I am a little hesitant to mention this, but I will, in case this mom gets to the point where she has tried other things without results. I developed tears at the base of my nipples while I was nursing my fifth baby. They hung open like little smiles, and were deep enough that there was sometimes a little milk in them, that was coming from inside the tear. I struggled with them for two months, coming to dread every feeding. The tears would always close between feeds, but rip open as soon as he latched on. I tried all kinds of things, with no change in them. I even tried nursing on only one side for 48 hours and just hand expressing that breast and keeping it very well protected, to avoid putting any tension at all on the tear, hoping that would give it time to heal. It looked pretty good after that time but again, as soon as he latched on, it tore open. What finally took care of it was when I decided to try taking extra vit A and E. I suspect that, because I had lost my gall bladder a few years before, I developed a deficiency in fat soluble vitamins. The tears healed very quickly, after I started taking the vitamins. However, For the rest of the time I was nursing Joseph, and then my sixth baby, Joanna, I had to take the vitamins. If I forgot them for more than a few days, the same tears would start to open up again, then just as quickly heal when I took them again. I know there are concerns about supplements of fat soluble vitamins but I just want to share that as a possible idea for moms who have tried everything else, without relief. I think, if it gets to the point where a baby is likely to be weaned from the breast much sooner than he might otherwise, it is reasonable to start looking at potential risk versus potential benefit with vitamins, as you would with medications. I guess another thing that could be done is to suggest that the mother try to add foods with very high concentrations of fat soluble vitamins, rather than supplements. Whatever she does, I hope this poor mom finds relief, soon, because I know how miserable it is! _________________________________________________________________ Express yourself instantly with MSN Messenger! Download today - it's FREE! http://messenger.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200471ave/direct/01/ *********************************************** To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest) To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet All commands go to [log in to unmask] The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(R) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html