Oh heck, why do I have mastitis again, please tell me what I'm doing wrong?

[Flllight]

This is the third time since ds2 was about 10 or 11mo - I had it with ds1 as well, from about the same age, never at the beginning. We are always fine till about nearly a year and then it gets recurrent.

Feeling horrible so off to out of hours in a bit but I'd hate to stop bfing now, he is only 13mo and I managed till 16 with the first one and really don't want to quit.
He's been feeding a lot the last couple of days which seems to bring it on.

Please does anyone have any ideas for how to prevent this happening, it is a pain taking heavy duty ab's every month or two. I keep wondering if it is something I'm doing - I feed on demand pretty much, several feeds a day, several or more at night. Try and alternate.

Thanks

[Flllight]

Sorry he wasn't 16, just 16 months old.

[Flllight]

~beump~

[ILikeToMoveItMoveIt]

As they get older and more proficient at bf, sometimes the latch isn't as good as it could be.

It may be worth checking his latch and positioning a the breast.

Hope you get this sorted

[Flllight]

Ah, that could well be it...thankyou very much

[LackaDAISYcal]

do you express as well fllight?

i had loads of issues with blocked ducts and mastitis when DD was about 6months old. I stopped expressing and the blocked ducts and mastitis disappeared as if by magic.

I would agree to check his positioning and latch though; he could just be getting a wee bit lazy

[Flllight]

No, I never express (did today to try and unblock it if it was a duct, it was quite interesting!)
I just read the Kellymom page on it and it says it could be due to limiting his feeds - I had forgotten not to do this, I sometimes remove boob if he is near the end of a feed. This is probably the issue.

I am a bit impatient! Plus he does muck about

[ILikeToMoveItMoveIt]

Oh god, the mucking about is so annoying, it drives me insane!

[Flllight]

Yes I have warned him, if he doesn't concentrate he has about one more week and I will pack it in! Bought him a sippy cup today

Sippy cup will not stop him crying when he falls over though

[ILikeToMoveItMoveIt]

Ah, you know it's an empty threat, you're both still enjoying it so much

The mastitis and the mucking about will pass, you'll both get over it, then happy days

[LackaDAISYcal]

I hope you get through this phase fllight and keep going for a while longer.

I never had mucking about; only biting!

I wish she was still feeding though; she sometimes buries her nose in my cleavage and gives me a lick. It's quite sweet

[Guadalupe]

I got it seven times with ds2. I think we got a bit lazy with latching, sometimes he'd be sort of on his back but still feeding and I'd be reading a magazine or whatever. I tried to remember the nauseating phrase 'tummy to mummy' and that seemed to help.

The le leche league said sometimes it is recurrent if you eat a high fat diet as this can block the pores up, funnily enough I had always been eating badly around the time I got it. I bought some lecithin that they recommended from the health food shop, granules you take that helps to break donw fat but I didn't really remember to take it so I can't say if that helped.

Also seemed to come when I was most stressed and forgetting to relax, hard to relax when you have other children but it is important for mastitis.

Hope you feel better soon