Mastitis, Tongue Tie, Vomiting up EBM but not FF...long story

[Faithful Mumma]

,,,,,

[mummajj]

oh no. sounds like you're having such a rough time. have you gone to your gp to get some antibiotics for the mastitis.my baby was the same. on off on off all the time. didnt have a very strong suck from birth. i also had mastitis when bubs was about a week old. it hung around for a couple of weeks!! ended up having to stop breastfeeding as all the expressing had taken its toll on my nipples.
really hope things look up for you soon and she starts feeding well.

[ShootingStar]

Awww hun big sorry you are going through this. DD2 has tongue tie too.. JOY! I was doing the FF and BF but found she wasnt getting enough breastmilk so im not bothered myself perusing it (my other 2 were FF) so shes on the formula full time now. Are you on antibiotics for the mastitis? There are a few things you can try to try and boost your supply. I was drinking Akti-Vite and that did help a bit (if youre not familiar with it, its just in the section with the Milo and it has good vitamins in it that help BF) otherwise ive seen others make those lactation cookies and take fenugreek. Otherwise if worse comes to worse, talk to your doctor and i think you can get some meds that help boost supply. Hopefully youll be able to get her tongue tie fixed and that will solve all problems though.
But look after yourself ok hun xx

[MantaRay]

Oh hun, it sounds like you are having a really tough time

Your post didn't mention whether you taking antibiotics - I assume you have seen a doctor, but if not you need to get treated as soon as possible.

Also, mastitis usually doesn't reduce supply - are you exclusively expressing? If so, have you been expressing as often since you've had the mastitis? Blocked ducts can prevent the milk from flowing well so it can look like a drop in supply. If there is milk there, it is really important to clear it. Have you tried hand expressing under a warm shower, or putting a warm compress on your breast before expressing? Warmth can help the milk to flow. Some gentle breast compression can help too.

My first DS had a tongue-tie and couldn't attach either except with shields. We never looked back after having it snipped - I hope there is an answer like that for you after all your pain and hard work

[Faithful Mumma]

Thanks everyone I am not taking anti biotics because I am hoping I can clear it on it own....which I think it is....have been doing lots of expressing today on that side, and also got Bubs to feed off that side as well (not that she got very much, but it did make it feel much, much better). It is still all hot and achey, but it is much better, so I am hoping I can get by without taking AB's....(I had mastitis about 10 times with DS, and have only had to take AB's a few times). Am taking Panadol to help with the flu symptoms, and this is helping me get through.

I am using a Medela Mini Electric, and it has been so easy to express in the past with my other two using this pump, but not this time! I wil try the warm compress & see how I go. Thanks Manta I have just been stumped on what else to try! I have been expressing every 3 hours, but this is not enough to exclusively do EBM, and I get even less if I try to express more frequently.

[Cassius2]

my DD2 had a posterior tongue-tie and i had bouts of mastitis (closely followed by oral thrush for DD after the ABs). in the end i took her to an osteopath for 3 treatments of cranio-osteopathy. the results were instant (even during the first session!).

I am not sure where you are, but are you able to access a BF clinic at your local hospital? I went through one for DD2 and it was there that we discovered that her crapulent attachment and mastitis were caused by the posterior tongue tie. we were offered to snip or to look into the osteo (which the LC told me had better outcomes for posterior types of TT ITMS).

i really hope that this will resolve soon for you, it totally sucks getting mastitis

[Faithful Mumma]

Thanks Cass, I am off to the LC at our Hossy on Monday, that was the earliest they could get me in when I rang on Thursday. What is a Posterior Tongue Tie as opposed to a Standard Tongue Tie? Looking in DD's mouth, it does seem like her tongue is quite small and "stuck down", and I have never seen her stick it out, so I am pretty sure there is a tie there...

I shouldn't have just expected Breastfeeding to be straight foward, just because it has been so easy in the past! My boobies have only had a 5 month break since feeding DS!

[Cassius2]

posterior tongue tie is far back at the base and sometimes underneath the floor of the mouth (gosh i hope that makes sense lol). so instead of seeing the skin holding the tongue down quite obviously, you need to ferret around for it a bit lol (sorry it's way past my bedtime and my brain is slowing riiighhhht down). Marta's symptoms were poor attachment (getting on ok, but not being able to stay on... so would pop on and off constantly; unable to poke her tongue out and when it was trying to come forward it was flat; unable to twist her tongue to the side of her mouth or curl it up).

HTH!

and heaps of good luck for monday! FWIW i had to wait 2 weeks and then a further 2 weeks and although it was a pain (literally!) we got there and is now a distant memory...

and i hear ya on not being able to expect it to be an easy journey. i had zero issues with DD1, nothing at all!

[Faithful Mumma]

thanks cass! one more question, how does the cranio-osteo help the tt????? as opposed to the snip??

[Cassius2]

cranio-osteo helps for a posterior TT in that it adjusts the palate (many TT kids have a funny shaped palate) and the jaw and neck area and allows the baby to then train their tongue into correct attachment and usage (TT can cause speech issues later on for example). when we spoke with the LC she told me that the snip for posterior TT has really varied results as generally with some exercises given by the speech pathologist they can overcome it, whereas if just given the snip the problems may persist (again, this is for posterior only apparently!). so i asked her if we were to just skip the snip and try the cranio-osteo as she recommended and she said that she saw no problems with it and that she has found in the past for it to work really well.

so that's what we did and yeah, it worked perfectly and DD overcame the TT and has now got full function...she luuurrves poking her tongue out at us cheeky monkey lol!

sorry that was long and jumbled lol!

[Faithful Mumma]

Thanks for that Cass, that is really helpful and at least I am armed with some info before I see the LC tomorrow. Have tried some more feeds today, and the poor thing can latch on beautifully, but just can't suck out the Milk she tries so hard. Am hoping it will just be a simple snip tomorrow, but will see what she says. xoox