The symbolic red flag that says: Slow down or else! (Photo by Jay Simmons)

* I make no medical claims about whether Graprefuit Seed Extract or cranberry supplements work or are in any way appropriate — I am not a doctor, just a breastfeeding mother sharing her attempted home remedies for a plugged duct!

Your Experience with Plugged Ducts

Have you ever gotten a plugged duct (or many over the years like me?) What do you do when you get one? Do you consider it a warning to take better care of yourself? Do you alter your diet, or ditch that underwire bra?

Post from: Breastfeeding 1-2-3

1. Painful latch. For the first few days, I winced as the baby latched on. I checked for a good latch, and everything seemed okay. I could tell she was transferring milk well (jaw movement, swallowing, and subsequent wet and dirty diaper output). The pain also lessened after the initial latch, and improved when the transitional milk started coming in.

I used expressed breast milk to heal the one crack that appeared on my left nipple. I would have used Lansinoh but it never got that bad.

2. Painful letdown. Unfortunately, when the milk came in there was an overabundant supply. While I suppose I would rather deal with oversupply than low supply, it comes with its own set of complications. One of them is an intensified feeling of pins and needles as the milk lets down. It’s temporary and fleeting and I can deal with it (now being familiar with the sensation). I also recall that this feeling goes away when my milk supply regulates in a couple of months.

3. Painful engorgement. When my second child was born, I didn’t have to deal with engorgement because my first child was tandem nursing and she quite efficiently drained my breasts anytime I started to feel over-full. This time I am not tandem nursing, and I have had to hand express when I start to get engorged. Then I ice my breasts to reduce inflammation and slow milk production. I know some women swear by cold cabbage leaf compresses, but they never worked for me.

I have also been block nursing — nursing on one side per nursing session. That helps drain each breast fully, ensures that my nursling does not develop green stools, and lowers milk production overall.

4. Painful plugged ducts. When I spiked a 102.5 degree fever on day five after the birth, and I started to feel cramping and back pain much like labor, that was too much for my body to handle. In the kick-you-when-you’re-down tradition of breast infections, I developed a plugged duct that eventually became red and inflamed. I rested, got plenty of fluids, and nursed, nursed, nursed on that side. I also tried a couple of remedies that I think help — but I am not a doctor and I have no proof these work at all. File them under “can’t hurt, might help.” I took cranberry supplements (I figure if they help fight the bad bacteria that cause bladder infections, they might do the same for breast infections) and drank diluted grapefruit seed extract. All I know is, the next day the red and inflamed spot was gone.

It’s day 8 as I write this, and I feel good. Everything is under control again. Perhaps the benefit of all that breastfeeding experience is that I know that with time, any problems do resolve, and perseverance is rewarded many times over with a successful nursing relationship.

Post from: Breastfeeding 1-2-3

I offer Ten Tips for Breast Health to help prevent breast infections. Cold and flu season, holiday travel and the excitement of the festivities can make breastfeeding mothers particularly vulnerable to plugged ducts and mastitis this time of year. Find out how to have a happy and healthy holiday season!

Jen at The Lactivist gives important information on Breastfeeding and Holiday Travel including the status of various state laws regarding breastfeeding in public.

Tanya from the Motherwear Breastfeeding Blog talks about the challenges of dealing with unsupportive family members in her post It All Starts Somewhere.

Sinead from Breastfeeding Mums discusses How to Cope with the Extra Stress Placed on Families during the Holidays.

Finally, Andi shares a bit of original holiday humor with her breastfeeding poem ‘Twas the Breastfeeder’s Nighttime.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this selection of posts and you’ll join us again next month for the second Carnival of Breastfeeding!

Post from: Breastfeeding 1-2-3

1. Wash your hands often. What does hand-washing have to do with breast infections? Frequent hand-washing can reduce the number of respiratory illnesses you contract by up to 45 percent. Bouts of colds and flu wear down nursing mothers, making them vulnerable to breast infections (particularly if the children are sick too and the whole household isn’t getting enough sleep).

2. Consider getting a flu shot. If you vaccinate, add the flu shot to your list for you and your children for the very reasons stated in Tip #1. Influenza also can leave a mother dehydrated, which in turn can lead to plugged ducts.

3. Get enough rest. With holiday travel, festivities, and the whole family sleeping in your parents’ spare room, it can be difficult to get adequate sleep. Plan ahead for time differences (decide whether to keep your kids on their schedule or slowly adjust them to any time change in advance). Keep in mind that “rest” does not have to mean “sleep.” Get some rest by retreating to a quiet bedroom to nurse in the side-lying position in bed.

4. Stay hydrated. Holiday travel by airplane can be dehydrating, and dehydration is a factor in breast infections. After you go through the airport security checkpoint, buy some water to drink on the plane. Also, if you indulge responsibly in a holiday cocktail, make sure to drink enough water to counter the dehydrating effects of alcohol.

5. Say “No.” Don’t overextend yourself this holiday season. Volunteer to bake cookies, chaperone your child’s school party, or host the neighborhood social gathering, but not all three.

6. Say “Yes.” If your mother-in-law generously offers to cook a meal while she’s staying with you for the holidays, gladly accept her help! (Guess who cooked the roast last year at my house!)

7. Exercise. Exercise boosts your immune system, so make an extra stroller lap around the mall as you shop or take a swim in the hotel pool.

8. Remember to nurse! It may sound silly but with the excitement and distraction of holiday festivities, a nursling may not ask to nurse as much and a mother may forget to offer. It’s important to nurse regularly and not let your breasts become engorged.

9. Read more. If you’re prone to breast infections, read this article on recurrent mastitis or plugged ducts.

10. Pay attention to warning signs. If you do show signs of a plugged duct (redness, swelling, tenderness) or mastitis (plugged duct symptoms plus fever and flu-like symptoms), start treatment right away. The sooner a plugged duct is resolved the less likely it is to progress into mastitis, and the sooner mastitis is resolved the less likely it is to progress into a breast abscess. Continue to nurse on the problem side.

Happy and healthy holidays!

Post from: Breastfeeding 1-2-3