Mumsnet Talk

Hello all I need a bit of advice.

My DS is nearly 5 months old and until now he has been EBF.

For reasons I won't go into, I cannot breastfeed for 6 days starting on monday this week. So I can feed him again from Sunday evening.

I've been giving formula (whilst trying not to cry too much) and thank goodness he is taking the bottle ok.

I've also been expressing my milk as much as possible, but obviously this is a gruelling regime of bottle washing, sterilising, making up formula as well as expressing. Oh, and I have a 4 year old to care for as well. It's been a nightmare week.

I'm hoping my supply is pretty established by 5 months exclusive feeding>? Is this right? Will he go back to the breast?

I've been getting a lot of pain and blocked ducts and am scared of getting mastitis. Keep pumping and massaging but it's difficult.

Just need some help and reassurance that I can keep breastfeeding.

I have been away for up to a week, though more frequently up to 3 days. Baby has always gone back to the breast. **However, she was 8 mths old the first time I did this. I was very careful to keep pumping at the times I would have been feeding. I used a Medela Harmony pump as they're fairly small (i.e.portable in a handbag) and quiet. You must pump or both you and baby will end up in all sorts of trouble.

Hopefully someone more experienced will be along to help you. I'm no expert, but am quite experienced at this pumping thing. Good luck.

When my DD was 9 days old she was diagnosed with a medical condition which meant that for 3 days I could not bf her. We had barely established breastfeeding at this point but determined not to give up, I pumped every two hours, 24 hours a day. Thankfully DD took well to the bottle and the special formula she needed and after the 3 days were up we went back to BFing on demand and are still going strong now, 9 months on! Pump as much as you can, it is tiring getting up to feed baby with a bottle then sitting expressing in the middle of the night but for me it was the only option.

So long as you can keep your supply up by pumping, you should be fine to go back to BF afterwards though this will of course depend on your baby's willing too.

I know you don't want to go into why you need to stop, but I hope you don't mind me saying that if it is due to medication then you should check with a BF expert (BfN helpline maybe?) that it is definitely not compatible. Most HCPs are not that clued-up on the safety of medications (I was told by a GP that I couldn't take nurofen whilst BF ). Apologies if this is old news and you've done so already

Absolutley what QoFE says, if you think you cannot bf because of drugs you are taking and you want to bf you need to speak to an expert who will give you correct information - most Drs do not know what can be taken when bf. If you can't feed because you wont be there then you will need to pump at the times you would normally feed him to keep your supply up. Remember that if you keep your pump bits in a sterile box in the fridge you only need to sterilise it once a day.

Thanks so much, I am nearly crying with relief because I have been so so sad at the thought that this could have been the end of bfeeding. I really hope he takes the breast again.

Yes it's because of medication. Basically I have been really poorly with a high temperature and didn't sleep at all for 3 nights running. In desperation I took a sleeping tablet. I have got advice from a senior pharmacist who says it takes 5 days to get out of my system. Unfortunately I was so anxious it didn't work the first night and I ended up taking another one the next night, hence 6 days in total of no breastfeeding .

I do feel gutted but cannot take back my stupid decision so just have to live with it now. I feel really guilty every time my DS cries, thinking he wants the breast but I can't give it to him.

I haven't been pumping at night, because basically I've been exhausted and desperately need to sleep. But I didn't normally feed at night anyway. Do you think this is ok?

OK, take a deep breath, everything will be fine. What drug are you taking and I'll look it up for you and tell you whether you can bf.

I took 2 mg of diazepam and then 2mg again the next night. I since found out it has a really long half-life According to the pharmacist he said 5 days to be safe.

OK, half life of Diazapam is 43 hours.

And it is a L3 risk category drug:
L3 MODERATELY SAFE:
There are no controlled studies in breastfeeding women, however the risk of untoward effects to a breastfed infant is possible; or, controlled studies show only minimal non-threatening adverse effects. Drugs should be given only if the potential benefit justifies the potential risk to the infant.

Have a read here:
toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/search/f?./temp/~WmTIAp:1

And then please call this number www.breastfeedingnetwork.org.uk/drugs-in-breastmilk.html and have a chat with the specialist bf pharmacist who will give you all the info you need to know.

Then let us know how you get on!

Bert2e you are so lovely, thank you

It's just a case of knowing how to find the info :-)

Have you called them yet

Toxnet link above doesn't work, you need to go here and search diazepam

It will be interesting to hear the answer on this one. I would be very surprised if you have to temporarily give up breastfeeding at all given the 2 small doses you have had. Good luck x

I've lost my voice (bloody cold) so will try emailing them instead. Thank you all so much.

Hmmmmmm. I took diazepam a couple of times while bf (on medical advice). No problems at all.
You have my sympathy with the expressing- I've been doing it for 16 weeks! Complete and utter PIA. Get back to the boob ASAP. NO WAY do you have to wait 6 days. The senior pharmacist has a lot to answer for here. Is there any way s/he misunderstood the situation?

Really Mixed? That is interesting that you took it whilst breastfeeding and it was fine. I must say I was a bit taken aback too by the advice, I understood 2mg is a pretty tiny dose.

I have emailed the breastfeeding network people, hopefully they will be able to help.

You're right expressing is a real PITA. Hate, hate, hate it. And pouring it all down the sink afterwards is heartbreaking!

Getdown - when the dust settles, please do contact the pharmacist and let him/her know where to get better info to help bf mothers.

From toxnet (link in other post): "After a single dose of diazepam, as for sedation before a procedure, there is usually no need to wait to resume breastfeeding, although with a newborn or preterm infant, a cautious approach would be to wait a period of 6 to 8 hours before resuming nursing."

Thanks tiktok I must admit I am quite confused and in a dilemma what to do now. I feel quite angry that the pharmacist has basically put me through a hellish week of formula and expressing, quite possibly for nothing. But on the other hand I don't want to put my baby in any danger whatsoever. My DH says to definitely wait till Sunday. I just don't know now

i know this probably isnt totally PC but i would have a baby that was a tiny tiny bit stoned off diazepam than one that ended up on formula...

expressing is a nightmare, i couldnt do it.

i think you have done enough to protect your baby from the effects of the drug and by the sounds of it there will be nothing left of it in your system now anyway.

get your boobs in that little mouth now! Xx

Oh God, really? I really really want to breastfeed him! I just don't know what to do!

if the half life is 43 hours and the recommendations are to not feed a newborn/preterm infant for 6-8 hours....

and dont stress over it!

If you have read the links posted here, you are in a good position to contact the pharmacist and ask him/her what to do.....can you do that now? Email maybe and share the links. Say how distressed you are and how much you want to bf.

Based on the solid information provided here, I'd go ahead and feed him.

Have you shown your DH that this is solid information from reliable sources, not just anecdotal stuff? I would hope that would convince him that it's ok.

I really did take diazepam and bf (actually, it was expressed and given by bottle but that's a different story). Was told, and did my own research into it, that 2 mg as a one-off (or two-off) event is absolutely fine. If DS had been a newborn I'd have heeded the advice to wait a few hours but he was 3 months old. The sedative effect would be negligible and no chance of addiction/withdrawal after 2 doses. It's not IDEAL but then, what is?
Anyway, of course you must make your own decision and one based on facts (not just the ramblings of MN)! But the links provided above are as good as you can get- they cite all the research. Good luck and well done for keeping up the supply so far!