Did I say I didn’t have any problems nursing Gavin even after his teeth erupted? Let me rephrase that – I didn’t have any problems nursing him after his lower teeth erupted. But since his tongue covers his lower teeth as he nurses, it is no wonder I hardly ever felt them unless he decided to take a nibble. Now that his upper central incisor has erupted, nursing sessions are starting to get a little sensitive again – similarly to the times when he suckles too enthusiastically – and I think it is because his upper tooth is rubbing against my nipple.
I did a search online for some suggestions to manage this problem and found some help from Parenting iVillage who suggested:
1. Getting a dentist to file down the rough edge on your baby’s tooth (a newly erupted incisor will have these bumps on them called mamelons which usually wear away over time and with use of the teeth). Since it doesn’t hurt terribly, I’m foregoing this suggestion. Besides, if I can’t get in to clean Gavin’s teeth, I’d like to see a dentist get in to file down those mamelons!
2. Checking your toddler’s attachment position because nursing toddlers tend to wiggle around a lot and can easily slip from a proper attachment to an improper attachment.
Other possible causes of nipple pain arising from nursing a toddler might be due to:
- allergies to food particles trapped in baby’s mouth
- thrush
- pregnancy
Personally, I think I might just leave it for a bit and see how Gavin and I adapt to his emerging teeth.
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Hi,
I have been dealing with late onset nipple pain since it started with my oldest son. Now, with my fourth, it has started again, 2 1/2 years after her birth. I have figured out for me, and I strongly suspect for many others, that it is hormonally related. It is worse as ovulation approaches, starting the week after my period. The best indicator for me was that it was due to hormones was that the pain (and sores) stopped after I got pregnant each time (I nursed throughout my pregnancies).
I had a saliva test for natural hormone treatment and it indicated significantly low levels of progesterone. VERY LOW. Progesterone increases significantly during pregnancy and drops off after birth until it stabilizes. In my case it just keeps dropping off. Progesterone is the hormone that our body needs to withstand the hardships of birth and labor and breastfeeding. I believe the pain is due to the skin’s inability to withstand the stress of nursing. It looses it’s elasticity and toughness. With my second and third children I used natural hormonal treatment (from yams) as a last resort. It went away within 6 weeks (after nothing else worked for years). I tried everything else before (thrush, antibiotics,candidiasis shots, no carb diet, even chortison). As it has only just started again, and until I can get back on treatment, I am using a soothing olive oil, calandula and hypericum cream to help the skin heal itself between feedings. I also try to let the nipples air out (no bra or only cotton). The cream doesn’t cure, but it helps me endure.
It helps to know it is not the child (his teeth or his saliva or his candida). It is frustrating for me to still not understand why I have this hormonal problem. I thought my new vegan diet would help (and it may have, since this is the longest I have gone without it starting). But alas, there seems to be no information out there and when I have suggested it to the experts (the hormonal relationship to nipple pain), I get the response of “and so?”
I would love to hear from anyone who resonates with my post. I think the more the idea of this link gets out there, the more likely some experts might start thinking of exploring it deeper. And women like us could get some help.
Oh, just a side note. Thyroid problems run in my family and I have been told to watch for hypothyroidism. I wonder if it is related.
Finally, I believe that one of the reasons there is so little information about this problem is because so few women stick to nursing once the pain starts. They think the baby is biting them and since they can’t deal with the pain they stop. Or they are told it is thrush and no thrush treatment works. Or the doctors tell them to stop nursing since it’s been long enough anyway. I was told I became allergic to my son’s saliva. And of course, so few women actually nurse long enough to actually develop symptoms in the first place.
Hope this helps!!!
Thanks for sharing such a detailed theory! Perhaps there is something there as I find my nipple pain comes on and off now. I NEVER had problems when I first started nursing Gavin. In fact, in the whole of the first year, I think I only had mastitis maybe once? That was when my milk supply was just establishing itself and Gavin and I were getting accustomed to each other.
Now, I find that every so often, I would get a blocked duct or just general, increased sensitivity when nursing (usually only one side). Thankfully, my experience is not that bad so I just tolerate it and wait for the sensitivity to subside again.
I’m afraid I’ve never really noted if the pain patterns follow my menstrual cycles so hard to say if there is any hormonal relation. Then again, Gavin is my first and only child and I haven’t had the experience of a second child to observe how differently things are nursing when pregnant, etc.