cracked nipples

[Jaileth]

Hi,

Can anyone tell me what kind of cream I should be using on cracked nipples?

[Crazy Monkey]

Hi Shaelia

For cracked nipples you can buy a cream call 'Lansinoh'.. Its a little purple tub and works a treat and you dont have to wash it off before each feed... You can also express some breast milk and put that on and let your breast air for a bit...

Good luck

[Jaileth]

Thanks - have to wait til bub gets here to express anything tho :D I've been told I have a crack in one nipple and want to get it fixed before bub arrives - will have to go stock up on 'Lansinoh'!!! :D

[JanetF]

A little colostrum will appear before bubs does and our breasts often produce a clearish milky substance well before that you can massage in :) After bubs arrives, good attachment and air drying should see you through without too many hitches! I hope you've joined your local ABA group so you can get support from them too :)

[Crazy Monkey]

You poor thing... cracked nipples before bubs arrives....
Hope the Lansinoh works for you...

[Jaileth]

Have sent away the form for the ABA Janet - I didn't realize that you could join them before you became a mum until one of your other posts.

This may be really silly, :o but the reason the dr says I have cracked nipples is that because one of them is releasing blood with the colostrum - is it ok to rub this in or not?

Thanks jacksmum - I'm hoping it works too! :D

[JanetF]

Hmmm. Blood and colostrum? I'd ask a LC about that. Your ABA group will be able to recommend one. Sounds unusual to me but tbh lots of docs are good at doctoring and fairly poor with bf ;) Get another opinion, I would! :)

[zenifa]

Although Lansinoh is great, it is expensive, my LC also suggested some sunlight on nipples to help them heal (morning sunshine through a window so its discreet) and also a little bicarb soda mixed with a little water into a paste that you can also put on my breasts.
Hope the crack heals soon!!

[xkwzit]

Hi Shaelia
I'm pretty sure its OK to rub in even if there's a little blood (it OK to feed baby too). Breast milk is great for cracks (according to my LC), as its antibacteria and has something else in it that helps promote growth and repair of new tissue. I found lansingoh only helpful when my cracked nipples were so bad they were sticking to my breast pads OUCH :eek: the lansingoh would stop them sticking. My rec would be that one tiny tube should see you through. And that's coming from someone whose nipples had some serious remodelling work done on them by DDs and had cracks that were more like crevases (sp?)

Cheers

[Jaileth]

Thanks all! Funny thing is it doesn't hurt - am I right in guessing that having cracked nipples should hurt?

xkwzit - I was saying ouch before I read it!

zenifa - will have to try the bicarb soda paste - seems like bicarb is good for so many things! dh will like the idea of me sunning myself too! ;) :rolleyes:

JanetF - have a midwife appointement on Friday, so will ask her then.

Thank you all so much for your input!!! :)

[nemosmum]

Bepanthenan (i think thats how its spelt) worked a treat for me, its very thick and oh so soothing. Worked fast too, good luck :)

[xkwzit]

Hi Shaelia
Now this might be TMI, if you're a bit sensitive - go to the next post now.

I can only talk about cracked nipples due to DDs remodelling them. They were once very flat, but DDs fixed that (I've had to worry about headlight moments only since BF :rolleyes: ). Each crack would "lengthen" the nipple as it healed up and yes, those kind hurt while BF (but only for a few seconds if you've got reasonable attachment). But it didn't stop me BF, while it was particularly bad on one side, I would feed exclusively from the other side for a day and express on the cracked side. It is amazing how quickly they heal up (esp if you can rest them).

Hoping this helps - Cheers

[mummycloud]

I was at the chemist on Friday and noticed a tub of 100% wool fat for $8 and the tub was really big. Lansinoh is way more expensive. I can't remember what it was called, but I will go back and find out for you ;) it's the exact same ingrediants as Lansinoh too

[jonesso]

Thumbs up for lansinoh - 5* remedy! you only have to use a tiny bit each time so it goes a long way.

With the blood thing, I had a lot of problems in the early days with blood in my breastmilk. PM me if you want to chat or ask q's about it.

Enjoy the last few weeks of your pregnancy.

[Jaileth]

orlandosmum - my dh swears by the stuff! Hehehe - he'll be glad to see that someone else out there loves it too!

xkwzit - I'll have to tell dh to leave 'em alone! ;) Joking! He's too scared he'll get squirted to go anywhere near them now! :o :D At least I have the opportunity to rest them till bub comes!

mummycloud - if you do find out the name that would be great!

jonesso - did you get blood in the colostrum stuff too? Thats the thing thats freaking me out a bit (not too worried tho - I think if it was painful I would be!) That's a great tip - expressing on the cracked side - just bought a pump too, so it might come in handy! :)

Maybe its all the baby hormones that are getting to me, but I can't believe how supportive you have all been. I know that this is only a minor thing, but it still means so much! So thank you everyone!