Kathy D pontificates on sore nipples: << So, there are sore nipples, and then there are sore nipples. And it isn't accurate to say that your nipples should never hurt, any more than your muscles should never hurt after you start an exercise program. And there is pain -- pleasantly sore muscles that remind you that you're doing a good thing by going to the gym, and then there is PAIN, that tell you you've done something wrong, or overdone it. >> And I want to say thank you for a great post. Yes, moms have sore nipples. And no, it isn't all r/t incorrect positioning. I too talk about "unaccustomed activity" -- and use the analogy of learning to play the piano, when your hands get sore and tired -- or learning to play the guitar where your fingers actuallyy develop calluses over time -- or running, or doing anything that you haven't done before. The sad part of it is that so many moms assume that because it hurts (whatever their definition of that is), they are DOING SOMETHING WRONG. It's turned into another "blame the mother" issue...because they've been told IT SHOULDN'T HURT if you are doing it right. So they take the baby off and on and off and on and off and on waiting for the pain to disappear -- and of course, by that time, it really truly does hurt because there is nipple damage. Hey -- if there is true nipple damage, a la cracks/bleeding/candida -- then yes, we need to correct something there. But if it is "latch on pain" that goes away after 20 or so seconds, leave it alone. In my experience (no, this is not evidence based lactation), I have found that mothers who have tender nipples throughout pregnancy, lovemaking, or their periods tend to have nipples that are much more sore than women who don't. And I've found that women whose nipples and areola didn't change very much during the pregnancy -- went from light pink to a very slightly darker pink, or from brown to very slightly darker brown, tend to have nipples that are much more sore than women who had a lot of change in color. I find mothers at our hospital are obsessing over whether or not the baby's lower lip is flanged out. "Does it pinch?" I'll ask. "No, not really." Then leave it alone -- it's fine. And I talk about rolling the baby up onto the breast tissue so he is on asymetrically with more of the bottom areola being covered than the top which sort of automatically pulls out the lower lip.... Mothers do guilt really well. My mother has been known to apologize for the weather, for pity's sake! Let's not give them more to feel guilty about -- or to blame themselves for. There's enough out there -- let's not add sore nipples to the pot. Jan Barger, RN, MA, IBCLC Wheaton, IL - where there was a wonderful column by Dr. Wm Sears in the Chicago Tribune this morning in which he decried "cookbook training manuals" for children. Hmmm....wonder just which writer of popular parenting books might fall under the "cookbook training manual" genre??? *********************************************** The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html