Pregnant - Itchy Nipples

[Happy Hunter]

Hi,

I am pregnant with my 3rd child (around 19weeks). I don't tend to have any
pregnancy symptoms when pregnant, and indeed only tend to feel pregnant when
the baby moves. In my last 2 pregnancies, I got the "sore nipples" thing
when I got cold (ie so when I got cold, my nipples would tend to be white
and painful - it's got a name for it that I can't remember, and there's
nothing that can be done about it anyway).

This time, I've got itchy nipples. Last night was terrible, I kept waking up
in the night to scratch them. In fact, I wake up and find myself already
scratching them (bit like an allergic reaction to something that you can't
help scratching).

There's nothing on them that I can see (no spots or anything, no obvious
rash), although I'd say they do look slightly dry (as in dry skin). I
breastfed my first 2 kids for over a year each (in case that's relevant).

I am allergic to washing power and things like that, but I don't believe
this is an allergic reaction as I'd be scratching elsewhere (besides when I
get an allergic reaction it tends to be bright red rash that's a bit itchy
but is very quickly sore).

I've been having this problem for a while, although the last 2 weeks or so
had been ok, in the last 2 days it's seems to be flaring up again.

It's not a problem really, but makes for a disturbed nights sleep waking up
to scratch !

Comments ?

[Mamma Mia]

i would try a really mild moisturiser if i was you. cant hurt, and is often
soothing

is your bra well fitting? does it have a seam that rubs on you? that
happens to me. especially if your breasts have changed shape during pg?

good luck with it

c

"Happy Hunter" > wrote in message
...
> Hi,
>
> I am pregnant with my 3rd child (around 19weeks). I don't tend to have any
> pregnancy symptoms when pregnant, and indeed only tend to feel pregnant
> when the baby moves. In my last 2 pregnancies, I got the "sore nipples"
> thing when I got cold (ie so when I got cold, my nipples would tend to be
> white and painful - it's got a name for it that I can't remember, and
> there's nothing that can be done about it anyway).
>
> This time, I've got itchy nipples. Last night was terrible, I kept waking
> up in the night to scratch them. In fact, I wake up and find myself
> already scratching them (bit like an allergic reaction to something that
> you can't help scratching).
>
> There's nothing on them that I can see (no spots or anything, no obvious
> rash), although I'd say they do look slightly dry (as in dry skin). I
> breastfed my first 2 kids for over a year each (in case that's relevant).
>
> I am allergic to washing power and things like that, but I don't believe
> this is an allergic reaction as I'd be scratching elsewhere (besides when
> I get an allergic reaction it tends to be bright red rash that's a bit
> itchy but is very quickly sore).
>
> I've been having this problem for a while, although the last 2 weeks or so
> had been ok, in the last 2 days it's seems to be flaring up again.
>
> It's not a problem really, but makes for a disturbed nights sleep waking
> up to scratch !
>
> Comments ?
>

[[email protected]]

Happy Hunter wrote:

>
> It's not a problem really, but makes for a disturbed nights sleep waking up
> to scratch !
>

I had this with my first baby -- nipple were visibly dry and flaky. I
put lansinoh on them and that fixed it.

Jan

[Nikki]

Happy Hunter wrote:

> This time, I've got itchy nipples. Last night was terrible, I kept
> waking up in the night to scratch them. In fact, I wake up and find
> myself already scratching them (bit like an allergic reaction to
> something that you can't help scratching).

I had a terrible time with #1. I used to soap up a cloth to use on them in
the shower because it relieved the itch.

Someone told me to stop doing that ;-) I did, and stopped using any soap at
all on them including trying not to let the shampoo run down on them. I
also started slathering on baby oil after each bath or shower (there is
probably something better but that is what I had and it worked). The
itchiness went away.

Good luck.

--
Nikki

[Nan]

On Mon, 27 Jun 2005 12:57:46 -0500, "Nikki" > wrote:

>Someone told me to stop doing that ;-) I did, and stopped using any soap at
>all on them including trying not to let the shampoo run down on them. I
>also started slathering on baby oil after each bath or shower (there is
>probably something better but that is what I had and it worked). The
>itchiness went away.

I had the same problem last pregnancy. Using Cocoa Butter lotion
helped.

Nan

[Happy Hunter]

"Nikki" > wrote in message
...
> Happy Hunter wrote:
>
>> This time, I've got itchy nipples. Last night was terrible, I kept
>> waking up in the night to scratch them. In fact, I wake up and find
>> myself already scratching them (bit like an allergic reaction to
>> something that you can't help scratching).
>
> I had a terrible time with #1. I used to soap up a cloth to use on them
> in the shower because it relieved the itch.
>
> Someone told me to stop doing that ;-) I did, and stopped using any soap
> at all on them including trying not to let the shampoo run down on them.
> I also started slathering on baby oil after each bath or shower (there is
> probably something better but that is what I had and it worked). The
> itchiness went away.
>
> Good luck.
>
> --
> Nikki
>

Thanks for all the responses.

At least I know it's not just me !!! It's not something you hear people
complaining of in relation to pregnancy.. yet again it's probably not the
sort of thing someone would mention anyway !!!!!

I have used vaseline on them which I think helped, in fact I've not used it
recently which is maybe why the itching has come back with a vengence.

Thanks for the help.

[Jamie Clark]

How about putting some Lanisoh on them before bed? It's worth a try.
--

Jamie
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[Amy]

Happy Hunter wrote:
<itchy nipples>

Mine have been leaking, lately, and I find that if I gently take off
the dried whatever-it-is that's leaking out of them, they don't itch
anymore. If it was more than a drop at a time, I'd use breast pads,
but it seems like sort of a waste at this point.

I'm 33 weeks (when did THAT happen?!), but if you've had other kids,
yours might have started to do this earlier than mine did - this is my
first.

Good luck!
Amy

[Emily]

Amy wrote:
>
> Happy Hunter wrote:
> <itchy nipples>
>
> Mine have been leaking, lately, and I find that if I gently take off
> the dried whatever-it-is that's leaking out of them, they don't itch
> anymore. If it was more than a drop at a time, I'd use breast pads,
> but it seems like sort of a waste at this point.
>
> I'm 33 weeks (when did THAT happen?!), but if you've had other kids,
> yours might have started to do this earlier than mine did - this is my
> first.

The whatever-it-is is almost certainly colostrum.
Just in case you were wondering...

Emily

[Amy]

Emily wrote:
> Amy wrote:
> >
> > Happy Hunter wrote:
> > <itchy nipples>
> >
> > Mine have been leaking, lately, and I find that if I gently take off
> > the dried whatever-it-is that's leaking out of them, they don't itch
> > anymore. If it was more than a drop at a time, I'd use breast pads,
> > but it seems like sort of a waste at this point.
> >
> > I'm 33 weeks (when did THAT happen?!), but if you've had other kids,
> > yours might have started to do this earlier than mine did - this is my
> > first.
>
> The whatever-it-is is almost certainly colostrum.
> Just in case you were wondering...

I figured, but I also thought, "As soon as I say 'colostrum' someone is
going to pipe up that it's not *technically* colostrum until there's
more than a drop of it, or there's a baby, or until the third Tuesday
of the month, or something, so I'd better just say 'stuff'!" :)

Amy