My baby just got her first top tooth in the last month. We went through the biting stage for two nursing sessions and she is definitely not doing that anymore, but the tops of my nipples are still very sore. Everytime she nurses I have sores on the top of my nipples. I have been using antibiotic cream and Lansolin and have been pumping a little more to allow time for them to heal, but I am discouraged that nursing her will never be as fun as it once was. Any ideas on keeping her tooth from rubbing.
Thanks for all the great input. I especially enjoyed finding the "kellymom" site. We have continued nursing some although I am starting to ween her a feeding at a time. I had not really expected to continue nursing past 1 year, so we are close. She doesn't really seem to have a preference between bottles and breast, so I think we are probably doing the right thing for us.
You poor thing -- she must really have gotten you good!!! Don't worry, the boo boos will heal and she'll learn (has learned) that biting is a bad idea. Why don't you get a nipple shield for the time you're waiting to heal? That'll protect the bite enough to let it heal. You can get them, I know at the hosp. lactation consultant offices -- probably at places like Babies R Us too.
I think this has to do with her style of nursing. I have nursed babies with teeth without feeling the teeth at all. See if you can get her to latch differently and be sure she is not latched on unless she is really interested in drinking.
Instead of antibiotic cream, just rub a little breastmilk on them. I have the same problem with my 14 month old. I just unlatch and relatch her when I feel the teeth. I usually get sores when I'm not paying attention to what she's doing (ie-sleeping through nursing at night) and her latch gets too shallow. Kellymom.com has some recommendations:
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/older-baby/biting.html#scraping
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/bfextended/toddlernursing.html
I would *not* go with a nipple shield, just pump that side that is the worst for a day or change positions so her teeth are positioned different on the breast. Nipples healing very quickly. Sometimes latches change during teething and I think that a nipple shield would further hurt the process of fixing that latch.
Have you tried lying down to nurse so the teeth are at least positioned differently? (Warning - lying down to nurse you child can lead to unintended naps.)
Don't worry that "it'll never be as much fun" - once they learn to adjust, you won't feel the teeth at all. At least that was the case for my 2 kids, and from what I hear on the websites for kellymom and la leche league, that's pretty typical. The usual pattern is, you get nipped a couple of times, but if you stick with it, the baby adjusts and everything goes back to normal. Even if you did absolutely nothing to discourage biting at all, they can't nurse when they bite down - the baby has to push his/her tongue against the roof of the mouth.
I agree with Dannelle about the nipple shields - they usually cause more problems than they solve.
Those 2 websites I mentioned have just oodles and gobs of information on breastfeeding:
www.kellymom.com
www.llli.org (la leche league)
I would re-latch her, so she's getting a better mouth-full and doesn't have her teeth resting right on your nipple. Another idea, is to rotate her so her top teeth don't hit the same spot. For example, if you normally cradle her when she nurses on that side, try the football hold, so her teeth hit a different spot. I nursed well into toddlerhood with kiddos that had sharp little teeth, and we did just fine. Don't worry about the happy nursing moments vanishing; they only get better!!
everyone has great ideas but i wouldn't go with the nipple shields either. i am still nuring my 22 month old and nursed my son until he was 24 months. this is a common thing with the teeth. they just have to learn to adjust as well with the new chompers coming in. it will pass i promise but just stick with it it will get better. this happened with both of my children at that stage. i never really had sores though just pretty tender. sometimes i would have impressions of their top front teeth.
