Breastfeeding Complications

Avoiding Breastfeeding Complications

Sore nipples

A lot of mothers complain about sore and tender nipples and that it makes for painful and frustrating breastfeeding complications. The good news is that most mothers don’t suffer that long. The nipples will begin to toughen up quite quickly and render breast feeding virtually painless. Nipple Shields can be used to offer some nipple protection and help baby to latch on in cases where baby is strugling to breastfeed. Also quality lanolin Niple Cream can be used multiple times throughout the day to good effect to help clear up breastfeeding complications.

Improperly positioned babies or babies that suckle really hard can make the nipples extremely sore. Below, are some ways to ease your discomfort and reduce the possibility of breastfeeding comlications:

1. Make sure your baby is in the correct position, since a baby that isn’t positioned correctly is the number one cause of sore nipples.
2. Once you have finished feeding, expose your breasts to the air and try to protect them from clothing and other irritations. Keeping the nipples unrestricted so that they have the benefit of air circulating and using Lanolin cream is often all that is needed to complete a cure for soreness.
3. Even if your nipples are irritating and hurting, please try to avoid petroleum jelly and other products with mineral oils.
4. Make sure to wash your nipples with water and not with soap or at least use a very skin freindly product here.
5. Many women find teabags ran under cold water to provide some relief when placed on the nipples. This can present tempoary relief and offer some hydration for sore / cracked skin.
6. Make sure you vary your position slightly each time when breastfeeding to ensure that a different area of the nipple is being compressed each time.

Clogged milk ducts

Clogged milk ducts can occasionally become a breastfeeding complication and can be identified as small, red tender lumps on the tissue of the breast. Clogged ducts can cause the milk to back up and lead to infection. The best way to unclog these ducts is to ensure that you’ve emptied as completely as possible. You should offer the clogged breast first at feeding time, then let
your baby empty it as much as possible. If the problem is persistent, it can often be alleviated by the application of warm towels and / or bathing in fairly warm water to soften and loosen the obstructions within the breast ducts. Of course, if this particular breastfeeding complication goes on to become significantly painful with the breasts becoming engorged, painful and almost impossible to breastfeed or express, one should contact their GP or health care professional without delay.
If milk remains after breastfeeding, the remaining breast milk should ideally be removed by hand or with a small breast pump. A good tip is to keep the pressure off the duct(s) by making sure your drop cup or maternity bra is not too tight; perhaps give yourself a day or two bra free and take a little time to perform some gentle massage to assist the breakdown of the blockage. A great time to do this is when in the bath.

Breast infection – unwelcome breastfeeding complications.

Breast infection, also known as mastitis typically develops when the milk is not properly removed from the breast. This can lead to the milk ducts in the breasts becoming blocked. Infection can be caused by germs gaining entrance to the milk ducts through cracks or fissures in the nipple, and further exacerbated by decreased immunity in the mother due to stress, lack of sleep and / or inadequate nutrition.

The symptoms of breast infection include severe pain or soreness, hardness or extra firmness of the breast, redness of the breast. The affected breast(s) may feel a lot warmer than normal with heat appearing to come from the reddened or swollen area. The mother may even feel unwell and may suffer from chills or appear to have cold / flu symptoms.

The treatment of breast infection includes bed rest, antibiotics, pain relievers, increased fluid intake, and applying heat. Many women will stop breast feeding during an infection, although it’s actually the wrong thing to do. By emptying the breasts, one can actually help to prevent clogged milk ducts and or reduce the possibility of infection and further breastfeeding complications.

If the pain is quite bad and you simply feel you can’t breastfeed, try could try using a breastpump while laying in a bath of warm water with your breasts floating comfortably in the water. You should also make sure that the pump isn’t electric if you
plan to use it in the bath tub. Having said that, a small hand held battery powered breastpump will cause the used any harm if allowed to come into contact with the water but the water may damage the pump internals if it is of the more modern electronic variety.

You should always make sure that breast infections are treated promptly and completely or you may risk the chance of abscess. An abscess is very painful, involving throbbing and swelling. You’ll also experience swelling, tenderness, and heat in the area of the abscess. If the infection is allowed to progresses unchecked or has proven unresponsive to regular treatments, your doctor may prescribe medicine and even surgery. The last thing any dedicated mother wants is breastfeeding complications when looking to breast feed baby longterm.

Feeding a premature baby

Feeding A Premature Baby

When it comes to feeding a premature baby, the rules change somewhat…

Feeding a baby where everything has happened more or less on schedule is a little less complex than when catering for a premature baby that will often be significantly underweight.

Sometimes you will find that, due to their reduced size and strength, your premature baby has less of an appetite if it has been born prematurely. In order to mitigate against this you may need to pay more attention and encourage him or her to feed. Even though their natural desire to feed may be a little reduced compared with a larger, stronger baby, they will still need to feed in order to gain some of the strength that they may lack. 

A newborn, fully healthy baby will want to feed between eight and twelve times a day. They will automatically wake up in order to do this. A premature baby or underweight newborn may prefer naturally to sleep, as they will tire easier due to their lack of strength. This may mean that you need to wake your baby and persuade him or her to feed. After a time this will become a more natural process as they gain in strength and consequently in appetite. While you are waiting for this to happen, it may be necessary to wake without “fully waking” – an alarm clock set to a gentle chime will mean that you can wake, feed, and go back to sleep, which is much better for your own health. By keeping your baby in the same room as you, you can simplify this matter a great deal. 

If baby is reluctant to breastfeed or has other difficulties which can impair his or her ability to suckle in a natural way, it may be useful to consider one of the special baby feeders that exist. Mothers can use a SpecialNeeds feeder to give baby her breast milk from a specially designed feeder. It is easy to control and administer the flow of milk to feed baby even if he or she is virtually unable to suckle on his own or has very weak suction.

Scares And Their Credibility

There are no small amount of health scares that persist in this day and age – as adults we see them ourselves in cases of epidemics and “epidemics”, some of which are credible and some which are, to be charitable, less than helpful. In the case of babies’ health there is no less controversy, and there have been more than a few scares that have been shown to be unfounded. This has the highly unfortunate and undesirable effect of making people naturally skeptical, which can cause harmful indecision in times of genuine illness. Pediatricians are understanding and well-trained, so if you have a cause for concern it is worth taking it up with them.

One example of scare mongering having a negative effect is one that happened in Britain, when a medical paper written collaboratively by several doctors included a single line that raised the possibility that the MMR vaccination that had been in circulation for quite some time may be linked to autism in children. Although this line was written by one doctor, who had not even definitively claimed that the link was real and provable, the national press picked up on it and made it into a huge story. Although the other doctors involved in the study distanced themselves from the claim and it emerged that no evidence existed for any such link, the press had their story, and many parents were understandably reluctant to have their child immunised with the vaccine. When it comes down to it, getting medical advice from the media is not advisable.

Why do babies get diaper rash?

Diaper rash is something that parents hate to see on their child, however common it may be, and even for parents who remember having it themselves (less common now, but in the not-too-distant past variations of diaper rash could occur even into late infancy) it is something that no-one wants to see on their newborn child. The reasons for it are quite simple and entirely commonplace, but it is preventable and treatable. If your child does develop a diaper rash, quick treatment is advisable. And prevention is a matter of following some simple rules and showing diligence at key points which might lead to infection.

The major cause of diaper rash is wetness. This is no big surprise. The reason that it does not occur with any regularity in adults, after all, is that we are able to perform our bathroom rituals ourselves and know what needs to be done – essentially, what feels right and what we have learned. Babies, however, urinate quite often and will sometimes be in a dirty diaper for a while before changing. In addition to this, their stools are generally quite loose and their bowel movements are more frequent than those of adults. Unless they are changed with a regularity bordering on the obsessive, there is a chance of infection. Even then a baby with sensitive skin can become infected.

In an older baby, a time of sickness which is treated with antibiotics can be a risky time, as they are prone to diarrhea and the higher risk of diaper rash that that can bring. In short, even the best parents can have a case to deal with, and it is how they respond that is important.

Diaper Rash – how to recognize it

New parents have a lot of cause to be concerned about their baby’s health. Visiting any page with even just the regular things that can – and do – happen to most babies is enough to drive someone to distraction. Even non-parents would be hard pressed not to shudder in sympathy. Something as common as diaper rash, which affects most babies at some point in some measure, is still too much for any parent to bear with real composure. Knowing how to recognize diaper rash, and prevent it getting worse, is something that all parents will be well served by in the early life of their baby.

The diaper area of a baby will, unavoidably, come into contact with some bacteria on a regular basis. Even regular changes and cleaning can sometimes fail to pick it up. You will know when your baby has diaper rash, as it is characterized by skin in the diaper area appearing red and inflamed, and in some cases coming up in pimples. It will irritate the child and if left unchecked can develop into something worse, including a number of infections. As well as this, it will be obvious to any parent that the child is in quite some discomfort. They will cry more and louder, and show general displeasure. Keeping your baby clean will, however, keep diaper rash from occurring in a severe manner or too often, and swift corrective action including treatment with a gentle, pH neutral moisturizer will make a real difference, quickly.