# Do blondes have a harder time nursing?



## Snowdrift (Oct 15, 2005)

Or is this a myth?

I was talking to my aunt tonight about nursing. She had a hard time and ended up supplementing once a day to avoid quitting altogether. She said she had supply issues, especially with supplementing, but that she persistant soreness and cracking nipples. She said that a doctor she really respected said that it could just have to do with her being so light-skinned (eg blonde and blue eyed..) and that her skin was thinner and her nips were more susceptible than problems. She managed to nurse to over the minimal six months, but barely and she attributes her suceeding that long was supplementation. She suggested that I make sure I don't try to learn from anyone darker-skinned that I (I'm also pretty fair).

I know this sounds kooky, but this is one *very* smart lady. She was doing detailed research on vaxes and selectively vaxing when her kids were little, twenty years ago. I was wondering if anyone has heard this, has noticed or heard of light-skinned women having to more careful about latching correctly rigth off the bat, anything like that.

I got the impression that what happened was the nurses showed her how to latch and the latch was just a bit 'off' somehow, but it was verydifficult for her bc her skin was so much more delicate.


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## DeeEast (Dec 4, 2005)

Well I can attest to some of that but not the blonde part. I'm not blonde but I am very fair skinned and blue eyed. My skin is pretty delicate. I've also had huge problems with sore nipples with both my DD and the twins. Despite a good latch, my nipples get incredibly raw and sore and stay that way for a good 10 weeks. After that the pain goes away, but until then its pretty bad.


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## ~Megan~ (Nov 7, 2002)

my mil said that about herself because she's a redhead...doesn't really hold water with me. How did all the Irish feed their babies for centuries?


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## DeeEast (Dec 4, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *mamao'two*
my mil said that about herself because she's a redhead...doesn't really hold water with me. How did all the Irish feed their babies for centuries?

It hurt a lot but they had to feed their babies anyway?


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## Ruthla (Jun 2, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *mamao'two*
my mil said that about herself because she's a redhead...doesn't really hold water with me. How did all the Irish feed their babies for centuries?

I imagine that centuries of Irish women knew how to nurse babies, and that midwives and grandmas helped the new moms so that little problems didn't turn into big problems. If everybody around them had fair, sensitive skin, they would know that as "normal" and not think anything of it.


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## Snowdrift (Oct 15, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Ruthla*
I imagine that centuries of Irish women knew how to nurse babies, and that midwives and grandmas helped the new moms so that little problems didn't turn into big problems. If everybody around them had fair, sensitive skin, they would know that as "normal" and not think anything of it.

This is what my I gather my aunt was thinking. She said i should make sure that i have someone very fair-skinned teach us how to latch. She swears her problme was not nursing, but that the brunettes (darker complected women) who taught her kept telling her everything was ok, when for her it wasn't bc she was so sensitive.

I don't think it was a pain issue so much as being told "that not-so-good latch is ok, bc it didn't bother me and my dc" and then not being able to re-learn bc the cracking and other issues had started establishing, kwim?


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## crazydiamond (May 31, 2005)

I'm a red-head and very light complected. . .part Irish part Scottish. . .

Anyway, I've never had sore nips. I have tons of supply problems, but no pain, even with a severe case of thrush. And my skin is very sensitive overall. . .I burn easily, get acne easily, have excema, lots of ingrown hairs, just a lot of painful stuff going on skin-related. But nursing? Totally pain-free.


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## Kathryn (Oct 19, 2004)

I'm light skinned. I had trouble for the first 6 weeks, but sorted through it on my own. It's totally pain free now.


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## wednesday (Apr 26, 2004)

I'm very fair, blue/blonde (okay I used to be blonde, not so much anymore), and I also was told several times that I was more likely to have pain with nursing. Which I did, pretty severely, but I also had a 37-weeker with an itsy-bitsy mouth who didn't get a good, wide latch until he was a few months old. I just struggled through it. I pumped sometimes and syringe- or bottle-fed when it was too bad to take. I also used Soothies, which are these gel-pad thingies that are heaven on sore nipples. I kept a pair chilling in the fridge at all times, and put the chilled ones on my nipples after every nursing session. What the gel on the Soothies does is let you heal up without forming scabs, which is important because when you get a scab it just gets sucked off the next time baby nurses, and leaves you with this open wound that can't heal.

I'm making breastfeeding sound really great, aren't I? Well, it's not that bad for everyone...and even if it is that bad for you, like I said the Soothies really help, and it gets better. We were doing really well by 12 weeks and in fact we're still going strong at 28 months.


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## lilylove (Apr 10, 2003)

I've never heard that before. Does fair skinned necassarily mean thin skinned? I thought it had more to do with pigmentation.
I have average color skin, not really fair, but not dark either, and had a week or so of soreness with Dd but none with Ds.


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## wednesday (Apr 26, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *lilylove*
Does fair skinned necassarily mean thin skinned? I thought it had more to do with pigmentation.

I have wondered about this myself. The idea that fair-skinned women have more sensitive skin seems kind of...I don't know, kind of like buying into a really old-timey sort of racist assumption that the whiter the skin, the more feminine (i.e., delicate and fragile) the lady. Does that make any sense?


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## Noelia430 (Aug 6, 2003)

I'm a fair skinned red-head and I've never had anything other than the normal soreness in the beginning.


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## Shaunam (Oct 8, 2004)

I have very fair skin and I just had the normal soreness for a few days (until we got thrush that is grrr). My mom had no problem. My MIL and GMIL had no problem. My sister had no problem. We are pale, pale, pale.









I was talking to a black lady who was very dark-skinned not too long ago and she had an awful time with cracked and bleeding nipples. She said the nurses tried to help her with the latch (she knew it was definitely a latch problem) but they just never go the hang of it.









I now this is just minimal evidence, but I just don't believe that skin color makes that much of a difference.

I do believe that skin sensitivity could make a difference. Like a woman prone to rashs or skin irritation might have more problems, but people of any color can have sensitive skin.


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## the_lissa (Oct 30, 2004)

In my breastfeeding colunter training, we learned that is a myth.


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## Patchfire (Dec 11, 2001)

Ha, my first thought when I read the thread title was 'Let me tell you, five years, five months, and three weeks into this journey, no.'









Seriously, I generally don't tell people about my early nursing experiences, because I didn't get sore. At all. The worst pain I ever had with dd was mastitis when she was eighteen months. That was superceded by ds drawing blood when he bit me at seven months... but that would have hurt anyone!!


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## BlueStateMama (Apr 12, 2004)

Quote:

Do blondes have a harder time nursing?
Here I was, opening this thread thinking there was a good blonde joke here....







(as a nursing blonde, myself







)


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## Tofu the Geek (Dec 2, 2003)

I am fair skinned, dirty blonde (was light when I was a kid) and blue eyed. I had one sore nipple for a day (from DD's VERY first breastfeeding session when neither of us knew what we were doing) and a few days experimenting with positions to get one that worked for us, but after that smooth sailing up to her 4th birthday.


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## ~member~ (May 23, 2002)

I work with inner city teen mothers, none have been blond, blue-eyed, nor pale skinned, and many had very sore nipples, wrong latch, all the same breastfeeding issues mothers have world-wide.

Quote:

The idea that fair-skinned women have more sensitive skin seems kind of...I don't know, kind of like buying into a really old-timey sort of racist assumption that the whiter the skin, the more feminine (i.e., delicate and fragile) the lady. Does that make any sense?








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## Christine&men (Jun 4, 2005)

My very blonde/pale/blue eyed sister just breastfeeds her fourth child (of course, she has a midwife and lactation support group, she lives in Germany). I am somewhat blonde (definitely pale, blue eyed) and I breastfeed DS. Maybe this is for the myth category?


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## veganf (Dec 12, 2005)

I've got blonde hair and blue eyes, and I've never had any trouble at all, and no pain at all, except when I've gotten plugged ducts. But I never had any pain in the beginning and never even had to have anyone show me "how" to nurse. So I think that's all a myth, except that maybe fair-skinned cultures tend to be ones where formula is manufactured, so maybe it's a social thing, not biological.

- Krista
mother to Ryan (3, self-weaned in Nov.), A.J (2, still nursing), both born at home, and babe #3 (due Aug. '06)!


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