Breastfeeding? Mastitis? Top tips from my friends

One of the things I love about Brindabella Baby is that my customers are the kind of people I'd happily invite to playgroup or ask for advice. Kind of like friends I don't see very often, but I still appreciate what they have to say. A couple of days ago, I asked on Facebook for tips for on clearing mastitis, after a customer had asked me about it. This is a regular thing - as mums, we all share tips on getting a good night's sleep, breastfeeding, dealing with pooplosions, feeding fussy toddlers... Anyway, here's my pick of the best tips posted to the Brindabella Baby Facebook Wall:

Spend the day in bed, braless & feeding babe. Baby is best at draining the breasts. Make sure their chin is pointed at where the redness/soreness is, this ensures the full, inflamed areas will be drained. Do not use a pump, will very likely make it worse. Lots of fluids, lots of rest, and lots of feeding in the right position (as described above) are *key*. - April (I've sent April a Finnstarz organic cotton breastfeeding advocacy t-shirt as a thankyou for her advice).

Get into bed snuggle up with babe and feed feed feed from affected breast. Lots of water for mum and family to be there at her beck and call. Mum needs as much TLC as possible - Monique

For people who suffer repeatedly from mastitis, ultrasound by a physio specialising in women's health might help. Firstly, the ultrasound can help them to see exactly what is going on inside your breast, and then they can adjust the ulstrasound so that the ultrasonic waves actually move the blockage. - Kim

Here's a tip I'd never heard of before - and I found the same advice on Kellymom, a well respected US breastfeeding advice website:

Alternate between a hot face cloth/pack and grated potato (raw).... don't know how it works, but my midwife told me when i was having problems with my first child and incredibly sore, and it worked a treat... Use a new potato each time..... then combine with the comments above... massage, hot showers, rest if possible etc.- Natalie

And this one sounds like it would work well for mums who are tandem feeding:

This time round I haven't got full-on mastitis cause I put my 2yr old "on" and the super-sucker goes to work. - Jess

Thankyou to everyone who posted their tips. They were all good!

If you're suffering with mastitis, or want to clear a blocked duct before it becomes infected, the best thing to do is call 1800 mum2mum (1800 686 2 686) and talk to an Australian Breastfeeding Association counsellor. You can also get advice from other mums who've dealt with mastitis at the ABA Forums.