I thought of a nipple shield while reading your post, so I think that is worth a try. She can explain her nipple is very sore and needs to put that over it. Has the mom talked with the toddler about her nipple pain to let him know that she will have to bf him less? He may not be able to accept a talk about total weaning but hopefully the toddler will wean as she decreases the length and/or frequency of the feeds. I also thought of putting a bandaid over perhaps one nipple and saying "it is too sore to bf on but we can bf the other one for just a minute?" Maybe mom can tolerate one breast at a time for now. She can move the bandaid as she needs to. Toddlers often understand what a bandaid means.

Of course you've gotten other suggestions and I concur with subsituting anything touchy and enoyable to mom and toddler. She will have to get creative like "we'll read a story then you will have a couple minutes to nurse, then another story" or a back rub or whatever. Or a substitute snack. Has the mother offered a bottle? Perhaps the toddler would hold and suck that while having a story read to him. My own son who weaned prematurely due to a nursing strike and my ignorance, went on to have bottle feeds, being held and cuddled for those feeds, til 3 yrs old. (I then nursed the next one 5 or 6 yrs). He really liked a product we called "yogi juice" which was apple juice with yogurt in a little juice bottle. He never got dental caries, thankfully, but was not put to sleep with the bottle.

Laurie Wheeler RN MN IBCLC
BMH-UC Breastfeeding Resource Center
 "Opinions expressed above are not necessarily those of BMH-Union County or Baptist Memorial Healthcare Corporation."


Baptist 100. Well beyond a century.

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