Ooooh! painful feeds!

[HelenEmjay]

Help! i have developed a small lump right next to my nipple and it hurts like hell when i feed my baby, what could it be and how do i get rid of it? any help greatly appreciated! xxxx

How long have you had the lump? Is it red and hot?

It sounds like a blocked duct. If it is that, it will help to:

• feed lots on that side
• if possible, with the baby's chin near the lump
• massage the lump while feeding
• express on that side after feeds.

It will hurt, doing all that, but it should clear the lump - one good feed (particularly with the chin trick) might well clear it.

If you don't clear it, you run the risk of mastitis, which is really nasty.

Oh thanks nqc! cant do the chin thing though its me left breast and the lump is on the left side of the nipple - id have to get baby to do acrobats lol! i will try the other things though, i am keeping her feeding that side still but it makes my eyes water abit! i have never had anything like this before!

How old is your baby? Is rugby hold, or feeding lying down, with her on her knees to your side, an option? (Can anyone help you with positioning?) I never got rugby hold working, but lots of women use it happily, particularly with pillows.

If you really can't do the chin thing, be sure to do the massaging. I always use fingers, but others swear by using a wide-toothed comb.

What's happened here is, your duct has got blocked, and milk is stuck. You're just putting pressure on it to move it?

It is red, and it is a little bit hot, she is only 2 weeks old, but i breastfed my ds2 for 6 months and i never had anything other than occasional cracked nipples!

oh i see what u mean - i will try the lying down thing, she is a VERY lazy feeder and trying to get her to empty one breast takes some doing! she just goes to sleep, even rubbing her feet and undressing her doesnt help much, and to make things more difficult right now my breast pump has packed up! i have to ask...... what u supposed to do with a wide toothed comb???

Oh, sorry, comb the breast lump, towards the nipple. I just do something similar, but with fingers.

Rugby hold might be good at that age - do you know that one?

Blocked ducts are funny, I had a few with DS1, who never fed very hard, but none with DS2, who fed very well, until 11 months!

I found that feeding lying down on the lump-y side, with the underneath arm stretched up under my cheek and away from me, helped a lot.

That way, with the lump in the position you describe, you should be able also to get the baby to feed with her chin near the lump - though it will mean that her body is nowhere near yours, but along your arm instead.

I found the combing was to sensitive, so I did it while lying on my tummy in a deep, warm bath. Which is of itself soothing.

Also try massaging the lump towards the nipples in a warm shower or in the bath using hot flannels on it as you soak - the milk seems to flow more readily. Do you still have a mw visiting, if so ask her to show you how to hand express - Mears did a link on here once. You could do that in the bath or even feed your dd in the bath. Perhaps alternate feeds with rugby hold and across position so she isn't putting pressure in the same place each time and drains all the ducts.

Oh thanks girls! i have tried the rugby hold but im crap at it she is very small too so im scared i might not hold her right, i will try again though, i dont want to develop mastitis!

Put loads of cushions under your arm and baby's body and support her head with your palm. I used a v-pillow wrapped around me to raise the baby up and take some of the weight.

Ooh i have one of those V-pillows! i will go and try that as soon as the little lazy-bones wakes up! hopefully soon as its getting worse i think! i may have to drag dp out and go get another breast pump tonight!

If the lump gets red and hot, or if you start feeling ill, or if it's still not resolved by tomorrow (Friday), then go to the GP. Mastitis can develop very quickly, and it would be a good idea to have a prescription in your hand so that if it does flare up over the weekend you can go straight to the chemist to get antibiotics, rather than have to wait for the GP surgery to reopen. That's what my GP recommended - though I didn't eventually need the abs because the combing and feeding positions sorted the lump by the end of the weekend.

Thanku! it does seem to be better today, i tried all these things and im hoping that they have done the trick! I will keep my eye on it though! never had mastitis before - would i 'know' if i got it (sorry if that sounds like a stupid question) xx

Ok, this is going to sound gross, but I had this problem recently, and on a mumsnetter suggestion I squeezed the lump. It took a liitle insistency, and it was a bit painful but after the whole thing exploded it felt better immediatly!
I went to the doctor next day ( it happened in the weekend) to check if I had mastitis and whether I should take Ab, and confessed to the GP that I squeezed. He said it was the right thing to do....

Helen, you would totally know - you get sore boobs, and feel generally fluey. Fever, weak, tired, unwell.

If it feels better then it probably is better. Keep going with all the stuff you're doing. After working out my anti-mastitis feeding position on the bed, I got to like it so much that I fed like that whenever I could!