Post from: Babylune

I woke up this morning with swollen breasts that were as hard as rocks and a headache. I had the same problem with my first child a few days after his birth. The day my milk came in he was so hungry that he ate every two hours. The next day, he wasn’t even peckish. The problem being that my body had received the “increase production” message from frequent feedings and now had all this extra milk.

This time, it was caused by travel-stress nursing. Everytime the baby wimpered on the plane, I gave her my nipple so she wouldn’t disturb the people sitting around us.

Over producing breast milk is a problem. It can cause mastitis, the inflammation of the breast and infection or blockage of the milk ducts. I’ve had two friends recently describe to me the fever, chills and pain of mastitus and it is something I want to avoid.

The first time my breasts were swollen, my midwife put me on a strict regime to deal with the problem. After each feeding I would plunge my breasts into a basin of ice water and soak them for five minutes. Then, I would apply a qwark (a kind of German fresh cheese)mask for twenty minutes followed by ice packs. Right before the next feeding, I would thaw out my breasts with warm water. It was a terrible few days. 

This time, because I caught the problem right away, I applied some ice packs first thing in the morning and am repeating it now. Hopefully if I regulate the baby’s feeding for the next few days and keep the ice on, the problem will go away.  

Do you have any tricks for maintaining breast health while you nurse? 

Post from: Babylune