Mastitis?

[Caroline5]

I've been trying to get dd2 (19 months) off the breast as I feel it's time - she's teething and keeps really chomping at my boobs and they have even become sore and started bleeding again I only went on this long as she didn't like cow's milk or many other dairy products. I've only been doing morning and evening feeds, so didn't think it would be too much of a problem to cut down quite quickly. (So far I've cut down to one feed a day).

However, woke up this morning with really sore and swollen left boob and feeling achy and fluey. Is this mastitis or a blocked duct, or something? What should I do about it? I know you're supposed to keep feeding with these things, but what if you're trying to wean??

Any advice much appreciated!

If you've got a breast pump you could express until it clears. You can hand express as well of course but I never got the hang of it.

Warm towels, lounging in a warm bath etc are meant to help too I think.

HTH

If you already feel fluey and ill you should probably see you GP as you may need antibiotics:I think the self-help measures are more useful before the infection gets into your system.

Caroline5, mastatis is horrible, isn't it? Have you tried the cabbage leaves, a savoy cabbage leaf that has been in the fridge, popped into your bra works wonders. IME it is best to keep feeding, so I don't know about when you are trying to wean however. As far as going to the doc, I have only had mastatis with small babies and found that with continual feeding, even although I was already feeling ill, this was enough to sort things out without antibiotics. Once again perhaps not much use if you are weaning but the cabbage leaves should offer you some help.

I hope you have managed to get things sorted by now. Although I only had one incidence of feeling fluey, it really did wipe me out and although I tried hard to follow suggestions to feed on that side my (then) 7mo DD wouldn't so-operate. When I hand-expressed (was staying at mum's no choice and I'd never been any good at it before) I found out why - the pus that came out was green and vile. A dose of antibiotic cleared it up very quickly.

On other occasions when I wasn't feeling fluey I managed to get rid of the redness by combing the breast whilst in the shower/bath and other similar tricks, circle your arms, feed from the affected side first, etc.

Hope you're feeling better.

Thanks everyone, have kept feeding morning and night off the affected breast and it's feeling a bit better today. I also feel much better too, so I guess it couldn't have been too serious. However, didn't enjoy dd pulling and tugging at my boob though and it's still bleeding. Definitely want to give it up now!!

Still having problems with this mastitis , it's now in the right breast and is worse than the left. The GP prescribed a week's course of antibiotics, which I'm about half way through. They are working, the pain is reducing but I've still got a great big lump in my boob!

Dd refuses to feed off it (I don't think she can latch on properly because of the lump) and I haven't been able to get anything off it with a pump!! Does anyone know if this means the milk has all gone or is it just totally blocked up?? And will the lump go away?? I've tried massaging it, warm flannels etc but so far no success. Thanks!!

Try hand expressing in the shower/bath Caroline5. The milk may not be flowing because you are overful. Hand expressing can be more effective than the pump. Massage your breast from the back, forward towards the nipple. The best thing would be to actaully B/F because the baby is the best pump of all. Also try Ibuprofen ( Nurofen) for the discomfort. It is an anti-inflammatory and will help too. Keep an eye on the lump - if it doesn't go away go back to your GP incase you develop an abscess.

Thanks Mears, managed to get dd to feed off it tonight and there still seemed to be quite a bit of milk there. There's still a lump, which might be getting smaller. I did try hand expressing in the bath but couldn't even manage to get anything out then. Hopefully, it's on the mend. Sorry to be so boring about this!