This morning a mom of a two month old came to visit me.  She told me she has
had sore nipples since her baby's birth.  She was seen by an "LC" in the
hospital and told it was normal newborn soreness.  She was also seen by two
VNA nurses and by the "LC" at her pediatrician's office.  (I don't know if
either of the LCs were actually IBCLC.)  Mom reported that they all watched
her nurse and said there was nothing wrong.
Her friend took her to my LLL meeting this morning because the mom is at wits
end with the pain.  She is almost exclusively bottlefeeding at this point.
 Her history didn't sound like thrush and I saw no patches in baby's mouth.
 I did see baby's tongue extended and there didn't appear to be a problem
with the frenulum.
I finally checked the baby's suck.  Her tongue wasn't great but she had just
finished a bottle.  However her palate seems quite high.  I asked if anyone
had checked the baby's mouth and she said "No, why?"  I explained about the
shape of the baby's palate possibly being the cause of her nipple soreness.
 She exclaimed that she had a high palate too!
Well I'm giving myself a little pat on the back, but just a little one,
because now I'm stumped as to how to help her.  Will a different position,
such as the Dancer hold, help her?  How about a nipple shield?  The only
palate info I've found so far is on cleft palate, not high palate as a cause
of nipple soreness.  I've been trying to do an archives search, but I keep
getting "timed out".  TIA
Cynthia D. Payne
LLL Leader