Sore!!!

[Jamily]

Hi everyone

Last night Em slept from 7pm until 2.30am - woo hoo a first !!!!! - she usually has a 10pm feed. However, I woke up with the most painfully sore swollen breasts. I ended up feeding her and then having to express to relieve the swelling and today my boobs have felt lumpy between my nipple and armpit (more towards armpit) and sore when I apply pressure on the lumps. My left breast defs feels more tender and although its not full I still have the engorged sensation.

Is this normal?

Thanks, Claire

[lil monkey]

I had the same problem when Tayla started going longer between feeds and the agony when she slept through the night! I was up at 2 and then at 4 expressing a bit out to relieve the pain and was lumpy the next day.

What I did was when she was feeding, I would massage from the armpit to the breast where the lumps were to encourage the flow to go through. Also, the warm flannel helped! My flow adjusted after a few days but the first 2-3 nights where she slept through were the worst.

Lumps though are no laughing matter and if the massaging, flannel and even cabbage leaves I hear doesn't help then go and see the doctor in case you have mastitis. If you have redness around where the lumps are then go get it checked out!

Have a warm shower tonight and massage the lumps to try and push them through!

[BJelly]

Just so you know, signs of mastitis include having a high temperature - around 38 degrees. I got really thirsty and felt achey and tired like I had the flu, but without the snuffles. Keep an eye out for redness - can be hard if you are massaging, but redness on the breast is another sign.

Another thing you can do to clear the duct is put your baby's chin closest to the direction of the lump when breast feeding - I've heard that suction is much stronger in that direction. I tend to get a lump towards the armpit - so if I have a lump that won't shift, I lie down and put bubs beside me to feed, but with her legs towards my head - not easy, but it does help.

Best of luck, if the lump doesn't shift in a day or two, see a doctor.

[alindrina]

The last posts covered nearly everything..... it is very normal to have sore engorged breasts when going hours without feeding and you obviously have plenty of milk. :o Watch out for red patches on your breast or pain or itching inside the nipples, or flulike shivering. In my Karitane Baby Book there are great tips on ways to prevent mastitis and I might post them if you are interested.
Your engorgement should settle down as your baby gets older.
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