Cracked/sore nipples - is there anything you can do to prevent or help this?

[Janus]

I'm a couple months off having my second baby. My first breastfed very well but I found it agony for the first 10 days or so to the point where I almost gave up. My nipples completely cracked open, bled and were generally in a rather revolting state!! I so remember my partner holding my head in his hands while I was sobbing with pain and breastfeeding my first.
Is there anything you can do to 'prepare' your nipples? If not, can anyone recommend some wonder cream that worked for them? I had a thick layer of Kamillosan which eased it all marginally but didn't know if there was some industrial strength product I haven't heard of!
Any suggestions would be very interesting, thanks.

Just backing up what pupuce says....there's no such thing as 'too often' when it comes to feeding. Some babies need to feed often, and as long as it is effective feeding, and the baby is getting what he/she needs, and the mum is not sore, there is nothing that needs fixing about this.

Sore nipples are almost always caused by positioning and attachment issues. You'd think these would come naturally to mothers and babies and sometimes they do - but they may not. Birth experiences, poor confidence, crappy advice, separation after birth....they can all mess it up, too.

Burping is a western 'thing' - other cultures don't bother. It doesn't do any harm except when mothers and others pat the baby for ages and then worry about whether the burp was big enough. There will be money to be made when someone invents a burp-o-meter....

Good luck with this baby, and if it hurts, get help

tiktok, I'd never heard that about burping, but it all suddenly makes sense. I don't remember my little sister getting burped, I never burp, but DH keeps grabbing the baby and patting her until something comes up and then he seems satisfied. And covered in milk

This is something I'm also concerned about as I have eczema. I don't have it terribly badly, and i'ts actually pretty good at the moment, but I do sometimes get cracked nipples, especially in winter, even without ever having breastfed. (Baby is due in 10 days.) Should I invest in lansinoh/purelan? What's the difference--is it a branding thing or are they really different creams?

I already have lots of emollients that I use for eczema and unless there is a good reason not to (like having it on my nipples would be bad for the baby) I would prefer to try just keeping on with them. The best one I use is called epaderm. It's ingredients are (according to pot):

emulsifying wax BP 30%
yellow soft paraffin BP 30%
liquid paraffin

Hmm, after typing that in I realise it doesn't sound very tasty does it?

Presumably with creams that are especially formulated for b/f cracked nipples you don't have to wash them off? With epaderm (or other petroleum based products, which most emollients are in my experience) does anyone know whether one should wash off before feeding? (If so I don't think it would do much good, especially if you were feeding very frequently.)

They are the same : 100% lanolin (nothing else) BUT maybe that's bad for you as I think Lanolin is not good for eczema???

Thanks Pupuce. I don't know whether lanolin is bad for eczema, though given that it comes from wool and I can't wear wool next to my skin without irritation I suppose it might be. Maybe I will try to find out via the eczema society.

Ruth21, I used the Lansinoh/Purelan (same thing in my opinion) as Pupuce says 100% lanolin when I had the sore/cracked nipples with DD1. It was somewhat soothing, but didn't eliminate the soreness or anything like that. The package says it is completely safe for ingestion by baby - so does not need to be wiped off prior to feeding. That was partly why I used it - nearly after every single feed.
Pupuce, Tiktok, Pie, thanks for your advice. I did breastfeed DD1 for 9 months, so I did feel like I knew what I was doing after the first month or so, but I was so surprised to see my breastfeeding notes for DD1 during the first few weeks and how frequent the feeds were. I'm still in US, and I have to say the advice from La Leche and also from the bf consultants varies widely, as does the literature - especially for the beginning. I was especially confused about whether I needed to ensure that baby got both sides at one feed. Also, a lot of women said it was bad for baby to fall asleep at the breast, but my DD1 always did that. Anyway, sorry long post. Thanks.

I've read that Lansinoh has had the allergenic component removed, so is hypoallergenic. There's some info on their website HTH.

Thanks for the link suedonim--will probably try to get hold of some before the babe arrives.