OUCH!
Help your patients prevent or heal sore nipples
- Make sure your baby is sucking the right way; if the sucking hurts, your baby's mouth may not be positioned correctly.
- Let your nipples air dry between feedings. Let the milk dry on your nipples.
- Use a hair dryer on a low setting to warm and dry your nipples between feedings.
- Offer your baby the less sore of your two nipples first; your baby's sucking may be less vigorous after the first few minutes.
- Change nursing positions.
- If possible, position any cracked or tender part of your breast at the corner of your baby's mouth, so that it gets less pressure during feeding.
- Wash your nipples daily with warm water.
- Avoid bra pads lined with plastic.
- Express milk until your let-down reflex occurs. This will help make your milk more available so your baby sucks less hard.
- Breast-feed often to prevent engorgement (overfullness of your breast). Engorgement can make it hard for your baby to latch on.
-- excerpted from Health Notes From Your Family Doctor
FP Report is published by the AAFP News Department. Copyright © 1998 by American Academy of Family Physicians.