I have a mom who is 15 weeks pregnant and nursing her two and a half
year old.  He was sick about a month ago - very stuffy - and his latch
changed drastically.  She managed to deal with the bottom lip/tongue
over the teeth issue right away, but the answer to the second problem is
eluding everyone we talk to (including three LCs and another LLL
leader).  Her nipples are very sore (clearly some of this may be caused
by the pregnancy, but not all), not visibily damaged, and nursing is
getting frustrating for both mom and child.

What the child is doing is something with his top teeth.  When he
finishes nursing (in any position - we've tried a variety) there is a
half-circle of six little teeth marks around her nipple.  They are
clearly the top, not the bottom.  We have checked his top lip (nicely
flanged when he latches on), and made sure that he is taking a good
amount of breast into his mouth - mom says it looks to her like he's
taking the same amount of areaola/breast into his mouth as he was before
things got so painful.  It is becoming increasingly painful for him to
latch on; once he is on there is a very little bit of relief if mom
keeps steady pressure on his chin.

The child's two front teeth are noticably lower than the ones on either
side, and one of the LCs this mom talked to said that was the problem,
but the biting issue only came up recently, and the marks are of six
teeth, not two.  Another LC suggested using beeswax (like kids use to
protect their mouths from braces) to cover his teeth when nursing and
protect the breast, but that doesn't solve the mechanical problem.  Can
someone tell me what exactly this little one is doing with his top teeth
to cause the bite?  None of us have figured it out!  The child's very
verbal, and is upset by the fact that he's causing his mother pain.
When she explained to him how to deal with the bottom teeth/tongue/lip
he was able to fix it almost immediately, so I think if we could figure
out what is going on and can talk to him about it, we'll be able to make
the situation better.  Thanks for your insight!

Morgan Kennedy Henderson
LLL leader
Independent Childbirth Educator
Wellesley, MA, USA