Restricting my response only to the informational content of this post: <<The Rafael product is the best product to protect your nipples before, during and after breast feeding. If you are suffering from sores and cracks in your nipple area, this problem can be eliminated or greatly alleviated by applying the Rafael-Nursing Mother's Ointment.>> This post does not reflect knowledge of the origin of sore nipples, nor currently agreed upon approaches to prevention. Opinions differ as to treatment modalities, to say the least. No matter what product the mother may be led to believe will solve the problem, I think we all agree that sores and cracks in the nipple area cannot be healed if the baby's latch is still generating tissue trauma. Positioning and latch are, of course, the primary focus to prevent or treat sore nipples. Products to apply to the nipple are not essential, despite consumers finding comfort in the process of buying Something that will surely do the trick for their problems ( e.g. baby gadgets ( very long list), nursing pillows, ointments, bottles/formula/pacifiers, ad nauseum - this list is just of mom- as-consumer-comforting things). For those moms who insist on Something to put on their nipples, starting with the least-risky thing would seem a no-brainer ( hindmilk), followed by the next least-risky thing ( which would seem to be highly purified lanolin). And so on, but surely stopping short of products with predictable and/or known risks to the baby (duh). Am glad so many have been sharing their views and experiences with these sorts of products. Sheila Humphrey BSc RN IBCLC [log in to unmask]