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In response to a couple of queries about how long a mother needs to take a
baby off the breast for damaged nipples,  I would say that that there is
much individual variation.

The longest I have had was a Mom who shocked me because I literally
thought her nipples were going to detach.  Her baby was 3 weeks old at the
time and I told her she could not feed him at breast until they had
healed.  It took 5 weeks!

She phoned me after pumping and bottle-feeding with a Medela orthodontic
nipple and teaching the baby the word "open!" for 5 weeks and said her
doctor had said she could resume breastfeeding and could I come the next
day to help her.  I thought "Oh, sure!" but I went and the baby went on
immediately.  I told her to start off with one feed a day but by 3 days
later she was completely breastfeeding and continued for one year.  @nd
child born last August fed with absolutely no prblems but Dr.s and nurses
all came to see scar tissue on her nipples from ist time


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******Joan M. Fisher, RN, BN, MEd, IBCLC******
***********Ottawa, Ontario, Canada************
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