Breastfeeding is the healthiest way to feed a baby because it provides the perfect amount of nutrients and antibodies to protect the baby's immune system. Unfortunately, if a baby is latching on incorrectly or growing teeth and beginning to bite, the mother may get sore nipples and breasts after each feeding. Thankfully, several breastfeeding techniques and home remedies can help to prevent and reduce soreness from breastfeeding.
Latch Improvement
One of the best and most important home treatments for sore breasts due to breastfeeding is the correction of the baby's latch on the woman's nipple. According to the website Breastfeeding.com, improper latch is the main cause for sore breasts. For proper latch on, the baby's mouth needs to be over the areola and not just the tip of the woman's nipple. Tickling your baby's lower lip or gently playing with their mouth and chin can help the baby open her mouth wider so that the latch is better. Changing positions might also make it easier for the baby to latch on to the breast better. Cradling the baby across your body or lying down on your side to breastfeed may improve latch on success.
Tea Bags
Kelly Bonyata, international board-certified lactation consultant, explains on her website that putting wet tea bags on breasts may help reduce the soreness a woman experiences after breastfeeding. She recommends putting tea bags in warm, but not hot water, and then directly onto the breasts, where the tea and the warmth from the water will work to soothe the breasts.
Pumping
Deb Donovan, international board-certified lactation consultant, tells the website DisneyFamily.com that if a woman uses a breast pump to express some of her breast milk out before feeding her baby, her milk will flow easier and it will make it easier for the baby to latch on to the breast. This, in turn, can help to reduce soreness of the breasts. She also recommends offering the least sore breast to the baby first at each feeding.
Warm Compress
Another helpful home treatment for sore breasts caused by breastfeeding is to use a warm compress on the breasts. Donovan explains that using a warm compress or warm and wet towel on the breasts can reduce soreness of the breasts. Adding a soothing ingredient to the cloth such as lanolin may help speed the healing of cracked or dry nipples at the same time.
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