic teething remedy! IT's called Camillia. You can get it in lots of drug stores and it can even be found in the organic section of our local 'SuperStore'.

Anyhow, I hope you find some relief soon!!!!! s

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Aw Mama. s