Breast-feeding is a personal moment which strengthens the bonding between mother and baby. Yet, this beautiful moment can be ruined because of pains mother might feel to those nipples. Although it is normal to have sore nipples during the early stage, mothers should pay the attention to the level of pain, since there are several things causing nipples soreness, from the light, normal cause to the one which needs special attention.
What Cause Nipple Soreness during Breast-feeding
Nipples soreness when breast-feeding is caused by various things. Below are some main causes.
- Improper position of latch. This happens when your baby sucks your nipples instead of the breast. Be sure to make your baby open her mouth wide while breastfed.
- Irregular lactating frequency. Even when you do not nurse your baby, your breasts keep on producing milk. When your breasts get full of milk and you do not breastfeed right away, your nipples hurt because of the contractions of breast tissues.
- This happens when your breast milk get inhibited. Mastitis is signed by fever. Do not stop lactating when you suffer from mastitis, because your baby’s saliva will be the natural cure for this.
Despite the causes, in the early days of breasts-feeding, most mothers suffer from nipples soreness. Questions are then raised about how long this will happen.
How Long Will Nipples be Sore from Breast-feeding
Nipple soreness when you are breast-feeding is completely normal because your nipples and your body are still adjusting to new activity. Most women suffer from nipple soreness in the beginning of breast-feeding. Breast-feeding in this period can be very painful and even traumatic.
The first 4 to 6 weeks of breast-feeding are the most hurtful. During this time, you still have to adjust yourself to baby’s latch. Some women find that their breasts have not produce enough breast milk at the time, so that their baby usually sucks empty breasts. This can result in nipple’s bleeding and cracks that hurt beyond words. At night, it will be really disturbing and thus, cause sleeping disturbance to breast-feeding mothers.
Some nursing mothers experience lasting pain up to the second month of breast-feeding. This especially happens to mothers with powerful-sucking babies. When getting older, baby sucks faster and more powerfully. This could lead to stretched nipples. They are not round and will scab. These scabs will continue breaking every time baby is fed and it hurts mothers. On this stage, there is also a possible chance of having dry nipples or even infection because of the failure to treat soreness from the preceding weeks.
Leave a Reply