Terry,
Has your colleague considered having the moles removed, perhaps by
electrocautery?  My daughter always picked at a "cherry" angioma on my breast,
a few zaps by a dermatologist reduced it in size enough that it became less of
a target.
        I can sympathize with this dilemma, getting that child to sleep
becomes all important, and we are often willing to put up with a lot.  A few
nights of consistently removing the baby from the breast whenever she picks
would be tough, but has more chance of being effective...  Some 18 month olds
can understand a "big girl" conversation before bedtime about not hurting
mommy when nursing.  It might help to talk about this throughout the day, in
hopes that it will some day get through!
        It might also help your friend to know that all primate mothers have
to put up with contralateral nipple tweaking, breast pinching, and other
indignities from our nurslings.  I have this on good evidence - that of my own
two eyes in years of membership in the NY wildlife conservation society -
(formerly zoological society).  Yes, I'm a fanatic, I go to the zoo to watch
the other mammals nurse!
Catherine Watson Genna, IBCLC