Sore lump in arm pit? Also do you feed from one breast at each feed?

[Divvy]

Baby is 9 days old, and breast feeding. Got lump today in arm pit. Its a little sore. can be seen as well as felt.

What is it? Linked to breast feeding? Doctor jobby?

Also do you feed from one breast per feed? I have been doing, but not sure if ment to offer other breast as well?

Congratulations on baby! Could the lump be a gland? I had something similar sounding a few weeks ago (it was painful) and went to docs - not a problem they said, but wise to check and yes it could be linked to feeding.
I always feed just from one side each feed but lots of people do both.

I had this a couple of times when pregnant dr said it was just a little bit of breast tissue inflamed by all the hormones and it went away after a few days. However you've also got glands in your armpits that can do this as an immune response so probably best to get it looked at in case it's an early sign of mastitis etc though I think you'd have other symptoms (redness on breast, feeling fluey)already if this were the case.

I believe current thinking on bf is to try to 'empty' one breast and then offer the other but I always just did one per feed. Hopefully some of the MN bf experts will be along shortly to give you better advice.

and congratulations on the new arrival!

Thanks, got 10 day check this week, so will get doc to have look.

Re the breast feeding - Feeding from second breast - would it not water down the whole feed, as first milk from second breast is going to be watery front milk, and not hind milk?

Lol Also Does a breast completly empty during a feed, or do you make milk while feeding? or does it get to a point when it is sucked dry?

Yes, that's why I stopped feeding on both sides early on because dd was having watery green poos and the mw said it was because she was getting too much foremilk and not enough hindmilk. (I was doing about 20 minutes on one side and then swapping-- in hindsight I think I was swapping when dd started to slow down her feeding, thinking that she must be getting to the 'end' of that side, but actually she was guzzling the foremilk and then slowing down for the hindmilk because it's thicker and more filling.)

I think your breast keeps making milk while you're feeding but your dc empties it at a much faster rate than it fills up, iyswim.

thats what i thought re hnd milk. thank you.

what about breast feeding in public? for now i am taking arm out of bra and top, but ths is not going to be done in public! for ob reasons! how do you do it in public?

dh is fussing that i am going to have to feed in public toilets and for this reason wants me to stop bf in a few days time.......but i am on a roll for the first time after 5 dc! only managed to bf for 6 days at best, so very proud of self.

just learnt now that before i just nipple fed and not breast fed, big difference! and no cracked painful nips!

typed 1 handed!

Divvy, you have milk glands all the way under your arm pits so it is possible that milk is not being removed efficiently from this breast.

If it is a milk gland which is slightly swollen you ought to start your next feed from that breast. If you think you can do it, try feeding using the rugby hold but don't sweat it if you can manage.

In the early days like now, it is best to let your baby come off a breast naturally, no timing feeds on each breast, etc. Then offer the other side. If your baby doesn't want the other side that is fine. But if he does, let him have it. Don't fret about foremilk and hindmilk, and draining a breast before the other side, honestly. You don't need to know the ins and outs of it right now but if you feel like you must, then go to kellymom and search teh site for 'foremilk hindmilk'. It explains it quite well.

Follow your baby's cues. It is also ok, esp in the evenings when a lot of babies are fussy, to offer 3 or 4 or 5 'sides' until a baby is content. It is normal at this age.

You may want to look at this page as it shows how your baby tells you that he is ready for a feed.

congratulations and good luck! you sound like you are doing great.

about feeding in public. you can take a cheap stretchy strappy vest and remove the straps so that it is like a tube top then layer another top.

you can now either pull or unbutton the outer top and pull down one side of the top underneath while keeping tummy in private.

does this help with ridding yourself of the bra?

I was very shy about it to start with and got one of those bf ponchos but I found I got less self-conscious over time-- I lost the poncho when dd was about 3 months and by then wasn't really bothered about covering up. Are you using bf bras? I'm not their greatest fan but esp early on they're a lot easier to get in and out of than normal ones.

I don't mean to imply that bf requires loads of equipment though! Really a big scarf would do in place of the poncho and I eventually went back to normal bras. And well done, it sounds like you're doing really well!

I have found the t shirt and cardigan approach good for feeding - then you can pull top up but still have your tummy and back covered. I also have one mothercare special nursing top that i use when i want to be particularly 'discreet' - but tbh i found the special tops more of a faff than layering stuff. nursing bra v useful though.

Yes definitely get yourself a decent nursing bra - NCT bras are very good.

It's much easier to pull up a vest/top than undoing buttons. Boob tube or stretchy vest underneath will cover that post baby belly!
You should not be feeding in a toilet - very unhygenic

thanks for more ideas 12 days and still bf-ing pain free!

lumps in pit going now too.

baby is 10lb 10oz today from 10lb 5oz, so doing great on mummy juice!

well done Divvy!!! I also had a lump in my armpit but it was just a gland and eventually went down.

I also champion vest tops under normal tops. I have around 15 in all different colours! They are dirt cheap in m&s and primark. I have bf bras plus normal ones. I have found that pulling back normal ones to locate my nipples does ruin the bra a little but i wont be breast feeding forever and my breast will probably go down when i finish feeding and i'll need new bras anyway.

Its a shame that dh isn'tbeing as supportive as he could be. Just point out to him how much money you are saving the family not having to buy formula!

Also some tips on feeding, I would use changing rooms to feed in. My mothercare has a lovely feeding room some boots stores have feeding rooms. I quiet spot in a cafe. Benchs, you can't really tell it just looks like you are giving your baby a cuddle from afar!

A quiet spot.

Hi Divvy,
Congrats on breastfeeding. I found it hard to understand hind milk and foremilk but the best explanation was to imagine you have two hot taps and that when they first flow you get cold water (formilk) that gradually become shot water (hind milk). Idea being that each time you swap you go back to cold [foremilk - you get the analogy/ metephore.....].

I got a load of cheap vests with low necks and put the neck under my boob so it kept covering my belly tan lifted my top so they was just a nipple peeking out for drinking.

lol not sure about saving money really, as Lansinoh is £10 a tube

Yeah but you'd easily get through £10 worth of formula a week with a newborn! Plus lansinoh lasts ages and when you no longer need to use it for the nips, it makes really great lipbalm and is fab for chapped hands in winter too.

I had a lump in my armpit too, my midwife said it was probably a collection of milk as the breast tissue goes all the way up to there. She suggested I massage it down, whilst feeding from that breast, towards the nipple to encourage the collected milk down iyswim. It worked, the lump disappeared after a day or two of doing this.