With a great deal of interest I have reading the thread on sore nipples.

Very sore nips should not be happening.

I had sore nipples for 6 weeks with all three children.  I dreaded the

sore nips were more painful than the labor and I had total drug free
labor

and births. As a LLLL I never could figure out why I got them, until I

took the UCLA CLE course 13 years later.  I remember my moment of
"getting

it"  when Kitty Franc talked about the heart shaped tongue.  Finally!

I am writing now because as a Lactation Consultant, I have learned a lot

 more about them.  Never once as a Leader did I or have I ever seen

extremely sore nipples at a meeting.  I believe these Moms feel like a

failure or are too exhuasted to go anywhere and a LLL meeting is the last

place they would go with a big problem.  I have heard Moms say they sat
in

the corner of a room wishing they weren't there because all they heard at

a LLL meeting was how wonderful breastfeeding was.

My nips never cracked or bled, however, it was like having them smashed

with a hammer everytime the baby went on.  This is not just

one blow with a hammer to a thumb.  This is 2 x 14 feeds a day at least.

That means I was being smashed with a hammer 26 times a day.  I remember

well the psychological wear and tear this experience had on me.  It

didn't matter if it were my first or my third child it was such a killer

experience that even as a LLLL I really considered giving up

breastfeeding.  My husband would always say, " I know you Judie, you will

be mad at yourself a few months from now if you quit.  So now when I talk

to some one about sore nipples, I ask them if they are tender or so sore

they tend to put off feedings.  It is truly amazing to me that a woman
can

breastfeed when her nips are cracked and pitted.  Mothers are awesome.

Personally I don't equate the pain of labor to the pain of sore nipples.

It is so completely different.  How does having your thumb hit by a
hammer

compare to labor?  The hammer hit jumps right in there over an over 10

experience in one flying second.  It hits every cell of the body with a

spitting headache and with the most unforgetable pain.  I believe very

painful nipples are an urgent care item for the breastfeeding Mom.  I

choose to except fully and with a great deal of respect for what she
tells

me about her pain.

Thanks for listening to my sore nipple story.

Judie Zersen LLLL, IBCLC, CLE, (AAHCC (soon to be)

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