Tongue Thrush

Breast Infection.....Your opinion please?

My daughter is breast feeding and her baby boy is only 6 weeks old. Everything seemed fine. She had breast fed her other child and had no problems. She is 30 years old. He suddenly got a white tongue and she knew it was thrush since her daughter HAD had that before. Her appointment is within a week for the baby and her appointment for herself is at the end of this week. Well, a few days after the thrush.....she developed very sore breast....and when she felt terrible and had a fever of 103 and the chills, she went to the e.r. They told her she has a bad breast infection.With the terrible pain they gave her percozat, and antibiotics. She was told she can continue breast feeding and it won't hurt the baby. BUT I feel she should get some formula and put the breast on hold till that infection clears and she is off the meds. She said..no, it'll be o.k. i see the dr. at the end of the week. I told her to call both her dr. and the babies dr. on monday...but daughter knows best. Your opinion?

Public Comments

1. Your opinion please?
2. Tell her to hold off on the breast feeding because the infection might hurt the baby.
3. When I had a breast infection I was told nursing would help clear it up by the Dr. I was told not to stop nursing at all.
4. Well, since breastfeeding is the best for baby and breastfeeding will actually help the infection clear faster, I think your daughter is right to keep breastfeeding. But, I would have her call a lactation consultant to double check about the meds. Regular Dr's don't know much about lactation and sometimes that assume something is safe while breastfeeding, but it really may not be.
5. Well the only thing is that if she does stop and wait for the infection to clear up, she will quit producing enough milk for the baby period. She will have no choice but to quit at that point. She'll just dry up. When breastfeeding, you make what is demanded of you. So I say if you wants to continue and doctors say its ok and she can deal with the pain, let her go for it. I know sometimes grandma knows best, but so does mom!
6. I also think it would be best to pump until the infection is gone. There is no reason to risk it.
7. I would still think she would still want to give her breasts a break for a little bit. However if the doctor said it was okay, then she should be fine. I do agree with you, she still should call the baby's doctor just to get another opinion to be on the safe side.
8. Hmmmm.....I would ask the pediatrician. You should be able to call and talk to an assistant. I guess antibiotics wouldnt hurt but how do you know that the baby is not getting too much???? Id say feed the baby formula and just pump to keep the milk fresh until the infection goes away. Thats what Id do if it were me regardless of what the doctor says...
9. If she stops nursing it will compound the infection. She needs to continue, it will help clear up the infection and will not hurt her baby.
10. well if she put the breast feeding on hold she must lose the milk supplied and the best thing to clear everything its gonna be breast feeding besides the breast always hurts the first 2 months
11. I'm guessing she has mastitis? Your daughter's doctor is right, she can fed through this. Please do NOT advise her to give that poor baby formula- she has another breast doesn't she? She can feed from that one, and express off the other if she doesn't want to feed from the infected one.
12. I had this too- breastfeeding with an infection will not hurt the baby. The sucking of the baby helps to clear it up. I have had two of these infections and in both cases, it cleared up with no problems for our baby. Make sure you remind your daughter not to use bras with wire supports- they can cause such an infection. Likewise, nothing too binding on the breasts.
13. What she has is called Mastitis. It is caused by a clogged milk duct. It happens occasionally and is no cause for alarm as far as nursing is concerned. One of the very BEST things she can do to help clear this up is to continue nursing so that baby can help clear the ducts and keep them in top working order. It is usually better for mom to continue nursing when she is ill because she passes the antibodies on to her nursling, thus ensuring his health. In this case, it's doubly good for her to keep it up. For more info on mastitis, see the link below. Hope that helps!
14. After doing a little reading, they say that practically all medications are safe to take while breastfeeding (but also that it depends on the medication .. (antibiotic) given). They also say that it's necessary to continue breastfeeding while taking the antiobiotic for the infection, that both are necessary to beat the infection. I'm going to include a link below that lists various medications that are compatible with breastfeeding and some of the side effects . I'm also including a link that says some medications can be excreted into the breast milk and can possibly harm the baby (and gives a list of them with effects to the baby). It seems that you and she need to read both and see what it says regarding this, and decide what she wants to do about it. I hope this helps and that everything clears up with your daughter and her new baby. And Congratulations to both she and you "Grandma" :o) Take Care
15. I always heard that it is best to continue breastfeeding to help with the pain. I don't know though how the meds will affect the baby.
16. Mastitis is no fun at all, but the worst thing she could do right now is stop nursing on the affected side. Is sounds like you want to help- fixing a meal, filling her water glass and doing a load of laundry while she goes to bed with her babe would be a great help to her now.
17. There are many medications that are safe while breastfeeding. One good way of helping cure mastitis is to continue to nurse on the infected breasts. It is actually better to keep on nursing, for her as well as your grandchild. If she does formula until she's better, unless she's pumping all the time, her supply will be affected then when it's time to put baby back on - she'll have a whole new set of issues. Here's some information on medications: http://www.kellymom.com/health/meds/index.html "Medications and Mother's Milk" by Dr. Thomas Hale is the best reference on the subject. Perhaps picking up a copy for your daughter will give you as much peace of mind as it will help her.