Tag Archives: sore nipples

Ask Anne… Question: My daughter is 12 months old and still breastfeeding several times a day.  For the past 2 months, my nipples have been very sore. She doesn’t bite me, but I have sores on the bottom of my nipples, and they crack and bleed when she nurses. I’ve tried changing positions and applying lanolin, but nothing helps. I …

When we hear the term “tongue-tie”, most of us have a mental image of someone who is struggling to speak in public, but who is stammering nervously and is at a loss for words. In reality, tongue-tie is a medical condition that affects many people, and has special implications for the breastfed baby. Tongue-tie is congenital (present at birth) and …

Ask Anne… Question: I  have larger than average nipples and my baby girl is tiny. She is just now approaching five  pounds. When she was in the NICU they started her on bottles of formula and now she is very confused when I try to offer her my breast. Any advice would be appreciated. I feel like a slave to …

Ask Anne… Question: My baby is three months old and is exclusively breastfed. Recently, I developed mastitis, and my doctor prescribed an antibiotic. Every time I’ve taken an antibiotic in the past, I’ve developed a vaginal yeast infection. I’d like to keep that from happening again, especially since I’ve read that I might get yeast on my nipples and my baby might get …

Over the past forty years of working with nursing moms and babies (first as a La Leche League Leader, and then as an IBCLC),  I’ve seen a lot of changes come and go in the lactation world. There has been a lot of old school advice about breastfeeding that was not only incorrect, but also sounds more than a little crazy …

Ask Anne… Question: My 4 1/2 month old daughter has started to pull away and yank on my nipples when nursing. As a result my nipples are getting sore. I used to enjoy nursing and would like to continue. What can I do to break her of this bad habit? Answer: There are a number of reasons for babies to …

Candida (also called yeast, or thrush) is a fungus that occurs naturally in the mucous membranes and on the skin. Use of antibiotics promotes the overgrowth of yeast by killing off the ‘good’ bacteria that normally keep the yeast from multiplying too quickly. During pregnancy, yeast infections are more common because high levels of estrogen lead to elevated levels of sugar, …

Some mothers nurse several babies and never experience plugged ducts or mastitis (breast infection), while others have recurrent episodes. There are many reasons for these problems to occur, but treatment is essentially the same: rest, apply heat, breastfeed often on the affected side,  and use antibiotics only when medically necessary. A plugged, or clogged, duct is a sore, tender lump …