Mastitis for the second time! Worried.

[wellamI1981]

I can feel mastitis coming on for the second time - arghh! I'm really worried as I was on strong antibiotics last time that really unsettled DC. I am determined to feed him until 6 months and beyond - he's 3 months now - but I'm really worried the GP wont advise I feed through it again due to the anti bis. Has anyone successfully fed through it twice?

yes. Just feed feed feed as much as you can. This is what I did:

• wet a flannel in hot water (as hot as you can handle) and hold to your breast before feeding

• massage the red area with your finger or a comb in the direction towards the nipple all throughout the feed

• after the feed hold a very cold cloth to your breast

Antibiotics are not always necessary, even in quite bad cases of mastitis. It is a horrible infection and you will, most likely, feel awful, but try to push through it. The best treatment is just feed feed feed. Also, keep yourself wrapped up nice and warm as any draught at all can send what feel like daggers through your breast!

someone else on here had it a number of times, all in same breast. keep feeding through it as best you can, take painkillers - paracetamols - gently massage towards nipple any sore spots, keep them cool and drink plenty of fluids - look after yourself. if you need antibiots maybe your doc could prescribe slightly different ones, but remember dc is older now so antibiots may not have such an awful effect - fingers x'd

well done for keeping going it's awful to feed when you feel ill/ in pain

I've had it 6 times in 5 months, you absolutely do NOT need to stop bf. Most mastitis is non-infectious anyway and is caused by a back up of milk that your body then attacks. You are then at risk from an infection in this milk. So as others have said, feed, feed and feed.

Make sure you feed in different positions. 'Dangle' feeding can help, where you lie the baby down and dangle boob over them to feed. This way gravity helps drain the affected area. You can also point the chin towards the area since milk is drained most in this region (at least it might be, some evidence seems to show this may not alway hold, but worth a go).

Avoid anything pressing agaisnt your boob, maybe go bra-less if poss until it has cleared. Massage and heat help move milk as well. If after 24 hours it has not gone or got worse, then you may need antibiotics. Even if this is the case they should be safe when bf. There's no reason to consider stopping.

Longer term, think about if there is anyting that could be causing the mastitis - do you sleep with anything pressing boob, wear underwired bras etc, all these things can cause it. Continue feeding in different positions to drain the breast. After 3 months or so your milk production calms down and you may find you dont get it again. HTH.

Thanks so much for that info thebluth. The dangle boob thing sounds interesting - I think I'll shut the door when I try that one: ha! I am resolute on not giving up, I was just concerned about DC getting another dose of antibiotics through me. I get lots of milk through the night and DC is sleeping longer and longer which means it's getting backed up, so I think that's what's causing it. Thanks again - it's reassuring to know I'm not the only one getting it again and again.

You're welcome . Yes dangle feeding is not a pretty sight!

I hated taking antibiotics, even though DS always seemed fine. Hopefully your supply will catch up with the baby.

More info on mastitis here and some on recurrent mastitis here

Hope you managed to clear it an are mastitis free!

It's pefectly safe to take most antibiotics while BF. Check out hear. www.breastfeedingnetwork.org.uk/drugs-in-breastmilk-information-and-factsheets

And the last thing you should do with mastitis is stop feeding, it can make it much worse. Just feed, feed and feed. See hear for lots of self help tips www.breastfeedingnetwork.org.uk/pdfs/BFN_Mastitis.pdf