Help with Mastitis!!!

Check with a lactation specialist.

Just nurse as much as possible!!!! It will keep your supply up and it will help you get over it faster.

I agree with the previous comments about the warm shower and kneeding of the engorged breast. I had this a few times with my daughter and the only cure was to rub and squeeze the area. I was in so much pain, my husband stepped in and helped me. While the baby was nursing, he would start on the outer part of the breast and push toward the baby. Just continually pushing and kneeding that knot. And I started on that same breast until I could get the knot out. I also used this technique when pumping. This was the best way for me cause there is sucking and you're pushing so it quickly relieved the pressure.

And congrats to you on so many healthy babies! Double twins? So much love!! GL on relieving the pressure.

O-my, I just noticed that this is your second set of twins. I admire you as a mother!!!! I had constant mastitis with my first one for the first 2 months!!! Finally, I stopped!! However, I was told hot than cold. I was also told NOT to use cabbage leaves or my milk would slow. The cabbage leaves were suppose to stop the milk production and in fact, when I stopped, that is what I used. GOOD LUCK! That stuff HURTS!!!

Some basics... make sure you are emptying your breasts every 2 - 3 hours. Mastitis is also common when moms are too busy (stress, lack of sleep), which you will clearly have with all those little ones! Are you actually running a fever and feeling achy? If the wrong medication is used, or it is not treated for the proper length of time, mastitis will keep recurring. Dicloxacillin or flucloxacillin are the current recommended treatments, for 10 -14 days. If you have been treated in this way and it still recurs, culturing the milk is recommended. Find a lactation consultant near you for more details. Good luck!

Do continue to seek treatment from your doctor when you get mastitis, however if you want to help with milk production without taking another Rx, you can take fenugreek. It's an herbal suppliment that has helped me while nursing my 2nd, and 3rd child. The doctor can also give you a Rx that works really well to stimulate milk production. I've done both at one point or another. Both have been effective. Oh, and keep nursing through the bouts of mastitis, keep the stimlation going. K.

I had mastitis once while I was nursing. I never got it again but I did keep getting clogged. I would use heat and massage the area, but there was only one way for me to get the clog out. I had to change feeding positions. I had to lay my baby on his back on the floor or bed. Then I would get on all fours and lean over him while he was eating. It isn't the most comfortable, but it puts all the pressure where it needs to be, and the clog came out every time. I actually just had to end up feeding my baby that way every time, and I was able to nurse till he was 10 months old.

I have nursed 6 babies successfully and have had mastitis 5 different times, it is my advise to GO TO BED and relax with the baby and NURSE like crazy, that is the fastest and most effective way to get through this. I can sympathize with you and the craziness of your house but right now find help because you need rest and to nurse as much as possible! Get better.......:>)!!!! Oh yea, make sure you find the right, non-constricting, bra, very important!

Yes, do check with a lactation consultant. I had mastitis last month and my DS is 10 mos old. I couldn't believe I had it that late. Anyhow, heat packs and pumping were my life savers. My DR. ended up prescribing me antibiotics because I had mastitis 1 wk before and thought it went away but didn't. That's when I got the Rx. It did finally go away. Heat pack and pumping! Good luck

Nurse, nurse, nurse. Make sure you wearing a bra w/o underwire. Also lecithin is supposed to help prevent plugged ducts, you can get it at Vitamin Cottage. I used a supplement called More Milk Plus when I was pumping to up my supply. Mastitis 3 times! That is tough, hugs to you.

I had it and I took the newborn diapers got them wet and froze them they are the perfect size and shape to cover your breast. It was a true life saver for me. Congratulations on having so many wonderful children! It sounds like so much love!!!!

I had mastitis four times with my twins before they were even 3 months old so I know what you are going through. I did everything that everyone else has suggested (including the antibiotics) but it just kept recurring. Then a lactaction consultant told me about an ultrasound treatment that they now have specifically for mastitis. All it is is a deep heat treatment so is not the least bit risky or invasive. It takes about 10 minutes and I literally would have a rock hard clogged duct open by the end of the treatment - the relief was immense and once I started the treatments I never had another bout of mastitis. They usually will have you do the treatments until you haven't had any clogged ducts for the last three sessions. You need a STAT prescription for Ultrasound Therapy for Mastitis from your OB/GYN (otherwise they schedule you weeks out) - it is offered at Memorial Hospital's rehab location across from Memorial Park. If you call the Lactation office at Memorial Hospital they will tell you exactly who to call. Insurance covered my treatments completely. My milk supply dropped off quite a bit with all the infections but with herbs and lots of nursing I was able to re-establish it. Good luck!

OUCH!! Mastitis hurts. I've had it twice. The thing that helped me was just to massage and use heat then cold. But my sister in law tried something that we both thought was crazy but she was so desperate. She put cabbage leaves on her breasts. She said the pain, and the lumps went away so fast she couldn't belive it. It sounds crazy, but she says it works.

Ouch! I feel for you, I only got Mastitis once and it about killed me. The best thing about the whole experience was a female ER doctor told me to get in a warm shower, soap my breast, and massage the area with the knot, massage towards the nipple and express as much milk as I could in the shower, to get that clogged duct out. It was the only thing that worked. I kept nursing on that side, nursed first on that side, and even pumped after feedings, but the only thing that actually seemed to get rid of it was the shower expression. And I pushed and massaged hard, I had red marks on my breast, but I did unclog that duct. Then a few months later I felt a little knot in my other breast, and I thought, Oh no! I Am not getting mastitis again, so I got right in the shower and massaged it out, and I never got mastitis again. So if I were you, I would keep and eye on your breast, check them out daily, and if you feel any hard areas, massage them while feeding. Put a hot/warm pack on that breast while feeding the babe or pumping and massage while nursing. Also make sure you are not nursing the same every time. The baby puts the most pressure/ cleans out the ducts just under it's chin the best, so I would make sure I was nursing my babe in different postions ie: side lying, football hold, across my lap different ways to make sure my whole breast is getting empty. Don't time them, make sure your breast is fully getting empty. Hope this helps! I can't imagine getting Mastits with twins, I swear I have never felt so sick in my life! Make sure you are getting enough to drink. p.s I am a labor and delivery nurse who LOVES to help the new mom's learn to nurse. Good Luck! Jenn S.