cracked nipples

Cracked Nipples

How do you recognise it:

- Nipples become painful and start to show small cracks which can bleed.

What is the possible cause?

- Wrong positioning of the baby. Sometimes the baby sucks only on your nipple, but his/her mouth should cover as much of the areola as possible.

- A bra with compresses.

- Washing powder or conditioner residue.

- The baby sucking only on the nipple. Too long and too hard in the beginning.

- Candida. (White marks on the baby's tongue and in the baby's mouth.)

- In the early stages the nipples become cracked because the breasts must adapt.

What can be done about it?

In the early stages there is a lot you can do. Follow these instructions carefully:
Take a Paracetamol half an hour before feeding.
Then, just prior to feeding put an ice cube on your nipple, it will have a numbing effect.
Begin feeding on the least painful side, to give the most painful side a chance to have the milk flood to the nipple. Let someone pump.
Feed for just a short period. If necessary supplement with a bottle.

Remaining advice:

Wear a well-fitted bra, preferably cotton.

Begin feeding on the least painful side, to give the most painful side a chance to have the milk flood to the nipple, and ensure that the baby has not only the nipple, but also a part of the areola in his mouth.

Try a new washing-powder to wash your bra or rinse it out in vinegar.

Ensure that your skin and nipple are completely dry.
After feeding let your nipples dry in the air with a drop of mothersmilk on them.

Five minutes on a sun bed after feeding works miracles.

Use ironed handkerchiefs, navelbands, suckingcompresses, or a cut up nappy for leaks. Change these as soon as they get wet.

In order for the nipple to get air while healing, wear a metal tea-strainer where the handle has been cut off in your bra.

Medela sells milk-catchers which are inserted into your bra.

Relax before a feeding session, by taking a warm shower or laying warm cloths on your breasts.

Do keep on feeding, otherwise the chance of an imflammation of the breast increases.

Pinch a drop of milk out of your breast and smear it on the nipple.

Our thanks for translating this page from Dutch goes to: Cheryl Hostmann-Carpenter

Wear a well-fitted bra, preferably cotton.
Begin feeding on the least painful side, to give the most painful side a chance to have the milk flood to the nipple, and ensure that the baby has not only the nipple, but also a part of the areola in his mouth.
Try a new washing-powder to wash your bra or rinse it out in vinegar.
Ensure that your skin and nipple are completely dry. After feeding let your nipples dry in the air with a drop of mothersmilk on them.
Five minutes on a sun bed after feeding works miracles.
Use ironed handkerchiefs, navelbands, suckingcompresses, or a cut up nappy for leaks. Change these as soon as they get wet.
In order for the nipple to get air while healing, wear a metal tea-strainer where the handle has been cut off in your bra.
Medela sells milk-catchers which are inserted into your bra.
Relax before a feeding session, by taking a warm shower or laying warm cloths on your breasts.
Do keep on feeding, otherwise the chance of an imflammation of the breast increases.
Pinch a drop of milk out of your breast and smear it on the nipple.