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Breastfeeding Problems and Solutions

Cracked nipples

Breastfeeding Problems and Solutions If you have never experienced any breastfeeding problems, you're one of the lucky ones. Almost every nursing mother has to deal with at least one breastfeeding-related issue, such as cracked nipples, engorgement, insufficient milk supply, mastitis, nipple pain, plugged ducts, and thrush. Unfortunately, many women abandon breastfeeding in the early weeks because of such problems. Fortunately, there are effective natural treatments that can usually overcome them. In this section,we will share the solutions that we have seen work best for nursing mothers.

Cracked Nipples
If your nipple skin is delicate and your baby enjoys marathon nursing sessions, you may end up with this painful problem. Buy a tube of pure lanolin ointment – most stores that sell breastfeeding supplies carry it – and keep a thin coating of ointment on your nipples whenever your baby isn't nursing. The good thing about lanolin is that it will not harm your baby, so you don't need to wipe it off to nurse. Its texture actually can help the baby latch on properly.

To prevent cracked nipples, air them out frequently. If you would rather not go braless, turn the flaps of your nursing bra down for a while each day. Do not use plastic-lined breast shields; stick with washable cotton or disposables without plastic linings. Also try Phytolacca decandra, a homeopathic remedy, for cracked nipples. This remedy can also work well for mastitis.

Engorgement and insufficient milkEngorgement
This is most common in mothers in the early stages of nursing, soon after the milk first comes in. Your body and your baby are in the process of establishing their supply-and-demand relationship, and if your milk supply is greater than your baby's demand, you can end up with extremely swollen, football-hard breasts that hurt you and frustrate your baby's attempts to latch on.

Deal with engorgement promptly to avoid mastitis. Expressing some milk with a pump or by hand before feeding will make latch-on easier. According to breastfeeding expert Jack Newman, M.D., cabbage leaves are an excellent treatment for engorgement and breast inflammations. Place a cool raw leaf in each side of your nursing bra and change them often. (If your breasts aren't shaped like cabbages, roll the leaves with a rolling pin to make them more accommodating to your unique shape.)

Insufficient Milk Supply
Many new mothers worry about low milk flow, but few actually have insufficient milk for their babies. As long as your baby is soiling and wetting diapers and seems contented after a feeding, your milk is flowing just fine. If you do need to augment your milk production, stopping the use of prescription or over-the-counter medicines may take care of the problem. The following are some other techniques for increasing your milk production:

• First and foremost, drink more water. If you aren't drinking enough, your milk production will go down.

• Nurse as often as possible. Eliminate all breast substitutes for your baby, including pacifiers and bottles. If your baby only gets the real thing, the constant stimulation will greatly increase your milk supply.

• Try switch feeding. Start nursing on one breast, and switch your baby over to the other breast five minutes later. Continue to switch back and forth every five minutes until the feeding ends.

• If your baby is already eating solids, decrease them for a day or two so that he will want to nurse more.

• Take a powdered calcium and magnesium supplement at night. This can improve milk flow and help you sleep better at night.

• Try using herbs. A wide variety of herbs work to increase milk production. Try goat rue, blessed thistle, milk thistle, nettles, alfalfa, red clover, hops, astragalus, thyme, or dill.

• Increase your consumption of green, leafy vegetables, which help to augment milk flow. If these don't agree with your baby, try adding liquid chlorophyll to your drinking water.

• Try the traditional European method for improving milk flow: Drink a dark beer! (Just one.)

Mastitis and nipple painMastitis
If breast inflammation is accompanied by flulike symptoms and intense pain, you probably have mastitis, an infection of breast tissue. The most important thing to do for this condition is rest. If you do not care for yourself properly during a bout of mastitis, you could end up with an abscess that requires lancing and draining.

Go directly to bed and nurse your baby as much as possible. If you can, enlist a friend or family member to help with your baby whenever you aren't nursing. Keep moist heat on the affected breast. Bundle up and let the fever run its course rather than lowering it artificially with a drug such as acetaminophen (Tylenol). Fever is your body's way of activating the immune system against the infection. The exception to this is a fever over 103°F, which should be brought down as quickly as possible. An enema of slightly cool water will often reduce a high fever, as will inducing diarrhea by taking buffered vitamin C powder in water (start by taking 1,000 milligrams of vitamin C dissolved in an 8-ounce glass of water, give it a few hours, then take gradually increased doses, up to as much as 5,000 milligrams, as needed). For the usual, low-grade fever (99°F to 102°F), rest, drink plenty of fluids, and take immunity-stimulating vitamins and herbs such as echinacea, olive leaf, vitamin C, and, once daily, about 5,000 international units of vitamin A.

If, after twenty-four hours of total rest and self-care, your symptoms are the same or worse, you may need to take antibiotics. Consult with your doctor. With or without antibiotics, mastitis usually takes two to five days to clear up completely.

Nipple pain
We hate to think of how many mothers give up on nursing because of this problem. The most important way to avoid nipple pain is to be sure your baby is latched on properly. With a newborn, it is almost never as simple as popping the baby on the breast and letting nature take its course. Once milk really begins to flow, two or three days postpartum, proper latching on can seem elusive. You may find you need to be surrounded by stacks of pillows, and even then you might wish you had a third hand to help you maintain the right positioning. If nursing hurts, even a little bit, consult with a lactation specialist for assistance.

Nipple pain that doesn't go away with proper positioning could be due to a breast infection or thrush.

Plugged ducts and thrushPlugged ducts
A plugged duct is your body's early warning sign that you are pushing yourself too hard. Slow down and take the time to clear the duct out to avoid ending up with an infection. The plug feels like a hard lump, and there may be some engorgement or pain. Nurse from that side, massaging the breast while baby drinks, to try to loosen the plug. Massage from the armpits downward and toward the center of the breast. If you can, point baby's chin in the direction of the blockage. For example, use the football hold (cradling the baby under your arm) if the plug is in the lower outside quadrant of your breast. If the plug is on the armpit side of your breast, you can also try lying on your side next to your baby with the affected breast above him, and nurse him by dropping that breast down across the other one to his mouth. When the baby is done, pump off or hand-express any excess milk.

If you see a small blister on the nipple of the breast with the plugged duct, Dr. Jack Newman recommends opening it with a needle that has been sterilized by being held in a match's flame for a few seconds, then allowed to cool. This may allow you to gently squeeze out the blockage. Smooth an antibiotic ointment on the nipple to protect against infection (wipe the ointment off before nursing and reapply it afterward). For the plugged duct that won't let go, therapeutic ultrasound may do the trick. Ask your OB/GYN about this if necessary.

Dr. Newman suggests that women with recurrent plugged ducts take 1,200 milligrams of lecithin (a supplement usually made from soybeans) three to four times daily. Marshmallow – the herb, not the puffy, white, sugary snack you set aflame over campfires as a child – also can help clear up breast blockages and inflammations. Follow the dosage directions on the product label.

Thrush
This sometimes itchy, sometimes painful condition is the result of the overgrowth of a yeast called Candida albicans, the same yeast that causes vaginal and intestinal yeast infections. You may develop an itchy rash on your nipple or experience pain when your baby nurses. If your baby's mouth is lined with white patches that don't wipe away easily, she has thrush, and you may have it too, even if you are not having symptoms. Thrush can also cause your baby to develop persistent diaper rash. The use of antibiotics is often the cause of yeast overgrowth because these drugs kill off "good bacteria" that normally keep yeasts in check.

While thrush is usually not dangerous, it can be uncomfortable. Nipple pain caused by thrush tends to last for a period after baby nurses, and may burn and radiate deeply into the breast. If there is no discomfort, however, you can just let thrush resolve on its own.

The best treatment is to repopulate those good bacteria with an acidophilus/bifidus supplement. Organic plain yogurt contains these bacteria and can be a good topical remedy for nipples. Your baby can take baby acidophilus powder in breast milk or directly from your nipples. The infection should clear up in a few days.