Bitten Mommy Needs Advice Before She Weans

Been there, you poor thing :( My doctor advised me to stop nursing on the bitten breast to give it a chance to heal, and pump milk as I filled up. You more than likely won't need to ween him.

If he bites again you do need to say, "Ouch!" loud and firmly enough to startle him and stop nursing him immediately, each time it happens, to teach him that biting means no nursing.

Hope you feel better soon : )

No don't wean! Lol...I would say use a nipple shield until it heals. You can find them at BabiesRus. And until you get it, just don't nurse on that side. Good luck, you're doing GREAT!! :)

Don't put anything on it except breastmilk - and allow to dry. The more ointment and stuff you put on will only prolong healing. For a whole day, allow that breast to rest and feed from only the other side.

Are you familiar with teaching nursing manners? Such as "Wait", "No biting", "When we get home", etc? If not, PM me and I'll reply with the info.

Aww, sorry Mama! That's miserable. :(

Nurse only on the good side for now, and hand express in a warm shower to help with engorgement.

For the wound itself, leave it uncovered (if you wear a nursing bra, leave the flap down). It needs air to heal. When it starts to dry out some and isn't so raw and oozing, slather it in vitamin E (just a normal vitamin E capsule that you poke with a pin and squeeze out) and cover it in GAUZE, NOT a bandaid. That will help it heal quickly!

This has not happened to me, but, thinking about what happens to moms at the start of nursing a newborn, when they get abrasions from poor latch -- I think this is pretty much the same thing.

When I nursed my newborn, I struggled so much with poor latch that I constantly got abrasions that would barely heal and then re-open with feeding. It was so painful, it felt like torture. I was told by many to air out my nipples and that did not seem to help very much, especially with the pain. I applied milk to them, walked around bra-less and sometimes totally topless (not by choice, my nipples were so painful nothing could touch them), the whole bit. Then, I got the recommendation to use moisture to allow more effective wound healing and that healed me up in a day and a half. Here is what I did -- and I warn you, it's a little weird...

I got a box of Saran wrap that I used solely for this purpose. After breastfeeding, I dried my nipple with a gauze and then applied a very thin layer of bactroban on it (for MRSA protection, and available by prescription only; your OB or family doctor or even your pediatrician can help you out here). Then, I applied an approximately 5 x 5 inch square of saran wrap over my nipple and I put my bra on. I carried clean 5 x 5 square wraps in a clean place, and every time I fed, I repeated the entire process (gently dry the nipple, THIN layer of bactroban, not a glob of it, and finally a NEW 5 x 5 wrap, no re-using!).

I went from nipples that were tough, scabby and so sensitive that I could not even wear a bra (and this lasted for weeks!) to nearly totally healed in only a 1 1/2 days and I was able to feed with much less pain. Truly, it worked wonders; so well that I am still baffled as to why this is not recommended more often.

I strongly recommend this for your cuts. I was told by many that I could increase my risk of thrush; eventually this did occur after several weeks, since I suffered with poor latch for weeks and weeks, but this is not the same problem here. When Saran wrap is used for brief periods of time there should not be a problem. As a preventive measure, if you want to be extra careful you can take probiotics and attempt to rinse, not just dry, the breast tissue, with a little clean water on a swab or cotton ball to completely get rid of saliva that may be harboring thrush. To further speed up healing, it is perfectly fine to stop feeding from that side for a day or so; instead, to avoid further problems I would recommend pumping 2-3 times that day on that side so that you are not uncomfortably engorged. After about a day, you should feel well enough to go back to breastfeeding as usual, keeping up with the Saran wrap method as needed until you are totally healed.

In the same way that a bandaid allows for wound healing by covering the wound, therefore retaining some moisture...this is the same idea. Also, Medela and other companies make those gel-pad thingys for sore nipples. Again, the same idea, but much cheaper and you get days of treatment from a simple box of Saran wrap (as opposed to only 24 hours with those gel thingys, which should not be reused).

Get a nipple shield for that nipple and/or don't nurse on that side.

Pump or express milk from that side so you don't get engorged. Mastitis is not fun.

Get a prescription for a nipple ointment to speed up the healing.

Take heart! Nipples can heal remarkably quickly. My cracked and bleeding nipples healed in 36 hours with nipple ointment and a nipple shield.

Good luck!

That hurts so much! At eight months my kiddo started biting hard and harder, and I finally went to pumping exclusively until he was one. Anyway - I would express a little milk, dab it on the raw area, and then let that boob "hang out" as long as possible (i.e. no shirt or bra - just air).

Can you nurse him from one side only and pump (or hand express) from the healing side enough to keep from being engorged? I remember that pumping with my Medela was really painful because it sucked my nipple so far into that (trumpet shaped thing). Once I tried putting Lansinoh on before pumping - big mistake! My nipple went twice as far as before. OUCH! Hand-expressing what you need to would give you more control over avoiding the healing area.

Good luck! I stopping nursing 2.5 years ago but I'll never forget the pain of nursing from a raw nipple. So sorry! I hope you find a workable solution.

I had that happen with my daughter when she was about 7mos. I just nursed off my left breast and exclusively pumped my right until it was healed. It was only a few days of pumping. It was a pain in the butt, but was totally worth being able to continue nursing! I'd say try that and see if it works out for you.
Good luck!!
J.

I had severe nipple pain and bleeding when I started nursing, but didn't want to give up. Nipple shields really did the job for me – allowed my sweetie to nurse while I healed in relative comfort. Pumps were not widely available way back then.

Best!

You've gotten lots of advice already, but I couldn't help noticing you live in Spanish Fort. We have great LLL leaders in Mobile. You can reply to me if you want contact info for either of them--they are trained for all kinds of issues and will respond promptly with great help and support. We actually have our monthly meeting on this coming Tuesday at 10:30 at St. Paul's too if you want some in person advice from a bunch of cool mamas. Again, reply if you want more info so that I can give you more specific directions. In any case--good luck!!!

They do understand the word 'no' and 'no biting' although it doesn't sound like it was intentional on his part.

IMO I would only nurse on the other side and let that side heal. Due to arm problems I only nursed on one side and it worked. Now that they are weaned I don't feel that I am even lopsided from one sided nursing.

By this point of nursing your body should be pretty regulated so you may not even become engorged.

i'm thinking air it out, not cover it. or perhaps nurse on that side less. the other one may get bigger but you can even out later : ) sorry. hope that doesn't happen again.

.

Ask your OB for a prescription for APNO (all purpose nipple ointment). My lactation consultant wasn't as keen about Lanolin products because it softened the nipple, plus there's been a big concern about the contaminants in the lanolin. I don't know anything about contaminants but she was right about the nipple softening. I got the APNO from the pharmacy and it's an amazing healing oinment. I bet that would help you remendously!

Good luck friend, and thanks for asking this question because my daughter is 4 months and I've been really nervous about her biting when she starts teething.

.

Have you considered when he's not nursing put a bandaid and neosporin on it then when he nurses clean it off really well?
When I started cracking at the beginning of BFing it helped me out sooo much.

I am so sorry! One of worst pains ever! A litter different but my nipple cracked all the way around due to an aggressive nurser, he was still very young, so nursed every couple hours. I loaded up the lansilo & only let him nurse on that breast every other feed & just waited it out. It was no fun. I'm sure someone else will have better advise, though. I feel for ya. Ouch!