Swollen Nipplle

Call your pediatrician's 24 hour nurse line.

Welcome to mamapedia!!!

Have you called your pediatrician and let them know what is going on? If not? You should. If she is running a fever and the nipple is warm to the touch and painful? I would take her to the urgent care and get her checked out.

Call the nurse on call.
In infants, this could just be a hormonal thing--but best to check.
Good luck!

I agree that you don't call a hospital. You call your pediatrician because he/she knows your baby and has medical records to date. There is a pediatrician or nurse on call 24/7 - even if your pedi is in a solo practice, he/she has relationships with other pediatricians and someone is on call. Monitor her temp and keep an eye on all her activities - how alert or irritable she is, how much she's eating (formula or breast milk), whether her diapers are being changed at the usual rate. Those are all typical questions they will ask you. It also helps to measure the size of the nipple compared to the other one - use a small ruler and measure straight across the diameter of the nipple , then measure the normal one. That will give them more precise info over the phone than "it's really swollen" - they can't see it and they don't know.

You could try applying ice (if she'll let you) to see if it reduces the swelling. Before you do that, put your hands on each nipple and notice if the swollen one is warmer - I would expect that, based on your description but it's worth noting for the doctor or nurse. You might go pick up some infant benedryl (or the generic equivalent) in case you are told to give something for an allergic reaction.

I would not go to a hospital unless directed to do so by a physician, especially if your child is acting normal. You'll sit in a big waiting room full of really sick kids, and your infant does not need to be exposed to that unless she is in urgent condition herself. Kids wind up getting really sick from all those other infections, and it's stressful and expensive for you too.

It does sound a lot like some kind of bite - I tend to get spider bites and they just love to get inside someplace warm like under the waistband of my slacks or something similar. The benadryl would be useful there, but again, get the directive from the pediatrician.