BF'ing questions « Back to Group Discussions

[sillymom44]

Several questions that I hope someone can asnwer...

1. What can I do to prevent mastitis??  I have had it once already...  I have never been engorged and DS nurses every 1-2 hours so it's not from oversupply or breasts getting too full...

2.  I need to start building up a supply of milk for when I go back to work in mid-January.  I feel like I am going to take milk from the baby by pumping the excess...  Should I try to incrase my supply-- and if so, how???

When are others pumping?  AFter feedings??  Do you then combine the ounces you get into one container and then freeze it??  I don't remember all of this...

Thanks!!!

[dannic]

Hmm, no help on pumping although alfalfa is used to increase supply...

As far as mastitis goes, I have always been told that it is a sign that you are overdoing it an to slow down and allow your body to recuperate a bit more...

Easy said, hard to do when you are caring for littles, I know. 

I am prone to oversupply and engorgement but not this time, yay.  So sorry you are having a tough time with this!  Adding a new little one is an amazing thing, but it's also a lot of work and sometime the tranisition is not as smooth as we'd like...things will get better! 

[Vegan Princess]

I am prone to mastitis bc of scar tissue. I take lecithin twice daily. Never had it since starting that.

I pump after feeds bc I have to right now and to increase supply. But I just keep adding the milk to a container and freezing once I have 4 or 6 ounces. I hear pumping in the morning is best bc supply is highest.

[springmum]

I was very prone to mastitis with DS1 and had a couple of nasty red patches already with this little guy and never ever felt a palpable lump. My LC said some people just have stickier milk with smaller lumps sometimes. I take evening primrose oil actually to act the same as lecithin and keep the blood flowing well. 

If you ever notice the red patches starting this is what I do. Just before nursing get a washcloth and stand over the sink with the warm/hot running. Then repeatedly dip the washcloth and massage the area toward the nipple - then nurse. Actually my LC recommended no heat (increases inflammation) and stick to cold cabbage in between nursing (reduces inflammation) BUT I was very engorged at the time and she was gearing that more towards the engorgement. Also increase your vitamin C when they show up. Be aware of restrictive bra's, shirts, sleeping positions etc that can all encourage a blockage. Hope it doesn't come back!

I'm no help with the pumping  though!

[sillymom44]

Thanks for your advice!!  I will try some/all of them.

Here's another issue-- I was pumping yesterday for the 1st time and realized there was blood in the bottle....  YIKES!!  I completely freaked out, and then saw blood on the nursing pad from the breast that had mastitis.  I don't see any cracks or bleeding on my nipple...  Any ideas what this is from?? 

[sillymom44]

I hv mastitis again. Its not clogged ducts, its bacteria.....  so frustrated.  

[springmum]

Sorry Silly! I had frequent recurring mastitis with my first - it's not good! I could never feel a clogged duct with mine, I wonder if it was bacteria now....how did you figure out it was bacteria? Did it have something to do with the blood? 

Does this mean you'll need abx or can you kick it naturally? Either way I'm sure you're already on probiotics.

I hope you can get it resolved soon!!

[sillymom44]

Thanks spring!!I did a lot of research...and found that technically mastitis is from cracked nipples and then bacteria enters through the crack and causes an infection. Cloggd ducts are not neccess. Mastitis. Maybe there are different schools of thought... You should not massage if its an infection from bacteria bc it can spread the infection. Telltale signs are red streaks or red blotches and fever.

I feel like i hv the flu temp of 103, cycles of shaking and shivering, breast hurts. Last time i avoided abx, but this time fever keeps going up so my midwife insisted...it can lead to an abcess which requires surgery to drain it. I hv 2 friends that went through this.

I am taking probiotics, but had been getting lax at taking them 3/day. My mw said to take200mg of vit c/day and washmy nipples with water/epsom salt 2/day. I know my immunes sys is supp. From sleep deprivation :/

[esma2175]

GRRR I wrote up a wonderful post and then the window froze. Here is a quick overview:

Hugs on the mastis!!  That sucks.

I'm exclusivly pumping so have been doing lots of reading about pumping. which also includes increasing supply so here are my thoughts:

Pick certain feedings and pump after them like 9am, noon, and 9pm (or when you will be pumping at work).  Your breasts will get use to making more milk at thoes times and you can increase your stash that way.  You produce the most milk between 1 and 5AM due to the hormones in your body, if you can, add a pump in that time frame. By pumping after a feeding, you aren't taking anything from baby, you are working on increasing your supply and stash.

If you want to increase your supply pump for 5 minutes after the last milk drop falls in the pump.  This tells your body to make more milk.  Depending on how much milk you can get when you pump you might not need to increase your supply at all.  In the first 3 months is the easiest time to increase your supply due to the hormones in your body.  You can always not pump for as long if you find you don't need as much milk, but it is much harder to increase your supply if your not pumping enough (from what I've read). 

After you pump you can store your pumping things in the fridge, so you don't have to wash them every time, just once a day (life saver for me!!)  You can put all the milk you pump in one day in the same container and label and freeze that.  I freeze my milk in Ziploc containers and use a dry erase marker for the dates.  I mention this because the dry erase marker blured in the freezer and I can't read it now. Ive heard masking tape works well.

Here is a good resource for Breastfeeding/Pumping  http://kellymom.com/category/bf/  

This is mostly for EP, but has some good informaion that I think might help   http://www.ivillage.com/forums/pregnancy-parenting/babies/exclusively-pumping/exclusively-pumping-intros-chat/beginners-guide

Good luck!

[sillymom44]

Esma-- Thank you!!  That is fantastic information!!!