Breastfeeding Challenges & Solutions

In a separate post: “Breastfeeding Challenges – My Story”, ( https://mamaschronicles.com/breastfeeding-challenges-my-story/ ) I’ve shared my story on the challenges I have faced while breastfeeding my second child.

In this post, I’m leaving my story behind and am focusing on the lessons learned and what has worked for me in each challenging situation. I have done a lot of research and experimentation while facing the challenges and this is what helped me. I hope you will find this information useful.

Low Milk Supply – How To Increase It

Water: Drink lots of water throughout the day and night (if possible).

Oatmeal: Eat oatmeal everyday. It helps with milk production.

Pump: Pump as often as you can, but at least once or twice a day or night. The best time would be after you breastfeed your child and at night, or in the morning. But be careful, if your milk is actually coming out and you have low milk supply, make sure to leave some milk for your baby for the next nursing session. You don’t want to pump it all out and then have nothing to offer to your child.

Breasts Rotation: Try offering one breast per nursing session and the other on the next nursing session. That way, the baby will extract all of the milk from the first breast, stimulating more milk production. But again, be careful. If you think one breast is not enough – then offer the other one in the same session. Just try to make sure the first breast is fully emptied.

Rest: Rest, nap and sleep as much as possible.

Lactation Cookies: Make your own lactation cookies. The best recipe would be an oatmeal cookie with a few tea-spoons of Brewers Yeast. It’s supposed to help with milk production and I believe it worked for me. If you need a simple recipe, you can take this one: https://mamaschronicles.com/oatmeal-cookies/ remove the chocolate chips (unless you like them) and add about 2 table spoons of Brewers Yeast to start with. If you’re ok with the taste, you can increase it to 4 table spoons next time. You can also add a tea spoon of Brewers Yeast to your oatmeal.

Mother’s Milk Tea: Drink tea that says it’s good for milk production. There are lots out there. For example – Mother’s Milk.

Supplements: Try herbal supplements with Fenugreek and Blessed Thistle. The best one I’ve heard about is by St. Francis brand. Any Fenugreek supplement is good but it’s even better with Blessed Thistle. Just make sure you talk to your doctor prior to taking any supplements! I personally haven’t tried it, but my friends were swearing by it.

Note: Know that if you are pumping and no milk is coming out, it doesn’t necessarily mean you have no milk. It’s possible that your pump is not efficient or your breasts just don’t respond to a pump, no matter how good it is.

Bad Latch – What To Do

This one is a tough one to give advise one. You will have to experiment with all the different breastfeeding positions out there and see what works best for you and your baby. But here is what I can say:

• Google/research what the different positions are and try them all, or the ones that appeal to you.
• Make sure your baby opens his/her mouth fully before she latches on. You can sort of “tease” her with your nipple a bit by bringing her close. She will start opening her mouth to nurse and once she opens her mouth you can try gently but quickly bringing her head to your breast to latch. You will have to watch for this moment and act fast.
• Make sure your baby is not just sucking on the nipple alone but is covering at least some good portion of your areole.
• Watch YouTube Videos on this
• Hire lactation consultant or check if your province offers a free nurse home visit. It’s offered in the first 6 weeks after birth where I live.

Mastitis – Natural Solutions That Worked For Me

Before you read the below, please keep in mind that this is not a medical advice. If you have fever, or your mastitis is bad, go straight to the doctor. These are just tips that worked for me at the first onset of mastitis ONLY. You can try these tips while (at home) waiting for see your doctor.

I believe that no one below suggestion alone will be enough to help with mastitis but in combination they should work. But if you were to pick the top one – then focus on the massage and breastfeeding/pumping.

Early Signs: Recognize the early signs of mastitis. Sore breast, redness around an area, a lump, strange fatigue

Massage: Massage the affected area on the breast with olive oil and try to find that lump. Try to massage it so that it goes away. It might be very painful. You may not find a lump, but you still need to massage the area. Do this 3-4x day.

Shower: Take very warm shower right after the massage and keep massaging the breast under very warm water. Do this 3-4x day.

Breastfeed and/or pump: do this as much as possible on the affected breast. Make sure you fully empty the breast! Don’t worry about your baby swallowing the milk from the infected breast. It won’t hurt the baby.

Cabbage Leaves: This might sound funny and perhaps granola to you, but it worked for me. Cut out a leaf from a cabbage and apply it on your breast where the redness/soreness is. Do this 3x day.

Garlic: Cut up two cloves of garlic and crush it. Let it sit for a few minutes and then swallow it with water like you would swallow pills. Alternatively, you can just eat it with a meal if you like. Yes you will have bad breath, very bad breath, but it’s so good for you and for fighting infections. Do this 3x day if your stomach can tolerate it (so 6 cloves a day). Also watch out if garlic affects your milk’s taste. Your baby will let you know. My baby had no idea and didn’t mind at all 🙂

Pineapple Juice: If you can make your own pineapple juice or just eat a few pieces, please do. It’s very good for fighting inflammation

Ginger-Turmeric: Drink Ginger-Turmeric drink such as the one in this recipe here: https://mamaschronicles.com/ginger-turmeric-butt-kicker/. Just be careful, if you are still bleeding from giving birth, then avoid ginger. It might increase the bleeding.

Probiotics: Some research shows that specific probiotic strains, namely Lactobacillus gasseri and Lactobacillus salivarius can be beneficial in fighting and preventing mastitis. Consider supplementing.

Monitoring: monitor your mastitis closely. If you feel like its getting worse, or you see no improvement after a day or two, see your doctor immediately.