Why there are problems with mammary glands and how to solve them?

The first problem is the form of the nipples that is uncomfortable for the child. If the nipples are flat or retracted, this greatly complicates breastfeeding, especially when the baby is easily aroused. If he is looking for and can not find the nipple, he screams angrily and throws the head back.

In the previous chapter, we already talked about methods for correcting the shape of the nipples. If you read these recommendations after the birth, then try to put the baby to the breast as soon as he wakes up. And before that, try soft, gentle movements a little "pomjat" your nipple. Perhaps it will harden a little and become slightly more convex, and the child, waking up, will be able to grab it with sponges. If this technique does not help, then you have no choice but to resort to using special silicone or plastic pads. Let the child at the beginning of each feeding sosseet through an overlay two or three minutes. After that, when the nipples are slightly stretched, try to give him a breast without a lining. Before this, try squeezing out a few drops of milk from the nipple. Then the nipple will become more elastic, and the nipple circle will be softer and the baby will be easier to squeeze.

The second problem is cracked nipples. They can arise from the incorrect position of the child during feeding, because of excessive moisture, due to the friction of the nipples about the laundry. Most often, a crack appears at the beginning of feeding. The woman habitually processes the breast before feeding, everything proceeds as usual, and suddenly on the very first minutes of sucking the nipple becomes sharply painful.

If a crack appeared in one of the nipples (often because the baby was chewing on the nipple, instead of taking the entire parasol in the mouth), you should stop giving this breast for two days (or at least reduce the feeding time of that breast up to three minutes every 8 hours). After feeding, you can leave the nipple open for 15 minutes to dry. One inventive woman came up with a way how to eliminate the nipple contact with the fabric of the bra. She inserted a small tea strainer into the bra's cup. This nipple was constantly in the air, and she quickly got rid of the crack of the nipple.

The injured breast should be expressed by hands two or three times a day. And while the crack heals, the child is fed a second breast. If the crack healed, then to this breast it is possible to attach the child for a very short time - about three minutes (if, of course, this does not cause painful sensations). If everything is in order, then you can gradually increase the duration of feeding this breast first to five or ten, and then more minutes. If the crack reappeared, the entire procedure is repeated.

Another way to treat cracks is to use lining when breastfeeding. This method is less effective, since the nipples do not completely rest, and through the patch the child receives less milk.

The third problem is swelling of the breast. Causes of swelling are overflowing milk ducts located under the sucking mug. He becomes rigid and the child can not completely take it in his mouth and squeeze his gums. This leads to the fact that the child grabs only the nipple and chews it, causing the nipple to begin to ache and cause cracks. If you feel that the nipple circle has hardened, it needs to be crushed and squeezed out a little milk. Expressing the milk needs only 2-5 minutes (for each breast). Then you need to squeeze a nipple and insert it into the baby's mouth to help him start sucking. Sometimes the entire mammary gland swells. It becomes very hard, there are unpleasant sensations. Most often it quickly passes, but sometimes it can swell so much that it starts to ache and hardens. In this situation, you need to use a breast pump. If this does not work, the abscess starts to form in the mammary gland, and her skin turns red and becomes hot to the touch. This begins mastitis, which can only be treated by a doctor.

The fourth problem is mastitis (inflammation of the breast). Most often it occurs in the second or fourth week after childbirth. In the initial stage, which is described above, inflammation is formed. Gradually, a woman's condition worsens, painful seals appear in the mammary gland, the temperature may rise. Later the compaction becomes very distinct, the temperature reaches 38-39 ° C, the phenomena of general intoxication increase: headache, palpitation, and sometimes dyspnea. This is the stage of purulent mastitis.

At the initial stages, mastitis is very similar to lactostasis - stagnant milk without infection. Symptoms of both diseases are the same. If lactostasis is not eliminated, then the infected infection can translate it into purulent mastitis.

At the initial stage, the most important thing is to ensure the evacuation of milk. This can be achieved by more frequent attachment of the baby to the breast.

Another method is the people's method. You can make cabbage wraps of your chest. Take a cleanly washed cabbage leaf, soften it and put it into the bra so that the sheet covers the entire breast, but does not touch the nipple. If these measures can not be improved, please contact your doctor. In this case, antibacterial therapy is needed. But, I think that you should not bring this up to this point. Once you have had one of the problems described, do not try to solve it yourself - go to see a doctor!