TMI alert - crusty nipples after 7 days of BFing - should I be worried?

[Helen31]

Hi all, I'm hoping that this is a simple query for you experts. DS1 is 8 days old today , and I have been exclusively BFing apart from one bottle. My nipples are a bit tender, but what has slightly alarmed me is that they both look pretty manky at the middle, and one in particular has a crusty sort of scab on it. Is this normal? Or should I be doing something to help it to heal up?

I was also wondering if it might be that I'm not positioning him right to feed - I have had a bit of trouble with this (arms sooo tired!). He also seems to take about an hour and a half to complete what I think of as a feeding cycle in the night - feed from 1st side, wind and usually change which wakes him up again, feed from 2nd side. Then can take a further 30-45 minutes for him to settle to sleep again. This is just normal newborn behaviour, right?

Thanks for your advice!

I can't really tell from your description, (and this may well be normal because I don't know "normal" due to the problems I had!) but I had staph/strep infections in my nipples which caused them to crust over. On one side it actually blocked the nipple.

I needed a swap to diagnose the infection and antibiotics. It cleared up quickly and I went on to bf for 14 months .

I'm not saying you have this - I had quite extreme damage due to poor latch and you certainly don't sound as uncomfortable as I was, but it wouldn't hurt to get someone to check the latch (I do think you need someone to "see" what you're doing) if possible. Is there a breastfeeding specialist at your hospital or a local group?

If you Google Dr Jack Newman his website has lots of videos which can be useful to see positioning.

swap?? Swab

Bumping for you.

The central damage you are describing could be a sign of a latching problem. Does the nipple appear flattened after a feed? Does it seem like a old lipstick with a central line/ ridge? Or does one bit of your nipple have a misshapen point?

If your arms are tired then it definitely sounds like you need some positioning advice. Tired arms will flag as a long feed goes on and baby could easily be slipping (even if you don't notice it) and pulling nipple out of position.

When you say one bottle, do you mean one bottle every day? That might complicate things if there is any question marks over your latch.

Ideally you do need to meet with someone trained in bfing as the pp says. Are you still under midwife care? Might she be able to observe a feed and offer some support or she may know of what resources are available locally. You could also phone a national helpline and a counsellor can talk you through a latch over the phone. I agree the Jack Newman videos and handout can be really useful.

That feeding cycle you describe can certainly be normal for a newborn however if you do have a latching issue and it gets sorted you may find everything gets easier. (well, perhaps not everything!). If baby has been feeding with a not-so-great latch it's harder work for him to extract milk effectively and feeds can take longer and be more tiring for baby.

I think it sounds as though you need help with positioning as soon as possible before your nipples get worse and start bleeding. They sound a bit like mine were, and I let them get to a very bloody and painful state before I got help. And as soon as we knew what we were doing wrong it was so simple to fix, but it took a while to heal.

If I were you I would try to get to see someone tomorrow to sort out the latch before it gets worse.

Congratulations on your son, btw!

Oh, and have you got some lansinoh cream? That can help. And to help them heal, let them get as much air as possible with nothing but maybe a bit of breastmilk rubbed on them.

I'll stop now...