Bleeding nipples...

izzourclue

No its not the name of my band.  Feeding my daughter last night I was horrified to discover her drool had a red tinge to it.  My nipples have been sore and cracked but not actively bleeding.  I think its just when she first latches on.  I'm going to pump today to avoid her getting any blood in her mouth and give myself a chance to heal a bit.  I know its not harmful, just freaks me right out.  I'm using the lansinoh gel soothies, but was wondering if anyone had any helpful tips for healing. 

I don't think its a latch issue.  She latches on and gets the whole areola.  Sometimes she gets a shallow latch but self corrects or I get her off.  I think I just need to toughen up, but am also wondering how long that takes.

JBtheDog20

I know the first two weeks were pretty rough.. But after that it has been fine only the occasional soreness from time to time. Hang in there though! It gets better!!

Nhev

Just so you're prepared, you may also bleed into the pumped milk. I had one "problem side" at first. It was getting so clogged, painful, cracked, and bleeding so much that I stopped feeding Amelia on that side for two or three days. After day one, I tried pumping and immediately the blood went right in there with the milk. After our days off from that side, some massage and warm showers, she was able to eat on that side again with barely any pain

I wish I could help you more, but since you're experiencing this on both sides, what I did is clearly not an option (and probably not recommended by LCs but it worked for me).

Hang in there; After 2 weeks, for me, things were much less painful and pain was gone at week 3.  

izzourclue

rah1218:

I EP (DD is in the NICU), and I ran into the same thing about the same time you did.  Turns out I was using my pump on the highest setting constantly, and I really felt it!  Once I figured out how to use it correctly, it helped.  I also use the Lansinoh ointment when my nipples start to get really sore or show signs of cracking/bleeding - this helps me a lot!  Hang in there - I started to toughen up about 2-3 weeks PP.  HTH.  I haven't actually nursed for nutrients yet, so I can't offer any suggestions about latch etc.

Oh, and did you also post something on the BF board?  I've gotten some good advice from the ladies over there when I have questions. 

Good idea.  I just xp'd over there.

izzourclue

Nhev:

Just so you're prepared, you may also bleed into the pumped milk. I had one "problem side" at first. It was getting so clogged, painful, cracked, and bleeding so much that I stopped feeding Amelia on that side for two or three days. After day one, I tried pumping and immediately the blood went right in there with the milk. After our days off from that side, some massage and warm showers, she was able to eat on that side again with barely any pain

I wish I could help you more, but since you're experiencing this on both sides, what I did is clearly not an option (and probably not recommended by LCs but it worked for me).

Hang in there; After 2 weeks, for me, things were much less painful and pain was gone at week 3.  

I inspected what I pumped this morning and didn't see anything in the pumped milk.  Ugh, gross.

LindsayX

It took me about 3- 4 weeks to be pain-free.  I bled too, but my pediatrician said it wasn't harmful, just kind of icky.  I stopped bleeding long before the pain stopped though.  Bleeding stopped around 2 weeks.

GL!

ZoeyMarie

Have you tried MotherLove Nipple cream? It is AMAZING!!! Medela also sells shells that you can put into your bra to keep your nipples from rubbing any cloth--so does Avent.

teshy1

Not that I want to hear about other moms suffering, but I am going through the same thing and it's nice to know I'm not alone!  For me, it's just my right nipple that's bleeding.  My left one is slightly bruised, but not cracked or bleeding. When I was feeding DD yesterday afternoon, she suddenly pulled away after about 5 minutes and I looked down in horror to see blood coming through the nipple shield.  Poor baby girl even had some blood on her lips    I've been feeding DD on the left only since yesterday evening, and I am starting to pump on my right side today.

Like the PP, I have the Mother Love Nipple cream and it's awesome!  I like the texture so much better than the Lansinoh cream, but I'm using both.  I'm also trying to track down the Medela hydrogel pads; my local pharmacy didn't carry them.

ZoeyMarie

teshy1:

Not that I want to hear about other moms suffering, but I am going through the same thing and it's nice to know I'm not alone!  For me, it's just my right nipple that's bleeding.  My left one is slightly bruised, but not cracked or bleeding. When I was feeding DD yesterday afternoon, she suddenly pulled away after about 5 minutes and I looked down in horror to see blood coming through the nipple shield.  Poor baby girl even had some blood on her lips    I've been feeding DD on the left only since yesterday evening, and I am starting to pump on my right side today.

Like the PP, I have the Mother Love Nipple cream and it's awesome!  I like the texture so much better than the Lansinoh cream, but I'm using both.  I'm also trying to track down the Medela hydrogel pads; my local pharmacy didn't carry them.

If you go to Medela.com, you can find places to order online...

juliedooley

I had cracked/bleeding/sore nipples for 3 weeks before finally calling in a lactation consultant. I'm now pumping LO's daytime feedings and nursing him at night and that's going really well even though my left nipple is not 100% healed yet. Taking a break from nursing for a couple days and pumping exclusively during that time really started helping me. Occasionally my milk would start out pink when pumping b/c there would still be some blood in it, but from what I hear it doesn't hurt/bother the baby. It creeped me out when I'd be nursing and he'd spit up and there'd be a bit of blood in it, though.

If other nipple creams don't work, ask for a prescription for All-Purpose Nipple Ointment, which is what I used in addition to the gel soothie pads at first. That and air-drying my nipples with a little breastmilk on them seems to have helped them too! 

Also, I think part of my problem was nipple shape...my left side used to be inverted and I think LO had problems latching on and therefore was biting that side and making it worse. So if you have flat/inverted nipples that may prolong the problem. I think the most important part is making sure you give yourself a chance for the skin to heal!

AnneEliz79

I had this happen yesterday, it freaked me out a bit!  I looked down and saw bloody milk/drool around her lips as she nursed...I immediately switched her to the other side to give this side a break.  My nipples still haven't healed, and DD is 8 weeks old :-(  She's had bloody spit-up (every couple days or so) but this was the first time I actually saw the blood.  I didn't like pumping so it's deal with it or go with formula.  Hopefully you'll heal MUCH quicker!

Nhev

Oh, good! Mine was completely obvious...saw blood going in immediately and stopped & dumped, which is when I decided to leave it alone for a few days. Good luck to you!

DBELLA24

I pump and supplement and I also had a lot of issues with sore, cracked and bleeding nipples.  They got pretty bad in the hospital & shortly after going home due to latch issues whih led to the pumping. 

One day when my LO was about 3 weeks I was horrified to find that my left breast was pumping pretty much straight bright red blood about 1/2 an ounce worth.  This is after using lanolin and the medela stickies to try and heal them.  The next day I had regular milk again but I found that using larger breast shields on my pump made pumping easier and caused less trauma on my nipples so that they were finally able to heal. 

I am glad that I had already been pumping - just think if I had BF and my baby spit up that bright red blood I think I would have freaked out think he was dying!

It took about 4 1/2 weeks before my nipples "toughened up" but they did.  I haven't had any issues since.  I do have to say though that my biggest frustration came from dealing with poor LCs.  I kept complaining of pain and discomfort and occassional bleeding here and there and they kept telling me that breast feediing and pumping shouldn't hurt, which was a lie and completely unhelpful and left me to figure out things on my own after several nights of crying bc of pain.

 I hope things get better for you soon!