My son is two months old, and I started breastfeeding immediately. After a few weeks, based on the pediatrician's advice, I began pumping and feeding him through a bottle occasionally to prepare him for when I go back to work. Since then, I've experienced a lot of pain on and off in my breasts. The lactation consultant I spoke with ruled out a clogged duct mainly because there was no lump or redness in my breasts. Plus, the pain varies from one breast to the other. We decided I was producing too much milk. I was able to decrease the amount of milk being produced, but now I still have random hardspots on my breasts that are slightly painful between feedings, but when touched during feedings, are extremely painful. I've tried to treat them like clogged ducts (warm compress prior to feeding/ pumping and massage) but that just seems to irritate them more and cause them to become even more painful. So much, that it hurts to lie down (almost like gravity is my enemy). There is no pain in my nipples, just on the side of each breast. I really want to continue breastfeeding for as long as possible because of the benefits to my son, but I can't live with this constant pain. Has anyone else experienced this/ have suggestions? Thanks!
In agreement with the overproduction & probably build-up of milk in the ducts. Time will even it out - as long as you kind of try to keep a schedule. Don't skip feedings just because the baby is sleeping, etc. I would also recommend a few ibuprofen for the pain & swelling. heat... then ice ... then heat.... then ice was what i ended up doing when it was really bad. good luck!
I am going to chime in with the rest of the over producing choir, I had the exact same problem, and it did eventually even out. I would say at about 3 months. I know the exact pain you are talking about. My doc told me to take advil, and that seemed to help as well as cabbage leaves. Yes. Take a whole cabbage leaf and put it in your bra... it will be a little stinky after it gets warm, but it feels SO good. The cabbage will draw out the plug without encouraging production. Its really amazing. I wore cabbage for a few weeks, switching them out when the leaves got warm and even sleeping with them in instead of nursing pads. IT WORKS.
I had an overproduction problem, and it really hurt! The pain went away at about 10-12 weeks. Hang in there, I'm sure it will improve in a week or two.
your son is 8 weeks, and i agree with the previous poster, it takes a little bit of time for your body to level things out, and for this all to seem normal, let's face it, your body and your breasts especially, have been through quite a lot. i know even with my second daughter, i overproduced and i made the issue 10x worse by pumping to relieve the pressure. then i just over produced more! ouch. i stopped pumping and just fed on demand. that made things better, but it took i'd say til baby was about 3 mo to really have everything going smoothly, the 3 mo mark was always magic for me in many ways, breastfeeding included.
hang in there, you are doing great!
A.
first of all the doctor was incorrect in telling you to remove the baby from your breast and to pump...you could have started a bottle around a month to prepare him for both types of feedings, but that could have been sone by another person. you could still breastfeed at night and in the morning before work. Doctors are VER uninformed on breastfeeding and it is a sad state of affairs for this country...anywhoo I think the problem is that the pump doesn't clear out all the ducts as efficiently as the baby would so some milk is being left in them giving you mastitis like pain. First try to seee if baby will relatch. Since baby was latched at one time you can do it but it may take a little work. Your breast are more work than a bottle so baby may be too lazy. If you want more info on this please email me or contact LLL.org for a group near you. If that isnt an option for you then please make sure you move the shields slightly up and down and all around until all the ducts are stimulated. I hope that helps, but your baby nursing will regulate you far faster than a pump and then by the time you go back to work you should be regulated and not having all these issues. I am sorry your doctor gave you the wrong info and caused you all this trouble, but GOOD JOB sticking through all this pain for your baby!!!!!! that is AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sounds like a yeast infection in the milk ducts. In other words you have thrush and it is inside the breast. Get some Diflucan from your doctor and something for the baby just to be safe wash your bras and nursing pads in hot water and rinse your breasts between nursing sessions with a vinegar rinse. Also boil your pump parts after every use. I even rinsed mine with some vinegar in water because it seemed like every time I pumped I got thrush.
it does sound like a clogged duct to me, i had the same problem with my breast while breast feeding, i did the warm compresses but the thing that help most was feeding my son, one of the books i read said that pointing the child nose in the direction of the sore clogged area sometimes helps them suck it out! And sometime it took two feeding on the sore breast but feeding was the thing that helped me most. I hope it work out for you, and drink plenty of water.
My sister recently had similar symptoms while breastfeeding. Even though she did not exhibit other symptoms for a yeast infection nor did her baby have thrush--her Dr. said she probably had a yeast infection. Her Dr. had another patient with the same issues that they tried for months to correctly diagnose and it turned out to be yeast.
My sister took medication for yeast and it did improve.
A.
A little about me: work from home office and Mom to a 10 mo old daughter and 3 yr old son
K.:
return to the lactation consultant you were seeing or find another one to help you.. breastfeeding should NOT be painful/ pumping should NOT be painful.
plugs deep in the breast may be difficult to feel and may not cause redness in the breast.
P., RLC, IBCLC
Breastfeeding and Parenting Solutions
Find someone with the LaLeche League you can usually find them through your local hospital. Good luck~
You may have a plug deep inside. I would go to your local health store and get a supplement called Lecithin. It will help get rid of the plugs. The other thing is to try to have your baby empty the breast at each feeding. If he is not, because of over supply, then consider doing block feeding for 4 hours or a couple feedings, where you only feed from one side. Then, switch to the other side and do the same. The other side will get pretty full, but this should get better in a day or so. Try to avoid pumping any more than just enough to help with the pain. For sure don't pump to empty completely, until your supply starts to adjust.
