Sore breast while bfing - mastitis? Help please!

[CocktailQueen]

My sister is staying over Christmas and is is bfing her 1yo dd. She has a really sore boob - agnoy when she feeds, though milk is coming out as normal. No red inflamed patch on the boob, no fever, she feels fine in herself. What could it be, oh wise ones?? Thanks :)

Unlikely to be thrush when feeding 1yo and if only on one side.

Or hurting when baby is not properly attaching? - she should try changing her position and see if that helps.

If she can't stop the pain by changing postion, she should try and find a breastfeeding group that's open this week.

Could it be that on that side, the baby is slightly squeezing with her teeth?

If it were mastitis, she would have a fever and feel like she has flu, along with sore breasts and inflammation.

Unlikely to be a breast abscess as symptoms are usually similar to mastitis but I would get her to go to GP tomorrow (if she hasn't been today) to see what they say.

The thing I think is most likely is that she has fed less on that side for some reason and it's engorged. So encouraging the milk to flow better will help. She needs to have a warm bath and then when not feeding, help get rid of the pain with cold packs/flannels.

Warmth helps the milk flow, cold stops the pain.

Often, the baby starts to favour one side over the other and as they get and take less, breasts can get easily engorged if the feeding pattern is altered at all. I think that sounds most likely but if it continues after having tried the above, get her to go to GP.

Sounds like it might be a blocked duct. I was like this last week. Lots of feeding on that side, as much as possible, is the best thing to do. Keep a close eye for any fever or flu like symptoms that might indicate mastitis. Get ABs at the first sign of that. It's truly horrible.

I've just been diagnosed with mastitis and I don't have any temp or flu symptoms. Just pain after feeds on one side and a red nipple. Dr said you don't always get flu symptoms with mastitis.

I agree it could be a blocked duct, which can then turn into mastitis. Kellymom has good information on plugged ducts. She could try expressing in a hot shower to try move the blockage, trying to feed on that side more and, this looks really silly but can work, laying baby on floor or bed and then leaning over 'dangling' the affected boob over baby to feed.

madmomma mastitis doesn't tend to cause red nipples or pain after feeding, but those are both typical symptoms of thrush.