Hi.  I am working with a mother and her 8 day old baby. She has a crack developing at the base of her nipple where baby's upper gum would be with cradle hold.  She is doing football hold now and it is better.  It is only on her left nipple. Right nipple is not sore or cracked. She had the same issue with her first baby on the left nipple and the crack continued to get worse and went around the entire nipple.  This lasted for over 2 months and she worked with a lactation consultant part of that time..  I watched baby nurse today. I did not see any evidence of lip or tongue or palate issues. Baby appears to latch well, calm during feeding, no clicking or gulping. Baby is gaining weight and has plenty of diapers.  She is not a fussy baby. I read a crack in that position could be from a lip tie. This baby does not appear to have a lip-tie, although using Dr. Kotlow's classification it would be a class 2. I have recently learned of Dr. Kotlow's lip-tie classifications so I make note of babies I assess.  Either I do not know what I am looking for or most all newborns have some degree of lip-tie.  I have yet to see a class I.  Most look to be between a 2 and 3.  Any suggestions on what I can look for that may cause a crack in this spot?  It is interesting that the exact same thing happened with her first baby. Could it be something with the mother and not related to baby at all?  Thanks!

Christine Lichte, BS, IBCLC
Warrensburg MO

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