Nipple confusion at 15 months? Is that possible??

[RoRoMommy]

Thanks in advance for any advice.

My DS is 15m old, and recently we've switched from a rounder, plumper rubber nipple on his bottle to a more cylindrical one (the other one got worn out, and this was the best we could find to replace it). But in the last few weeks I've been experiencing some serious discomfort when he's feeding, especially if longer than ten minutes (and particularly at night, when he can go for thirty-forty minutes at a time). My nipples are bright red and peeling/cracking, and they haven't hurt like this since he was a newborn.

Is it possible that the new bottle nipples are causing nipple confusion, or are changing the way he suckles? If so, how can I fix it?? Finally, we've discussed cutting out the bottle altogether and giving him milk in a sippy cup; will this fix the problem?

Please help. It hurts!

Thanks!

bump

i'd try it - he's big enough to use a cup now, so give it a go. no experience myself on this mind - are you sure there's nothing else going on? thrush etc?

Roro, just wondering if you have thrush on your nipples? Seems unlikely that a change in teat would cause this. What bottle do you use? No chance of getting the original teat?

Ds2 has always had quite a lazy latch, and at about the same age as yours the feeding began hurting me. I think he and I got a bit slapdash about it, and when I tried to be fussier and more pedantic about ensuring that he latched on properly, the pain stopped. It sounds to me that you may be going through something similar, especially as you say it's worse at night - when you are more liekly to be paying less attention.

By all means change to a sippy cup. Try several different sorts to see what he likes best. My LOs all liked the old-fashioned sort, where you have holes in the spout but no valve or hole elsewhere to let air in. But they are quite difficult to find, and of course they are not non-drip, though they don't spill easily either.

I don't think it's thrush as we just went away for three days without DS and they looked almost completely back to normal. Wouldn't thrush also itch?

We have smaller versions of the original nipples, which I've asked my mum to try (she's with him during the day). I must also try to get him to latch on better...Pretty, how have you worked on the lazy latch?

Going back to first principles: holding him properly, rather than just letting him climb up and hijack me in any old position; raising myself (or sliding him down the bed) so that he has to tilt his head backwards to latch on - this also forces him to open his mouth wide; detaching and relatching if the latch is in the least bit not right, rather than just letting him get on with it.

Thanks PrettyCandles!

How would I know if it was thrush?