Introducing bottle because of thrush

[bryanyryany]

Hi all,

Just left the Drs and got mouth drops for Bub and cream for my nipples as we've got thrush.

Dr has suggested expressing and bottle feeding for 4 days while the medication kicks in to make sure we don't pass the thrush back to each other.

I'm really scared that baby will forget how to latch on or maybe not want to go back on boob.

Am I being ridiculous? Could this happen?

Thanks in advance.

S. x

I'm not sure that's good advice tbh

Could you use nipple shields and just sterilise them really carefully?

www.laleche.org.uk/thrush/#treatment

Go back to your dr and ask for Fluconazole - tablets for yourself, as well as the cream.

My nhs board now has a protocol for the treatment of thrush to help doctors give the right treatment.
I've had thrush - it's horrible. Hope you get it sorted.

I should add baby is 5 weeks old. Hence my worry.

X

If you want to carry on with bf I would Personally not want to express and give bottles. Latching on could be a problem if baby's had bottles for a while. We got over thrush but only with Fluconaze.

Should be ok to give a bottle at 5 weeks (think the advice is between 4-6 weeks?) But I don't think you need to since you are both being treated.
I've always been told to just keep feeding. Well, apart from one dr who told me to stop altogether

If you can bring yourself to do so, I would keep on feeding as normal. However, if you decide to give a bottle, many 5 week old babies will be fine with this. I would imagine that pumping could be more traumatic for your nipples than feeding, however.

I had thrush on my nipples and in my ducts. Tried all of the ointments, Citricidal, all of the old wives remedies. The only thing that shifted it for me was a high dose course of fluconazole, according to the protocol recommended by the breastfeeding network.

here is some info- www.breastfeedingnetwork.org.uk/wp-content/dibm/thrush-oct14.pdf

Poor you, it's really painful trying to feed in that situation. I'd recommend fluconazole too, the cream won't get far enough into your milk ducts. The gel is better for treating babies than the drops if you can get hold of it, you just smear a layer around their mouth with your finger. You should find they work within a day or two so you might be able to continue feeding without having to express. I thought the pump was more uncomfortable than trying to feed anyway

Terrible advice - just carry on breastfeeding. You are both being treated at the same time so will get better together. I wouldn’t have even considered giving up bf just for thrush - can’t believe they are suggesting it

Yellowsun, while I don't disagree with your advice, I think it's unhelpful to dismiss it as "just" thrush. It affects everybody differently and for my part, it felt like having broken glass smashed into my nipples and breasts and was more excruciating than any element of pregnancy or birth. Lots of women stop feeding (and I don't blame them) because it is actual torture if not treated by the correct protocol (assuming of course that the thrush diagnosis is correct and it's not an undiagnosed latch issue such as tt). While I would also encourage the OP to keep feeding, it is with acknowledgment for the extreme personal sacrifice that this involves while her pain persists.
OP, you should consider having this thread moved to the Infant Feeding boards where there will be a greater footfall of breastfeeding mums and BF experts /counsellors who regularly post on there. If you contact mumsnet hq or report your thread, they can pop it over there for you.

Cardinal - just for not just

I’ve had thrush too!

But expressing will hurt her more than baby feeding directly

There’ll be no passing the infection back and forth if they are both treated together

I fed through thrush and it was fine. Just ensure you follow the hygiene procedures- hot wash all bras, muslins, anything milky. Do the treatment religiously and ensure you use it for 4-7 days after the symptoms have gone.

Yes main thing is to keep treatment up for you both for a week after all symptoms gone - else it’ll just come back

Agree with other posters cream for you probably won't be enough you need the tablets.

I had this and took the antifungals and was able to keep bf, but OMG the pain before treatment was intense! Good luck on getting it sorted.

Thanks everyone.

It doesn't hurt to feed.. but after feeding I was getting an intense burning, itching, stinging pain in nipple that lasted for at least 45 minutes.

Baby is feeding for shorter amounts of time (only 10 minutes a time) and more often and He keeps trying to pull away from the boob but still clamped onto nipple so I assume that's because his mouth is irritated but he's still hungry.

I started using the cream on my nipples last night and haven't had the pain since so maybe I've caught it early enough to not need fluconazole?

I am going to continue breastfeeding and skip the expressing.

Really appreciate everyone's comments.

S. x

Yeah - keep up the cream and the gel in the baby’s mouth - it’ll improve v soon and then keep treating for a week after and it hopefully won’t come back

You would not need fluconazole yet. I'm sure it will clear up if you follow the treatment advice.

Baby will be pulling off as it make their mouths a bit sore but just feed more frequently for now. It will all settle down in a week or so. The after pains are the worse part but it does get better.