a quick question about bleeding nipple

[sillymillyb]

Hello all,

I just wondered if I could pick your brains. My 10wo ds is ebf and has had a spell or oral thrush. As a result my left nipple has been a bit sore when he latches on.

After his feed last night I noticed that when he possetted up afterwards there was blood in it, and my breast pad was slightly tinged red.

Can I still use that boob to feed him from? I hate thought of him having bloody milk.

If I don't feed while it heals will my supply dry up?

I don't really know what I'm doing! Thanks in advance for your help :)

Hi Silly. While I don't know about thrush, I do know that it's absolutely fine to feed with bleeding nipple. I have subjected little shoes to it many times. and checked with those lovely ladies who man the various breastfeeding helplines. Think of the extra iron! It's a bonus!

I wouldn't leave off the bleeding one for too long in case it impacts your supply, but favoring the intact breast to give the sore one a chance to heal is fine. And perhaps a bit of lanolin would also help?

Good luck!

Ah thank you for your reply shoes, its a big relief to know I'm not poisoning him by accident :)

I have been slapping on the lanolin for last few days.... It bloody hurts now!

Yes it's fine to feed from the bleeding one. But ouch, hope it heals soon. You could try a nipple shield to protect it whilst it heals? Or yes, pump if you need to give it a break (assuming that you find the pumping more gentle).

Have you been treated for the thrush as well sillymillyb? You both need treatement otherwise the infection will just pass back and forth.

As others have said, it won't do any harm for your ds to ingest a bit of blood. Stopping feeding while it heals would put you at risk of engorgement and mastitis which really is something that you want to avoid.

When this happened to me, my GP suggested giving that boob a rest from DS and only expressing from it for a couple of days, just long enough for it to heal. Worked fine.

The blood won't hurt him at all, but it's nicer if you give your boob a chance to heal, tbh and express instead from that side.

Hello again! Sorry I disappeared, I had to pop out.

We were both treated for the thrush but it never fully went, when I went back to the doctors he said there was no reason to carry on with treatment unless it affected feeding. Do you think I should go back again?

I've never expressed before so will give that a shot at my next feed, its so painful when he first latches on ill do anything to ease it.

Thank you all again :)