So I've been having trouble with a huge nipple crack for months now. It just won't seem to heal permanently. it has actually led to mastitis three times, but i've managed to get through it with ABs, lanisoh and pain killers. just when i think it's healed for good, it re-opens again and the pain begins again. I'm just soooo tired of it and don't know how much longer i can fight it. The crack is huge at the moment, and it looked like i was heading towards mastitis again on friday night. With the use of heat packs and lots and lots of feeding, i think i've managed to scare it off. The pain from my breast at the moment though goes right into my arm, neck and back. As you can imagine it's really starting to affect my quality of life.
My goal has always been to bfeed ds2 until 14 months, as this is how long i fed ds1 for. Ds2 is now 14 months old, but is in no way ready to stop bfeeding. He still feeds 2- 3 hourly overnight and i just don't know how to even start to wean him. What do i do fro here? How do i wean him without psychologically damaging him? Is there any way i can get this crack to heal and go on to feed him for another 3 months or so? Or do i just give it away? Thank you for reading, i honestly just don't know where to go from here.
- oh i should also say that ds1 self-weaned and was in no way this dependant on the breast at this age, so i just have no idea how to wean such a booby lover.
Not sure if this is a stupid question, but will he just accept the one breast so you can give the sore one a break? (And just express from that one for comfort?)
I am currently feeding my 11mo 3 times /day (except when I am working - then only 1-2 times/day) and 2-3 times /night just from my left breast as my right is a dud
So sorry for the pain - that must be sooooo hard! You've done so well to get this far with so much pain.
thanks for your reply snacks, i don't know how that works. wouldn't the sore breast get engorged then? i've always wondered how people feed from one breast only?
yes i bought a nipple shield today and he absolutely hates it. Won't go anywhere near it, let alone put his mouth on it. He acts like i'm trying to poison him!
It's gone really red around the nipple. Looks like the mastitis is back. I've made a dr appointment for 9am. I'm so over this, i feel like crying.
hun there is stuff you can get from the chemist nexskin or something, i remember tan had similar issues when feeding, its like a bandaid that you leave on for a few weeks i think until the wound has healed
Ginger, I'm not sure if that helps you, but I have heard of a lot of mums in WA having laser treatment for cracked nipples and apparently it has amazing results. Unfortunately I haven't heard of this being available outside of WA, but perhaps you could look into it to see if it can be done anywhere in Melbourne?
Other than that, I guess it would be the usual ideas - using bm on it after a feed, air-drying, paying attention to make sure attachment is good, and perhaps resting that side for a couple of days by expressing instead.
All the best hun, I hope you find something that works
If you just feed from one side, you could express to stop engorgement. I did for one or two feeds when i had a cracked nipple, just hand expressed in the shower. I;m a crap expresser though.
Although BM is still a great source of nutrients for J, he gets nutrients from his food too, so he might get a bit less BM while you feed from one side only, but your supply on that side will soon pick up and the supply on the cracked side will probably drop unless you keep the expressing up.
S now feeds mainly from the L side. My R side doesn't produce much. That's happened b/c i favor the L side. If i feed on the L i can still use my right hand to eat/type/drink or whatever so now the L produces lots more milk.
You certainly have had your fair share of mastitis. I'd feel like crying too.
Aw, sorry to hear you're getting crook again
Maybe you have a more abundant supply than me... But I never get engorged anymore, even when I go to work and forget to express at lunchtime! (Well, that's not true, I will get engorged if I haven't fed her for 10 hours which has only happened probably twice in her entire lifetime, LOL!)
I would pump or hand-express from the sore side - whatever's more comfortable. I find my boobs are pretty savvy at adjusting supply these days so even if we've skipped a couple of feeds it only takes a day of frequent feeds to pick back up again. But my RHS is kaput now. After a couple of days of no feeds I tried her again on that side when I wanted to give my leftie a break (we'd had bad attachment or something but it was feeling a bit sore) and she gave a few sucks and then looked at me blankly.
I am very lopsided though.
I really hope you are feeling better soon.
Hun, can you get your dr to do a swab of the affected nipple, just in case it's a staph infection (which could be one reason it's having trouble healing and keeps recurring)?
You must be so down about this. For pain, try anti-inflammatories, and remember only use a heat pack before bfing and afterwards get out an ice pack. It will reduce the inflammation and pain.
Thank you so much everyone for all your support. It makes me feel so much better to log on here and see that people are helping and supporting me
ok, well i'm feeling a lot better today. Monday night was really rough, i hardly slept at all as i was having whole body aches and muscle soreness and my boob was hurting so much.
The Dr has put me on ABs and i am only expressing from the sore side. I am also applying an AB cream to the sore nipple after expressing. I'm going to do this for a week or so and see if it makes a difference to the nipple. I guess i'll just take it from there.
I'm super keen to find out more about the laser that MR mentioned. I tried to google it and find someone in melb but i had no luck, so if anyone is reading this and knows of someone in melb who offers this service, please let me know.
Thanks again everyone, i'll keep you all updated on how i'm going.
I think that there are some steps you can take to get him a bit less of a boobaholic.
Has he got the hang of cups and sippy cups?? Can you give him milk in them sometimes? And then boob afterwards - so he's not automatically associating being thirsty with having boobs?
And it sounds like you need him to learn to resettle or settle without boobs. Night weaning aint fun, but it can be done. You could try either having boobs go to sleep at a certain time and then offering cuddles and water (and maybe even food) and riding out the few days of really angry grumping-until-exhausted that will probably happen until he gets there. Or you could try cutting his night feeds short so that he is still awake at the end of them, and then slowly cutting them shorter.
Getting Daddy-cuddles rather than Mummy-boobs isn't exactly what bub wants, but nor is it deserting bub.
good luck and hugs
Kate
Registered User
So where do I go from here?
But I never get engorged anymore, even when I go to work and forget to express at lunchtime! (Well, that's not true, I will get engorged if I haven't fed her for 10 hours which has only happened probably twice in her entire lifetime, LOL!)
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