We both know quite a bit about breastfeeding being doulas and she is actually all set to become a LLL leader.

She has huge, VERY painful cracks down the middle of both nipples. She called me late last night, sobbing that she thinks she needs to supplement until they heal.

Her pump (medela PIS) hurts more.

Her daughter is 2 weeks old. She has gone to see 2 doctors, 1 said it was really bad and didn't quite know what to tell her and the other said it should clear up in a couple days.

I suggested going and renting a pump from her local hospital which has Lactinas. If she could find a pump that would work/be less painful, she should pump while taking care of the nipples and cup feed milk to her baby.

We're worried about supply, we don't want it to go down at all. How does she keep her supply up and nurse?

She is such a strong woman, her sweet baby was born at home- all 11 lbs of her. My friend is 5'4" 110 pounds :) She is little!

I'm going to call her in a few minutes, but I was hoping to get some more information.

Other things I thought of are nipple shields, switching from lansinoh to pure vitamin E oil, treating the pain with otc pain killers.

The pain is killing her. She says she hasn't really had a chance yet to enjoy dd :( She is worried this is really affecting their babymoon/bonding time.

She needs help today. I'm calling her local breast rental shop in the hospital near her. I hope they'll be able to hook us up with an LC. I google for LCs in her area and got nothing.

She is in Marquette, Michigan.

THANK SO MUCH!!!

Ouch! :( She defintiely has my sympathies! I would recommend ditching the Lansinoh. I did not use it at all this time around and I healed faster than I did with Adrian and i was applying Lansinoh a lot becasue that was what everyone said to do (the more experienced breastfeeding Mamas I mean). Well my nipples were split and cracked and bleeding for abotu 2 months and we got some REALLY bad thrush as well. This time my nipples healed FAST (they were cracked and bleeding this time too) and no thrush during that time though we do have it now--very mildly too, and GV is clearing it right up (whew! sigh of relief).

This is just my personal opinion though. i have no training or anythign like that but this is what I have done differntly from last time to this time and Adrian's latch was perfect, Dracos' latch leaves a bit to be desired (his mouth is still so tiny, he has trouble getting a good mouthful) and we are cool beans with nursing.

I hope she can clear it up soon :( I rememebr gritting my teeth and breatheing deep and stomping my feet on the floor as Adrian latched on and even the first 2 weeks when Dracos latched on. It sucks. At least it didn't last as long this time with Drake.

:big hug: for your friend

OUCH. I had inverted nipples, and they hurt like heck the first week or two, and I had huge cracks/splits besides.

I did Lansinoh for a while, but what really helped were something I got in the hospital's gift shop. They were called Soothies, I think, and they were like gel things that you put in your bra in between nursing. I bought two pairs and I always had one in the fridge. The cold gel felt SOOO good, and they keep everything moist like Lansinoh does, but without the yucky sticking to the bra and without encouraging yeast to grow.

Because of the inverted nipples, with my son, a LC gave me nipple shields. The kind you wear WHILE you are nursing. I used them for about two weeks, and couldn't understand why Jusitn was literally crying to eat ALL THE TIME. When I started giving him formula :( and had no engorgement at the sudden weaning, I figured it out...the lack of stimulation had made my milk supply go down drastically, and he was getting nowhere enough milk. My new LC said that nipple shields are the LAST, LAST resort, and to be used for less than 48 hours, under supervision by the LC, because such problems are common. Please tell her that that may happen if you advise her to use the nipple shields...if my first LC had told me about it, I would have been much more aware and would have been able to nurse my son longer.

I hope she is feeling better soon....cracked nipples hurt worse than transition childbirth, imo.

Michelle

ETA: I know you said she is a LLL leader, but has she had anyone else check the baby's latch? I wonder if maybe she could me missing something from her viewpoint of 12 inches above the baby's mouth, yk? Also, has she already checked for a short frenulum, and a high palate? Just trying to think of things that would start the problem in the first place......

sounds like there's something wrong with the baby's latch-positioning, palate height, frenulum length, etc?

was baby a tongue sucker inutero? (does baby tongue suck now?)

all of these things can lead to nasty nipple soreness & cracks.

imo, pumping is only going to make the problem worse than it already is. not only will she feel pain from the pump, the scheduling involved is going to take her away from baby, the establishing her milk supply is going to be difficult, because her baby is so young, she doesn't even have one yet, and the temptation to feed via bottle & risk nipple confusion are all reasons i would stick to the breast & go w/some pain meds.

(big shock, huh?) imo, a little pain medication is much better than risking all of the above going wrong & going wrong fast.

I went through this with alexis--as a last resort (as in, I either did this or switch to the bottle for good) we used the nipple shields for a little over a day.

i healed, did not lose supply and went on to nurse for 4 more weeks until we quit for other reasons.

((hugs)) to her.

She needs to see a lactation consultant to check baby's latch. Check for tongue tie and high palate as well. Give up the lansinoh, some people can be allergic or develop an allegy. She cna use oliveoil if sh'd like.

Also, I recoommend the Aven Isis pump. The rubber flange is so much more comfortable than that on a medela. Also, since it is manual, she can adjust the suction easily.

Originally posted by DixieChick
Also, I recoommend the Aven Isis pump. The rubber flange is so much more comfortable than that on a medela. Also, since it is manual, she can adjust the suction easily.

I second the Isis pump. Best I've ever used. It's easy to mimic the baby's suction with it.

I hope she heals fast. make sure she is eating well and taking vitamines so her body can heal quickly.