Fio, 
Those are pretty substantial splits.  Is the skin dry as well?  I'd be included to ask *what else* has changed, e.g. has the baby started on new foods recently, traces of the new food going from mouth to nipple?  If this is a possibility, timing solds so that they aren't just before going to the breast, might help - easier than rinsing the baby's mouth with H2O.  Is the baby using toothpaste but not yet able to rinse and spit?  A colleague of mine had a case of a mother with suddenly sore nipples/areola at about one year, and the toothpaste was eventually found to be the cause.  (When I was at school, we used to use toothpaste to clean our enamel badges.)

Another thought is - some vit E creams may sting on open skin (personal experience).  Depends on the brand, and what else is in the base, and whether it is potentially allergenic.  I don't let vit. E creams near me now.

Finally, the best healing agent of all that I've seen is mother's own milk.  I've seen incredible results with two of the worst examples of nipple damage I've seen, one of them in a 6.5-hour period. Breast milk, dabbed on very frequently and air-dried, seems to give better results than I've seen with the hypoallergenic, modified lanolin preparations - and babies aren't put off by the taste.

Let us know how it works out, and if a cause is found.

Virginia
in Brisbane. Queensland

Fio wrote:
I am trying to help someone figure out what is going on with her nipples (I
have permission from mom to post).  She is nursing her 4th child (the other
3 were nursed until 18-24 mos or so) who is just a year old.  She is not
wanting to wean but feeling like she may end up having to.  She has giant
cracks and peeling skin (chapped-like) on both nipples and it is
excruciating to nurse.  She never had this with any of her other 3...never
had any problems at ALL.  Barely ever even got engorged slightly after
birth, never mastitis...  All babies were on the small/thin side but met
milestones and had great diapers and such and are healthy 'older' children
now.  Now this.  Her right nipple has two 1.5cm long "slices" on it on the
underneath.  She is sure it is not thrush or eczema or latch problems.  She
consistently uses 2 different positions to feed with.  Nursing was going
great with this last one up until 2-3 weeks ago, and it has been virtually
unbearable the last 4 days or so.  She's crying and screaming through each
feed.

The only change she made recently was buy a new bra (cotton).  She's stoppe=
d
using it and is going braless or wearing tank tops with shelf bras in them.

I was SURE I read SOMETHING recently (maybe up to 2 or more months ago?)
about vitamin E taken orally helping cracks in nipples?  Does anyone have
info on this?  I can't seem to find it searching the archives...and I'm
searching back to jan 2005 which I know it wasn't that far back.

Does anyone have any useful suggestions, or information on that vitamin E
deal?

Thank you very much!

Fio
BF volunteer
Mama to Sandrine, 6, weaned, and Nyssa, 3.5, still going strong.  :-)


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