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Breastfeeding
almostjennifer
member
Scabs on nipples. Keep going?
almostjennifer
member
So DD is 5 days old and I'd like to EBF for a year. The LC at the hospital said I had "textbook" latch and that baby's suck is fine. So for reasons I don't understand, she is still making hamburger out of my nipple. I have a scab on each one that is close to falling off. It's pretty excrutiating.
So should I soldier on, or switch to pumping/bottle feeding for a while?
SAHM to DD1 (7), DS (5) and DD2 (1)
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Re: Scabs on nipples. Keep going?
I'd soldier on if you can. The first three weeks are really important for milk supply. The pump is less efficient than the baby, and the baby stimulating milk production is helpful.
Has she been checked by an LC for tongue tie? Sometimes latch looks good but there can be tongue tie issues that are hard to see.
Dr. Newman's APNO (prescription nipple cream) was helpful for me. It has antibacterial properties and antifungal components so it can ward off infection if you have scabs and wounds.
Also, if try to walk around topless if you can.
It really sucks, but keep going. My nipples looked like I had scraped them on pavement... skin was literally coming off and I was bleeding. It was painful and it sucked so much but once I got through it, I didn't have to go to my happy place whenever LO latched on. I think that took about a week. (The non pain is a recent development!)
Good luck!
This too shall pass. Promise. Keep going and soon you'll have less and less pain, and then one day BFing will be completely painless.
I wanted to quit around 4 or 5 days because it hurt so bad, but by about two weeks the pain was significantly less. Ditto PP's on investing in some soothies and good lanolin or APNO. Good luck!!
This for sure! Your own breastmilk is the BEST thing for healing your nipples. It has tons of vitamin E in it and lots of healing properties.
I would express breastmilk after feeding on each side and let them air dry. I used Medela's breast shells for sore nipples. It allowed me to keep a tank on but keep airing out my nipples. I would go out and grab some. They have them at BRU for about $12-15.
^wss but it took me almost 3 weeks for my nips to toughen up and for me to relax
^wss but it took me almost 3 weeks for my nips to toughen up and for me to relax
I promise it gets better!
These will save your life.
From my experience, the hospital gave me a few pairs and it definitely provided a temporary cool comfort but didn't help the healing process. I'd be cautious using those with an open wound as it provides a moist environment for bacteria to thrive and doesn't allow the wound to breathe.
So is breast milk! And it's cheaper.
This!! I personally would pump until they healed a bit (that's what I did when I had major scabs and pain) because open wounds allow the introduction of bacteria and can cause an infection or thrush. I agree with getting some Apno, that stuff is great. And fwiw, we bottle fed for like 4 days straight at about 1 wk old because I was in so much pain and LO had no issue going back to the breast.
I had the same issue. I think mine was from a poor latch in the very beginning or from my nipples just not being used to breastfeeding. My DD is 10 days old now and the scabs are gone and I experience much less pain, if any, while breastfeeding. Lanolin helps and I would also take some Motrin, which seemed to help with the pain too. Breastmilk has healing properties too if you rub some on your nipples after each feeding.
I would EBF, but pump about 2 oz. per day so DH could do one nighttime feeding.
HTH