Dear friends,



Mother of 23 month old baby called our support group and asked about the
cause of her constantly sore nipples. Soreness developed this spring when
baby was 15 months old. Nipples were sore and cracked skin looked dry and
peeling. In August when they was at the vacation at the sea nipples nearly
healed, but in September cracks appeared again. Now she has deep cracks at
the base of her nipples. Strangely, they are completely painless. Mom
describes skin near cracks as callous. She is in another town so I can use
her description only. She doesn't wear a bra for the last 9 months, doesn't
wash nipples with soap so it is not an allergy to some detergent

I suggested she should see a dermatologist to rule out fungal infection,
told about nursing habits of older babies, teething, about improving the
latch and positioning, about asking baby to open wide before latching, and
sustaining a good latch through feeding. Can I miss something? She is a
vegetarian - can this long-term cracks be linked to her diet somehow, may be
a Vit B12 deficiency? Should I tell her to take some vitamin supplements? I
looked in archives, found nothing about this.

This mom is planning to breastfeed until baby self-weans. She gave me
permission to post



Sincerely yours

Victoria Nesterova

Breastfeeding supporter, mom to 3

Kiev, Ukraine

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