HELP! Did you ever had to stop breastfeeding for a few days because of medication?

[winnybella]

In a week's time I will need to take medication which will make bf impossible for 3 days.

DD is 13 months and in a way it's much harder to placate her with bottle or sippy cup instead of breast, as she's older and knows what she wants.
She feeds once during a day, once at bedtime and once or twice during the night.

We tried yesterday to settle her at night without bf(well, DP did, as I thought it would be wiser if she doesn't se me) and we ended up with a hysterical baby, who flung a sippy cup with warm milk across the room, was crying and screaming and didn't calm down til I gave in and breastfed her.

How in a world are we going to survive those 3 days? I don't want it to be traumatic for her ie sudden withdrawal of bf and at the same time I don't want to stop alltogether yet- I thought I'll give it a few months more and let it end gradually.

Please help, if you ever were in a similar situation before, how did you manage?

Sorry for appalling grammar and spelling.

winny it is very, very unusual for meds to rule out bf. Your child is beyond newborn (so less at risk), feeds only 4 x a day (ditto) and you will be using meds for a short time only.

You can check the facts on meds and bf and then discuss what you find with your doctor.

There are several websites: www.breastfeedingnetwork.org.uk and
toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/htmlgen?LACT are just 2 of them.

Hope you find reassurance!

What tiktok said. So so so many mothers come on here saying 'I have to stop BF because of medication, please help me' ... we says 'oh ... what medication?' and it turns out to be something entirely innocuous, or at least something where the risk of the meds harming the child are much much lower than the benefits of breastfeeding ...

at "we says". I need more sleep.

Erm...no, I'm afraid it's not innocous, it's mifepristone and misoprostol...apparently there haven't enough studies done, or rather none at all and they have no idea how much is secreted into the breastmilk.
Both NHS and my doctor say you should stop for at least a few days.
So, as you probably have guessed, I'm having medical termination and that is stressful enough, I can't imagine going through that with a hysterical baby.
It just seems mean to stop abruptly, I think it will be way too traumatic for her.
I was thinking about sending DP and DD away for a couple of days- as in out of sight, out of mind.Would that help?

My son would have gone absolutely crazy and given me hell at that stage if I'd suddenly said no.
I would advise you to have DC taken away for a few days like you say.
Will you be okay though?

Which is lesser evil, being alone or with screaming child?!

Also I hope medication works!
Otherwise you could still need operation :-/

Sorry, had to feed dd and then put her down for her nap.

mummyoftwosons- I think I prefer being alone to dd seeing me but being unable to bf-someow it seems cruel.

Obviously arranging for them to go somewhere is a bit of pain- financially, and families are far away.

Please, did anyone else manage in a similar situation?

tiktok-if they stay, how do I go about it?

Ok, [url=www.nwho.com/ru.html]this[/url] page says you should not breastfeed for 72 hours after these drugs. (or at least the misoprostol). [url=www.womenonweb.org/article-207-en.html]This[/url] page says you should wait 5 hours. I'll dig some more.

Sending DD, or DD and DP away for a few days might make sense, toddlers are often better about not breastfeeding if their mum is not around.

That being said, will you be ok? it's a hard time for you ...

dd stopped breastfeeding for about a week when I was on antibiotics not because it was contraindicated but because she seemed not to like the taste, she was older that yours and could tell me, normal service resumed afterwards

and winnybella I am sorry you are going through this, sad and difficult I hope you get some help and support dealing with dd as you go through this difficult time
take care

Oh, pants, I mangled all my links. First of all, I think you would be wise to call the BFN drug info line. That's run by someone who specialises in information on drugs and breastfeeding, and will be able to get the best data available to you, and talk you through timing options etc etc. Info on that is here. She does that on top of another job, though, so for info for next week, call her now, iyswim ...

From my previous post this page says to not breastfeed for 72 hours. this one says 5 hours.

Wait! Jackpot! Someone has quoted Hale himself (who is the worldwide expert on this) on this page, about halfway down. Hale really doubts either drug goes into your milk at all.

So it's fair to say the medical verdict on this drug's risk is mixed ...

Exactly, there doesn't seem to be a consensus whether it goes into your milk or not.
Hale's argument that it's protein-bound and as such not much would go into milk makes sense to me but obviously I'm not a scientist and the doctors seem pretty sure that I need to stop.

Thank you all for your concern,yes, it's a really tough situation, but I feel like my reasons are very sound so I hope that will help me in the aftermath. Also I live very close to the hospital, so in case of any trouble I can just walk there in 10 minutes.
It will be difficult to be alone, though...

So, is the consensus on here that it would make more sense to send them away?

If it will be impossible, how would you deal with it? Sleep on the couch, not show yourself around the usual bf times? But she's not stupid, she'll know I'm hiding somewhere iyswim.

I would trust Hale over the doctors, probably, but I am not in your shoes, and stopping breastfeeding for a few days probably has no big downside. Stopping does pose a risk to your mood and hormones, with the rest of this going on, too.

I guess you have a few options ....

1. Stop for a smaller amount of time. I'm not sure how the dosing works for this, but some people seem to say that 5 hours without breastfeeding after a dose would work.

1. Try to send your DD away - or you go away, stay with a friend, or in a B+B or whatever.

1. Distraction. Is there anything you limit in normal life, that she adores? Hot chocolate? A DVD she loves? You could also buy a special big girl cup, for her to use in this time period.

If you stop breastfeeding for more than a day, you may want/need to pump. Do you have a pump? Or can you hand express? Just to avoid discomfort, and guarantee your supply remains ...

Actually, I would call the BFN drug hotline. You can explain you've found mixed messages, and see what she has to say. She's a pharmacist. Unlike a doctor, she won't say 'you must do x' (she is a trained BFC!) but she will give you what information she has, and talk to you clearly and respectfully about risk.

And any BF hotline can help you with tips for distraction and avoidance as needed ...

Yes, I have a pump, although I seem to remember that when the bf is well established ( dd being 13 months old), then the risk of it druing up is not high even if you stop for a few days. But I could express once or twice a day, I guess, just to be sure.

She loves the her biscuits, ham etc ie things she does not get all the time, but I'm not sure how would that work in the middle of the night- stuff her with sweets?

I guess I could stay away, but then dd would stay in the same environment where she expects her mum to be there for bf iyswim- I thought that if she was away, without me than it would be easier on her. Hmmm.
Also going through the ordeal of termination on my own in the hotel seems a bit scary.

Keep the suggestions coming!

Toxnet says misoprostol is fine, but doesn't have the other drug, I don't think. Hope this link works

Ok, thanks, NQC. Thing is that's the second pill and I think it's the first one ie mifepristone ( also onder names mifegyne and mifeprex) that's a bigger problem, because it stays in your body for ages. But they don't know of its effects on the young children and how much is secreted in the bm.

Also when googled misoprostol, found tons of sites saying no research was ever made into how much of it passes into bm and now your link says not much. V. confusing.

bump

hi, i had to stop bf (a much younger baby, 6 months) to start taking methotrexate. i did it myself, by sitting him in crook of my arm and holding warm and snug with the non-bottle arm. Facing away from me and the denied breasts, and obviously at that age still using a bottle. Maybe use a bottle to suck with her still?

So he had close, close contact still, and was sucking. maybe she'd do better with a teated bottle? would that help going back to the breast? I don't know. I used Mam teats as they are more obviously the shape my nipples went when i was feeding. didnt use the MAm bottles, just whatever boots had, were fine. it took about 2 days to feel settled into it. TV being on and visible from my lap was the biggest help, tbh.

good luck with it all.

I really think the BfN helpline is your best option.

Hale is the world's leading specialist in this field. Perhaps share what he says with your docs. Also call the BfN drugs line for someone who can talk through all your options.

Leaving your dd for days seems like a double whammy to me - removing breastfeeding and yourself, and you cannot explain to a child of 13 mths that you will be 'back soon'. This risks a real shock to her - yes, she will get over it with love and patience, but you need to be aware that sudden separation may be distressing and confusing for toddlers.

It's a hard choice for you....you also need to find out that if these drugs do get through, are they likely to be so harmful that you need to suspend bf? Hope you get the info you need.

Tiktok- that's the problem- they don't know the effect on babies as apparently no studies have been done.

Actually, I checked and NHS says stop bf for 2 weeks!

I'm in France and here it's 3 days.
V.confusing.

Do I try to cut down on bf this week? Or do I just stop abruptly for those 3 days?
I definitely don't want to wean her yet and also, even though it may seem selfish, at time like this it would be sort of traumatic for me, like a double loss.

Sympathies, winny.....but they can tell from the type of drug it is whether and by how much it can cross the blood-milk interface. Many drugs cannot, and you dont need to do studies to show this.

If you think it will be a wrench to be apart from your baby and not breastfeed - and you are a grown up who understands things - then it's gonna be even more difficult for your toddler, I think.

But it seems in this case that some medical authorities are saying that this type of drug usually crosses to bm v.easily and that's why they don't recommend it BUT I read, I think it was dr. Newman who worked for WHO, I think, that because it's highly protein-bound it probably won't cross to bm.
It seems there's no consensus whatsoever.

So, do you think it would be better for her to stay at home and just have dp take care of her during the bf times and just get through those three days?

Also, am I right in thinking that because our bf is well established, it will not be affected by 3 days break? Or should I express anyway?