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BreastFeeding Problems

Nipple Shields

April 17th, 2010

Well I can tell you from personal experience that nipple shields were a life saver for me. While in the hospital with my first baby after delivery, the nurses and lactation consultants told me that if I used a nipple shield, I would cause nipple confusion with my baby… So I decided I wouldn’t use one. Once I got home and on my own with my precious baby, my nipples hurt worse than labor itself. I remember weeping in pain just trying to feed my baby. My nipples were cracked and basically and “open” wound that didn’t have any time to heal in between feedings.  Something that should have been such a joyous time was now my biggest pain. I decided to call my husband and ask him to stop by our local baby superstore. He came back fully stocked with NIPPLE SHIELDS!!!! This, by far, was the best decision I’ve ever made concerning breastfeeding. This nipple shield actually TAUGHT my baby how to breastfeed, it DID NOT cause nipple confusion. After only a few times using the nipple shield, she learned the proper latch on position and we were in the milking business!!!

One common problem concerning nipple shields is that most women are choosing the wrong size for themselves. I know I did starting out. I believe they come in three different sizes. I bought the “in between” size first. Nine out of Ten women will use the SMALLEST size available on the market. It’s rather intimidating to think your nipple will fit in the tiny little opening, but it’s so much easier for your baby to latch on to the smaller nipple and actually cause your milk to let down. If you’re like me, you are probably just wanting to use the nipple shield in the beginning to help ease the pain of the initial breastfeeding period; also to teach your baby the correct latch on technique. Once they understand the concept, they’re instantly professions!

I think some lactation consultants are “coming around” when it comes to nipple shields. Like I said before, with my first child all the nurses and lactation specialist were down on the idea; but with my second baby, the lactation consultant walked in with the smallest one available. Instantly my baby took hold of my nipple and enjoyed his first stress free nursing experience!

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Clogged Montgomery Gland

June 24th, 2009

What the heck is a Montgomery gland?? I had no idea what a Montgomery gland was until I started having issues with mine.  I recall taking a shower one evening and finding a pimple-like bump on my areola. I just quickly squeezed it and went on with my shower, not thinking anything of it. So I get out of the shower and happen to get a glimpse of my boob in the mirror, and low and behold…I had, what it looked like, TWO NIPPLES! Oh my gosh, this innocent little pimple on my boob had now grown ten times its initial size.  I was clearly frightened at the sight, but thought the swelling would go down quickly. WRONG! This bump continued to grow. So I went to the doctor and she said I had a staph infection in my Montgomery gland. Just what a breastfeeding mom wants to hear when she goes to the doctor, right? I was given a topical ointment to clear the infection, along with an oral antibiotic. Her instructions to me before I left were…put this on your boob twice a day and take this antibiotic. Do NOT squeeze anymore Montgomery glands!! I took heed to her advice.

So a month or two later I get another “pimple” on my boob. I DO NOT SQUEEZE IT! Well, this thing just starts growing in size. It gets so big that my baby mistakes it for my nipple and sucks the fire out of it. Now I have one purple “nipple” (that can be seen from across the room) and one normal colored nipple. I am not going to squeeze this one, I already learned my lesson. So I called my doctor back,  she had no idea what to do except to put me back on antibiotics. I call the pediatrician…no clue. I Google…no one with this problem. La Lache League…No luck! Geez! Meanwhile, my boob is in severe pain. It’s uncomfortable to wear a bra, and even walking was painful. I tried everything I could think of. So I ended up taking a piping hot shower. I took the handheld shower nozzle and brought it down to chest level. I let the water beat the heck out of this bump. I felt a stinging pain radiating through my boob but I pressed on. Then it started to bleed and ooze an oily type substance. It was not infected, just clogged. I decided to clean it out with alcohol so it wouldn’t get infected. Whew! I haven’t had a problem since, thank God!

Some of you are probably completely disgusted. I’m really sorry. My hope is that I might be able to help that one girl out there that is suffering from a clogged Montgomery gland and can’t find anyone to help her. This is just my story and it doesn’t mean it’ll work for you, but just know that you’re not the only one that’s ever suffered from this!

The Montgomery gland’s purpose is to lubricate the nipple. It’s an amazing thing, but when they get clogged it’s not pretty! Just remember, do not squeeze it with your fingers. If it does pop, clean it out regularly until it heals.

If you have a story, I’d love to hear what you did. You never know who you might help.

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Mastitis

June 11th, 2009

So you woke up this morning and your boobs are killing you…now what? Do you have any flu-like symptoms…Fever, chills, headache, nausea, dizziness, or lack of energy? These flu-like symptoms usually occur with local breast symptoms of tenderness, redness, swelling, heat and pain. If you only have a couple of these symptoms you still might have Mastitis.

What is Mastitis? Mastitis is an infection of the breast tissue caused by bacteria. It is a sign that your body’s immune defenses are down. Mastitis does not cause the milk itself to be infected, so it is safe to continue feeding your baby. This little Mastitis friend made himself welcome in my boob several times while I was breastfeeding my son. Let me just tell you, it’s not fun!

So what do you do? Well, if you suspect that you might have Mastitis, you must call your doctor at once…but continue breastfeeding. If you quit breastfeeding on that side, it will only make the infection worse and cause increased pain. Mastitis is treated by milk removal-whether your baby is able to remove the milk or your doctor takes a needle to the lump….OUCH! This is a great reason to keep your baby feeding on your hurt boob. Some women may find it too painful to continue breastfeeding so if that’s the case…PUMP! Do not wean your baby from your breast.

Here’s what happened to me. I woke up on a beautiful morning and rolled over only to feel a knife-like pain in my boob. It was extremely sore to the touch and I felt achy all over. I felt around in my boob and found a hard lump deep down in my breast tissue. I called my doctor but wasn’t able to get in until the next day, so I decided to get my baby and have him nurse. The most important thing to remember is put your baby’s chin where the lump is. Sometime this requires your baby to be upside down. There are lots of ways to maneuver your baby if you are lying on the bed! I always had Jack nurse on the side that was infected first because his sucking was more vigorous starting out, and that caused the milk duct to drain. I also took piping hot showers and massaged the lump. This helped a lot with the pain I was experiencing. I went to the doctor and she prescribed an antibiotic to ensure that the infection would be cleared up. I made sure to continue on the antibiotic until it was gone, even though I was feeling better in a couple of days.

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Latching On-Open Wide Little One.

June 5th, 2009

Here’s the thing, you’ve got to teach that sweet, hungry little baby of yours to get a great grip on your areola, not your beautiful nipple. Sounds easy, right? Well, for some babies it is…but not for my babies. This was a long and arduous process that took lots of patience, but believe you me…it’s worth it! Eventually, your baby will instinctively know how to latch on properly. They become pros very early on in life! First, manually express some milk and stoke your baby’s lower lip or cheek with your nipple. Doing this will stimulate your baby to open his mouth wide. At that moment, move your baby’s mouth onto your areola. If your baby doesn’t latch on to the entire areola and just latches to your nipple you must insert your pinky finger, like a hook, to release the suction your baby has on you. If you don’t do this, your nipples will become EXTREMELY SORE! If your baby is latched on correctly, you should not feel excruciating pain but possible minor pain because your nipples aren’t used to the sucking process yet (this will go away). Your baby’s tongue will form a trough around your nipple, and will compress the milk reservoirs to empty the milk ducts. Once your baby is sucking efficiently, stimulation will cause the nerve fibers in your nipple to empty the breast and release a hormone called prolactin from the pituitary gland, which in turn tells your boobs to make more milk. Are we wonderfully and fearfully made or what?!? Another hormone is also released when breastfeeding. This hormone is called oxytocin. Ocytocin makes the muscles in your uterus to contract. These feel a lot like menstrual cramps. They are your friend though, making your belly flatter quicker! Woo hoo! This also reduces your postpartum bleeding and indicates that you are feeding right!

If you continuously have difficulty getting your baby to latch on correctly, try a small sized nipple shield. These are somewhat controversial, although my lactation consultant gave me a nipple shield right off the get go. This taught my baby to latch on properly and eased the pain on my nipple. It takes a lot of practice (which you’ll get plenty of) to get the latch on process perfected. It also helps to ask a lactation consultant to watch you feed your baby to ensure that you’re doing it correctly. The hospital where you deliver your baby will probably have scheduled visits from a lactation consultant where she’ll offer great advice and lots of handout that you can read over. Ask her as many questions you can think of and make sure to get her contact information so you’ll have a number to call once you get home and you don’t have the help of a nurse.
correct-latch-on-image

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Cracked Nipples – You Crack Me Up!!

June 5th, 2009

Ouch! My nipples are cracked and you mean to tell me I’ve got to stick with this and continue feeding my baby breast milk?!? YES! Don’t worry, it’s gonna get better. I remember when I first started feeding my little girl. My cracked nipples hurt worse than labor itself. I was wincing and weeping in pain. It was horrible, but I was bound and determined to get through it. What saved me? NIPPLE SHIELDS!!!!! Some nursing consultants don’t recommend them because it “might” cause nipple confusion. Not so in my case. The nipple shield actually taught my baby to latch on perfectly. We used the nipple shield at every feeding for the first week or so, they were a lifesaver! Nipple shields come in various sizes. According to my lactation consultant, most women will use the smaller nipple shield. This is much easier for your baby to latch onto than the bigger sized shield. I was using the wrong size shield at first and my baby was having difficulty. I also remember that we had to make the holes (where the milk flows out) a little larger because my baby kept crying because she wasn’t getting enough milk at one time. After we made these few final adjustments, we were in the milking business. It took about a week for my nipples to heal. Most doctors will tell you to use some salve, but it was a matter of my nipples completely drying out. I had to walk around with my boobs free falling because anything touching them was completely out of the question, but secondly the air was healing my boobs. My mother, bless her heart, helped me the first few weeks after my baby was born…I don’t think she expected to see a topless woman, with beautiful boobs (except for the big crack on my nipple) the size of Pamela Anderson, walking around the house for an entire week!!! I can laugh now, but I know back then it was a very trying time in our household.

So why are your nipples cracked? Granted, your nipples will become very sore when you start to breastfeed because they are not used to being vigorously sucked on every couple of hours. This should last only a few days, but if you’re nipples are so sore it’s affecting every aspect of your life (you’ll know what I mean if you’re going through it) this means your baby is not latching on correctly. Please see my “latching on” article. Breastfeeding should not cause constant and sustained pain, discomfort, or cracked nipples. If you’ve tried airing the girls out and that’s still not working, try expressing some milk after each feeding and letting it dry on your nipple. This dried milk will leave a protective coating that will aid in the healing process. If these measures still do not solve the problem, contact your physician for advice because you may have an underlying bacterial or yeast infection of the nipple.

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To Breastfeed or Not to Breastfeed…That is the Question.

June 4th, 2009

breastfeeding-or-bottle1Okay, so you’re considering breastfeeding that little miracle that’s growing inside your belly, but maybe you’re not completely convinced that it’s the best option for you or your baby. I know, from personal experience, that you’ve got to be a VERY strong woman and determined to not give up. It’s a grueling process in the beginning, but completely rewarding once your baby has mastered the art of latching on.

Breastfeeding was really the only option for me…have you taken a stroll down the formula isle at your local grocery store? Formula is outrageously priced. Not to mention diapers, wipes, butt salve, clothes, pacies, and all those other little necessities. It wasn’t hard to figure out this was one way to save tons of money but also aid in keeping my baby healthier. Even on the formula can it states an important notice that BREAST MILK IS BEST FOR BABIES. Why? Oh, I thought you’d never ask!! Well, human milk’s major ingredients include sugar (lactose), protein (which is easily digested-otherwise known as whey and casein), and fat (digestible fatty acids). God balanced all of these together to suit and protect our babies from conditions such as ear infections, vomiting, allergies, diarrhea, pneumonia, wheezing, meningitis, and bronchiolitis. As if that wasn’t enough, our milk also contains several minerals, vitamins, enzymes, antibodies, and many other valuable ingredients. Formula can’t even come close to being able to do this for your baby.

I’m sure you’ve gained weight throughout your pregnancy and, like any other woman, you’ll want to be back into your pre-pregnancy clothes soon! Breastfeeding will help you achieve this goal. You will burn 500 calories a day just by breastfeeding, but it also helps tighten the uterus back to its normal size. After birth, breastfeeding has the same effect as pitocin. You will feel your uterus contracting, much like labor pains. FUN! No pain, no gain…right ladies?!?

Are you still not convinced? Imagine having to wake up in the middle of the night SEVERAL times to measure out formula and warm a bottle every 2 to 4 hours. Just as soon as you get your baby fed, burped, changed and back to sleep it’s your turn to lie back down and try to fall back asleep for another quick 30 minute snooze before you have to get back up and do it all over again! Not to mention cleaning and sterilizing the bottles and nipples on a daily basis. It’s a lot more preparation time to actually get out of the house when you have to run an errand too. Prepared formula is only good for 2 hours without refrigeration. When you breastfeed, dinner is attached to your chest, already warmed and prepared for your baby. No wait time or sterilizing. Your baby will love you for it!

Let’s talk S.I.D.S for a moment. Sudden Infant Death Syndrome has puzzled doctors for years. Seemingly healthy babies unexpectedly die for unknown reasons. Recently the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention conference in Atlanta were presented a study showing that breastfeeding a child could dramatically reduce the risk of S.I.D.S. when coupled with not smoking around your child. Out of the 118 children that were studied, 55% of the children deaths could have been prevented had the mothers breastfed. That’s a HUGE number especially when you’re thinking about YOUR baby!!!

So, when you take all of these things into consideration, what do you have to lose except a little weight? You’re going to save buckets of money, have a healthier baby, have a leaner more firm body, have a little more shut eye, more bonding time with your baby, and possibly reduce the risk of S.I.D.S. Whoah, what’s not to love about that? Like I said, it takes a strong woman to nurse a baby…but I know you can do it with the help and support from other breastfeeding mom’s like me!

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