NIPPLES!! Treat em mean...?

[Lotster]

Ok,

so my friend who has sucessfully breastfed two kiddies swears by buffing her nipples with a dry towel after every shower, then leaving them unmoisturised in the last weeks of pregnancy to "toughen them up", a family tradition apparently...

The thought makes me (and mine) absolutely cringe. With my first son I tried to obey, but then would often moisturise em anyway when putting my Bio-oil on my boobs and tum.

Despite my son having a good latch I then got cracked sore nipples which she affectionately said "I told you so" about, but I countered that we wouldn't have Lansinoh lanolin and Kamillosan chamomile cream etc to soothe his problem if we weren't supposed to keep our nips soft surely?
(The fact my son could probably suck a golf ball through hosepipe might not have helped...)

So PG again, I can't decide to be nasty or nice to them... Opinions please!

[TinkerBellesMum]

It's an old wives tale and I don't think it's any good for you at all! It's supposed to make it less painful - I guess like making calouses on your fingers before starting guitar lessons?

[RhinestoneCowgirl]

I bf DS for a long time - there was no preparatory buffing involved and not really any sore nips either.

Old wives I think...

[StealthPolarBear]

The thought of rubbing my nipples with a towel makes me cringe and I've bf DS for 17 months with no more than a tiny amount of pain! I'm also a fair skinned red head.
OK, ginger
IME it's not necessary

[S1ur]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO NO NO!

Just leave your lovely nipples alone woman!

They'll change during feeding so very little point trying to simulate effect. Lansinoh is excellent for healing damage - best on market IMVHO.

Hopefully you'll avoid too much dange this time around anyway

[ScottishMummy]

NO it is an unsubstantiated urban myth favoured by oldies/dafties.treat em nice,treat you nicely too
congratulations on pg

[StealthPolarBear]

keep an eye out in sainsbury's they regularly have half price sale on all baby stuff which includes lanisoh

[Janus]

Well, I've just had my third, and with my first 2 I had horrendous cracked nipples, to the point where they bled for quite a few days. So this time around I was desperate to avoid this. From about 8 months pregnant I put lanisoh on at least once a day, rubbing it in pretty firmly (ie as vigorously as you can handle!)
This time around I have not even had a wince of pain, no cracking, nothing, it has been bliss!
I think this has made a difference and would definitely recommend trying.

[throckenholt]

am I the odd one out here ? - I have never moisturised my nipples (although I did use camillosan when they were sore in the early days of breastfeeding).

[StealthPolarBear]

no, me too

[PuzzleRocks]

I was advised at 12weeks pg, by an ancient midwife, to roll my nipples between my fingers for 5 minutes a day until I gave birth. I thought she was nuts and did no such thing. I have never had any problems with cracked nipples.

[Lotster]

Heh heh, I have has such a chuckle reading your replies, thanks ladies!

My friend is actually such a wuss with a low pain threshold I couldn't believe she did it either... My nips at 4 months pg have already started looking a bit cracked and dry so in hindsight of what you have all said I think I will give them TLC instead!

Son couldn't bear lanolin so always had to wash it off but will use it as a preparatory aid in the hope I won't need it so much as first aid.

Think I'll avoid the breast shells this time too and give em some fresh air.

Thanks again

[bythepowerofgreyskull]

My mum suggested buying a loofah to rub my nips - I said NO! when it took 10 days to get DS1 to latch she suggested it would have been easier if I had listened to her.
DS2 - I didnt do it and he latched immediately.
All bunkam

[ajm200]

The MW I saw last time suggested the same. She even suggested scrubbing them with a soft toothbrush.. didn't go that far but did invest in a rough flannel.

Her idea was its better to get sore nipples while pregnant and let them toughen up before baby gets at them. Baby is going to chew, pull and generally mistreat them anyway.

Had no problems whatsoever with sore or cracked nipples despite having a very hungry boy who seemed to feed all the time.

[LadyBee]

My friend was advised by her mum to use Lansinoh on her nipples while she was pregnant and did not suffer the same cracked and sore nipples that I did. I used Lansinoh when the damage had been done and it helped to heal, but next time around I'm definitely go to try the Lansinoh before-hand. Not going to rub with a rough flannel or anything that makes me cringe, but Lansinoh won't hurt and if it helps, I'm all for it