Breastfeeding
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Tuesday July 8th, 2008 @ 10:10 PM
Filed under: Nipple
I’ve had my nipples pierced for about 8 years now and am six months pregnant (due Oct ‘08). I plan on breastfeeding for at least a year. So far I haven’t actually talked to anyone who has breastfed after having their nipples pierced. I don’t know if I’m asking the wrong people or what but I’ve talked to more than a few piercers, plus a lactation consultant, and gotten responses like, “Er, I guess you should take them out when they start to bug you?” and, “This should be interesting! I wonder which way your milk is going to squirt?”
I know it can be done. I’ve heard you should take the piercings out (although I’d be interested to know if anyone left them in and how it went). What I’m looking for is practical advice as to how far in advance I should take them out and if there are any potential problems I should be aware of, things like that.
Perhaps Lori will be able to provide us her insight in this, after having just gone through her pregnancy.
Realistically you will not want to keep your piercings in while breastfeeding so you’ll have to remove them when you breastfeed your child. As it will be just a lot easier on the child breastfeeding, and not having to suck on two metal barbells. Also the barbells can be viewed as a choking hazard should one of the beads loosen and come off.
Now some women are able to remove their jewelry, breastfeed, then slide the jewelry back in without any complications. While other women when they do this, their nipples are more sensitive and hurt when trying to slide the jewelry in. Heck some women aren’t even able to maintain their nipple piercings during the pregnancy because they begin to be sore/hurt.
So your best bet is to remove the jewelry a few minutes before breastfeeding, then re-insert a few minutes after breastfeeding. Now if that just becomes too much of a bother, you can just remove the jewelry, as I know some women who have gone that route.
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2 Responses to “Breastfeeding”
I actually tried both taking it out and leaving it in when I breastfed my daughter (10 years ago!). In the beginning I used a snug barbell and was very attentive about tightening the balls before each feeding.
They never seemed loose, but I was worried anyways and ended up taking it out for at lease 9 months of breast feeding. After weaning I was able to taper the hole open again with minimal issue. My nipple piercing was about 4-5 years old at the time.
This was my experience and of course things can go differently for everyone is different and special in their own way!
Amber on July 9th, 2008 at 9:13 pmThanks !
pareefrava on August 2nd, 2008 at 9:33 pmLeave a Comment