Bite wound on nipple that won't heal and is agony when feeding...

[sjcmum]

DD2 bit me a few days ago when feeding. Was fine at first, but with each feed it has gradually got more and more sore. There is now a little open cut there (on the side of my nipple), which closes over between feeds, but opens up again every time she feeds. It is also agony - feels like someone is cutting me with a razor blade. How on earth can I get it to heal while still feeding - I don't want this to force me to stop.....DD2 has just turned one.

[Northernlebkuchen]

Have you ever tried nipple shields? Not sure if she would go for that though as she's one. Maybe you can express from that side to relieve the pressure whilst just feeding her from the other side? It won't take long to heal once you allow it to knit. I should walk around the house topless a bit as well - though not if the in laws are staying!!

[MyCatIsABiggerBastardThanYours]

I personally found kamillosan (sp) extremely good in these instances. I used to slaver it on so much that I think DD thought milk was camomile flavoured. You can get it in supermarkets and it's not too expensive.

[moopymoo]

what I did when this happened was limit feeding to udamaged side for a while. I guess this depends on your supply and on how old baby is but missing say 24hrs feeding on the affectd side should do no harm other than make you a bit lobsided and uncomfy. you could do some gentle expressing in shower if it gets too engorged. a bit of milk rubbed in can help the healing.

[sjcmum]

Thanks - I've been putting Lansinoh on before feeding which helps a little - think I might have some Kamillosan hiding somewhere so could try that too. I think you're right about trying to limit feeding on that side - how long can I leave it without affecting the milk supply on that side?? Had boob out while watching telly last night - so will try that again too (luckily no inlaws staying!!!)

[ThumbleBells]

When DS managed to make my nipple bleed, the GP said to feed from one side only for 3 days. That seemed to be ok and didn't affect milk supply. And, FWIW, I gave up bfing over 2m ago and I can still get milk out now! So a few days should be ok.

I had to express from the bleeding side though - the engorgement was a bit much otherwise!

Good luck, hope it heals well - if it doesn't heal quickly when you're not feeding from that side, you might need to see the GP.

[Northernlebkuchen]

Yes as long as you are still feeding from the other side you should be able to carry on. You will need to express a bit though - I got mastitis when dd3 was 9 months through being a bit lazy about changing sides on a very busy pre-Christmas weekend. Missed feeding on one side through the day and by the evening my boob was ready to explode and the next day it was off to the docs. I was very embarassed - 3rd time mum, 9 months in - I should have known better - but the GP said that was what he most often saw - busy mums with well established supply getting a bit too casual with it

[sjcmum]

Northernlebkuchen - mastitis was definitely one thing that I was worried about - I've had it twice in the last couple of months anyway, and two lots of antibiotics. Both times it was when I had had a busy day and missed a lunchtime feed then got a blocked duct. To add to the problems, I made the decision to stop feeding her at night two nights ago - so by morning my boobs are ready to explode anyway, as she had been having 2 or 3 feeds a night. I expressed loads in the shower this morning (had just given my pump away to SIL with new baby)... and will keep doing that morning and night I think until the cut has heeled up. DD luckily so far doesn't seem to have noticed that she hasn't been getting side 2.

Trying to get air to it too - did all the ironing last night with a boob out!!!!!!

[Northernlebkuchen]

Sounds like you're doing all the right things. It will heal quickly now it isn't being sucked at!

[sjcmum]

hmmm.... seem to be back to square one. Last week I didn't feed her from Tues evening until Fri morning - and it seemed to be much better and could hardly see where the wound had been. First 24 hours or so fine - but this morning really sore again, and it has opened up again :-(

It isn't as if I'm feeding her loads - only morning and evening.... so will stop again, and see if I can leave it a bit longer. Half of me things it would be worth just stopping that side altogether - as I'm not sure how much longer I plan to carry on feeding anyway...

Any further tips for sorting this out??

[ILikeToMoveItMoveIt]

Sorry, I haven't read all this thread so apologies if I'm repeating what you and others have said.

A lot of people say to let your nipples air dry, however this can be the worst thing to do because you dry the area out and it cracks further.

It's now recommended that you moist heal, ie slap on loads of Lansinoh throughout the day and don't let the nipple dry out. It will take a couple of days to clear up, but it will work.

Good luck

[jknight145]

I know this is an old thread but I wanted to chime in as it was the only one I could really find on this topic! My LO is closing in on a year but is still EBF and wants nothing to do with bottles. Teething has been tough and this last week he got me good and broke the skin on the more productive breast. Being lopsided, I didn’t have much choice but to “grin and bear it” through the pain. After seeing NO progress on healing, I started trying everything I could find online to help. Ice numbed it but didn’t help healing. Bacitracin didn’t seem to help, and airing it out did absolutely nothing but draw my attention to the pain. I finally put Aquaphor on it after he went to bed. What a game changer! I would have to wipe it off before feeding but would try and get a few hours with it on before a night feeding or a shower. I think my wound needed protection and the ointment to help it heal. I also put a gauze pad on it as I had trouble with the wound sticking to my bra. Anyway, I hope this helps someone!

[Bouncygiraffe123]

Super helpful, thanks jknight145

[HeyyyItsRach]

I’m going through this now! My LO will be one this month and going on 8 teeth! 😅😅 She bites anytime she’s teething. This is the first time the bite actually broke the skin though.
I’ve applied A TON of Lanolin, but it is just healing so slowly because whenever she nurses it opens the wound up again. Switching to the other side isn’t an option for us bc she has preferred only one side since day one. yes I tried anyways and she bit me twice and spit the milk out whenever we tried the other side
We also tried a sippy cup and she plays with it, but won’t drink enough to be satisfied and definitely isn’t having it when it’s naptime.

So I basically had no choice but to figure out a solution and what I found was applying a liberal amount of Lanolin and then putting a bandaid over most of the wound before nursing and it has really helped. The bandaid doesn’t seem to bother her when she’s nursing thank goodness. It still hurts bc it’s bruised too, but the pain is at least tolerable.

[Priisca]

im going through this same problem what ended up working ? I'm desperate 😭

[jknight145]

The only thing that helped me was putting aquaphor on it when baby wasn’t nursing. I hope that helps!