Vasospasm: pins and needles in the nipple

Has your nipple looked waxy or dull white after feeding or pumping? That’s because the blood vessels have gone into spasm and are not letting blood through. Vasospasm occurs when there is exposure to cold, an abrupt temperature drop, vibration, or repetitive motion in the affected area. The arteries go into spasm and stop letting blood through. There is a disorder called Reynauds that make peoples experience this in their fingers and toes on a more routine basis. When it happens in the nipple it really HURTS. Some say it feels like fire or ice. Others describe it as a pinchy, slicing feeling, or pins and needles. The nipple often turns pale and become painful right after the baby unlatches. It often gets misdiagnosed as thrush but will not respond to medications. So if you’ve been on multiple rounds of medications for thrush and it’s not working, you may actually be having vasospasm.

It can simply be caused by a bad latch, but can have several other culprits. For people prone to vasospasm, the repetitive action of feeding or pumping in combination with the abrupt drop in temperature when baby unlatches or the pump stops is enough to trigger the spasm.

The two main ways to help: massage and heat.

🤲🏼Gently massaging, rubbing, or pinching the nipple helps. Immediately cover your nipples with your shirt/bra/nursing pad, then gently rub or massage them through the fabric.

🌞Heat is important because of science: evaporation is a cooling process. When liquid turns to gas, it uses heat energy from its surroundings to transition. When milk and saliva evaporate off your nipple, the skin and surface tissue cool rapidly, causing the vasospasm.

🌞To slow evaporation, place heat on your nipple as soon as baby unlatches. Use dry heat like a lavender pillow, microwaveable rice/barley/flax pack, hand warmer/Hot Hands (like you use in snowy climates for skiing), or a heating pad can help. Leave heat on for a few minutes until the pain subsides.
🌚Avoid anything wet on the nipple as this promotes evaporation.
🌝Wear wool nursing pads between feedings

Unfortunately, there isn’t a lot of good quality research about treating breastfeeding nipple vasospasm no. Much of what we know is taken from other vasospasm research, or applied from anecdotal evidence. You should always consult your primary health care provider before making any changes to your health, such as adding a supplement, taking medications, or making big lifestyle changes. At a basic level:
🌻Watch for a deep latch every time
🌻Have baby assessed for tongue tie
🌻Check your flange size. If you’re maxing our the suction on the pump, your flange is too big. When too much areola is drawn into the tunnel, the areola swells shut around the nipple and causes the spasm. Using too small a flange does the same: cuts off blood flow to the nipple tip.

Other tips to reducing vasospasm:
🌸Avoid nicotine and medications that cause vasoconstriction (such as pseudoephedrine, beta blockers).
🌸Limit or avoid caffeine
🌸Some research indicates hormonal birth control pills increase the risk of vasospasm.
🌸The main supplement that seems to help with vasospasm is vitamin B6. Dr Jack Newman suggests 100 mg of B6 twice day, as part of a B vitamin complex. If your B vitamin contains 50 mg of B6, you’d take two of them, twice a day. If it contains 25 mg of B6, you’d take four of them twice a day.
🌸Calcium plays an important role in blood vessel dilation. Magnesium helps in calcium regulation. Supplementing with cal/mag often helps with vasospasm.
🌸Being active helps prevent their vasospasm. An active lifestyle can keeps blood circulating through your body.
🌸The internet is full of conflicting opinions on if ibuprofen is a vasoconstrictor or vasodilator. Regardless, it sometimes turns up to treat/prevent vasospasm. If you have regular vasospasm, the risks of longterm ibuprofen use most likely outweigh the potential decrease in vasospasm. It may be OK for occasional vasospasm. Discuss regular ibuprofen use with a healthcare provider.
🌸For chronic, painful vasospasm that does not respond to breast-feeding help, some doctors may prescribe a short course of a blood medication called Nifedipine.

Lip Tie vs Normal Lip Frenulum: An SLP/IBCLC Perspective

Lip ties (and their pictures on social media) drive me clinically nuts, because is so much confusion and misinformation about who actually has one. Too often medical professionals and lactation consultants say:

“All babies have lip ties”
“All babies have a band under there, there’s no such thing as a lip tie”
“That tissue will stretch with time/migrate up as they get older”
“They’ll eventually fall and break it on their own. No need to intervene”
“It doesn’t cause any problems, so just leave it alone”

On the flip side, some providers (and other random parents on social media forums) will say:

“See how the band of tissue is really low on the gums? That’s a lip tie”
“See how thick that band is? That lip is definitely tied”
“Lip ties are causing of all your nursing issues, cut it ASAP”
“Lip ties will cause all kinds of issues in the future, even if you don’t have symptoms now, better to cut it sooner rather than later”
“Where there’s a lip tie, there’s a tongue tie, your baby must be tied if they have any symptoms if a frenulum is visible”

Lip tie

I am the first to refer to the appropriate health care provider (ENT or pediatric dentist) when a true lip tie is not allowing proper function of the lips and is impacting the success of digestion or breastfeeding. But let’s understand a few things:

✏️According to a 1994 study by Flinck, who looked at >1000 babies, 77% of them had a frenulum that inserted “low” on to the gumline. A further 17% had a frenulum that inserted into the palate. So 94% of babies have a really low gum insertion – that is NOT the definition of a lip tie. Having a low set frenulum cannot be the only criteria used for release.

✏️There is currently no published criteria defining a normal frenulum vs a lip tie. That does not mean a lip shouldn’t be addressed when function is being impacted by anatomy. But that band between lip and gums is supposed to be there to some extent to help anchor your lips to your face for proper movement and facial development.

✏️Lip tie, when it is present, can certainly get in the way of a normal latch. A lip tie may cause increased air intake (contributing to reflux and gas), breast pain from the lips gripping too tightly to the breast, contribute to lip blisters muscle compensations, or not allow the baby to be able to maintain the latch through the whole feeding. While the lips are important for feeding, I’m more concerned about the tongue for obtaining a normal latch. Many compensations baby does to overcome a tongue tie may be mimicking issues seen with lip tie. Baby needs assessed for both.

✏️ It is rare for there to only be a lip tie. In the vast majority of cases, where there is a true lip tie there is also a tongue tie. The tongue is usually the reason for the symptoms as the tongue plays the major active role in breastfeeding. If the lip tie is released and symptoms persist, it is worth further evaluation of the tongue. I have had a few cases where a lip tie release only has resolved the breastfeeding issue, usually areola pain or popping on and off the breast from not being able to make a tight seal with the lips.

No lip tie. This is my daughter at 8 months old

True diagnosis of lip tie is all about anatomy (what does it look like), physiology (what does it do), and symptoms (what is it causing). A lip tie will always impact function of the lip by restricting its expected movement. The upper lip should be soft and move to spread and pucker the lips without difficulty. The upper lip should play a passive role when breastfeeding, gently rounding to maintain the seal at the breast so milk doesn’t leak out and not gripping the breast.

An evaluation by an IBCLC should be mandatory before any baby is sent for oral surgery. Are the symptoms and behaviors at the breast being caused by poor position and latch? By tension in the body from birth trauma? Is tongue tie the actual culprit to the issues going on?

👄 The movement of the lip must be physically challenged to determine its full range of motion. If the lip is lifted up toward the nose, the center of the lip should move up toward the nose with the rest of the lip. If the center of the lip stays down against the gum line, it is most likely a tie. If no one physically flipped the lip up toward the nose, lip tie was not assessed.

👄 When you lift the lip, if the gums where the frenulum inserts turns white (blanches) OR the lip skin/frenulum turns white (blanches ) when you lift the lip up with reasonable amounts of pressure, the lip is tied.

👄 A notch in the bone of the gums where the frenulum attaches means the lip is tied. It indicates the tissue is so tight it’s now impacting the bone. This kind of lip tie needs immediately assessed and addressed as it most likely will impact dentition and dental hygiene.

👄 My baby has lip blisters. Does that mean they have a lip tie? Not necessarily. They may have a tongue tie and the lips are compensating for it. They may be constantly in a shallow latch at the breast or bottle and be using their lips to hang on. Lip blisters are a sign of shallow or dysfunctional latch and feeding should be observed to maximize latch.

👄 My baby always tucks their upper lip when nursing. Does that mean they have a lip tie? If the lip is still soft and can easily be flanges out, no, it’s not tied. Some babies like to tuck the upper lip or it gets accidentally tucked when latching and it’s not a problem. Tucking the upper lip can also happen when the tongue is tied- if the tongue can’t hold the seal (which is its job), then the lips have to. If the lips hold the seal, the lips have to be tucked in or milk will leak.

👄 The upper lip frenulum is one that can stretch and migrate up with time. As more teeth come in, the teeth may naturally help close the gap caused by some frenulum. If that is normal, why should it be released? An upper lip frenulum can migrate up over years, but if the restriction of the lip is affecting baby and mom NOW, then it should be treated NOW. Nipple pain and damage may have been normalized by the general public, but that does not mean it is normal. If you’re having symptoms associated with lip tie, have the lip and tongue assessed by someone who can properly evaluate and manage it.

This is the same child as the picture just above. She’s now two years old.

A lot of emphasis is being put on lip ties right now, especially by well meaning parents on social media. Remember: you usually cannot tell if a lip is tied from a picture alone. A full, dynamic assessment is needed. If a health care provider looked at the lip without actually completing a full inner mouth assessment in the lips, cheeks and tongue, and observing a feeding, a full assessment wasn’t made. While a lip tie alone can get in the way of feeding and cause some pretty intense symptoms in some babies, the main focus should be on good position and deep latch with normal tongue mobility.

Normal frenulum. No blanching and lip flips without difficulty

If you’re struggling with breastfeeding, seek out a qualified IBCLC or schedule your consultation with me ASAP to determine your next steps.

Slacker boob

Did you know? Around 70% of women produce more milk in the right breast. Which means 30% make more in the left. It is VERY common for one side to produce more than the other. Some times double on one side. We don’t know why. This is not a reason to neglect one side. You want to make sure you rotate which breast you offer first. Babies may prefer one side over the other for various reasons:

👶🏽They like to lay with their head in a certain direction or their body is uncomfortable in the opposite position

👶🏿They prefer the flow (one side may flow faster or slower than the other)

👶🏼They may prefer the flavor (YES!! Milk can taste different form each breast during the same feeding!!)

If you want to help balance out a slacker boob:

🔆Offer the slacker first more often. 

🔆End on the slacker can also help, especially if baby just wants to use you like a pacifier. 

🔆Pump the slacker side during or after feedings can also help stimulate more milk production

🔆Make sure you have the correct sized pump flange on the slacker side. Our nipples can often be different sizes and using the wrong sized flange can drop supply on that side

🔆Hand expression on that side at random times of the day even for a few minutes will jump start increased production. 

🔆If it’s positional from your baby (they only want to lay cross cradle to the right and not the left, experiment with other positions like football or side lying to help baby compensate for their body. If your baby prefers one side of the other from a positional perspective, consider taking your baby for some infant bodywork like chiropractic or craniosacral therapy.

What’s up with my baby biting, gumming, chomping, hitting, pulling and pinching the nipple/breast while breastfeeding?

Babies are masters at breastfeeding. They will exhibit all kinds of behaviors at the breast that will make you question if you have any milk and wonder what’s wrong with the baby. Most babies discover they have power and control over the breast and that different behaviors get different things. Biting, tugging, gumming, pulling, patting, chomping, shaking the nipple and breast are normal infant behaviors. Repeatedly latching on and off can also be normal when it doesn’t happen all the time. They happen during growth spurts, cluster feeding and teething. And may increase when baby discovers they can get a reaction from you for them. These behaviors increase or decrease the flow rate of milk and help stimulate supply and let down during growth spurts and teething.

What can you do? Stay calm. Most likely it’s normal and will change with time. Lots of skin to skin time between feedings can help keep baby calm and will naturally increase your supply during growth spurts. Using breast compressions while feeding can help increase flow and help trigger let downs. If baby is teething, give plenty of opportunity to chew and bite on appropriate toys and food items outside of nursing times. If baby is biting to slow flow, try a laid back position and make sure you’re not promoting an oversupply from over use of the Haakaa or pumping at sporadic times. Continue to watch for wet and dirty diapers and know that usually these behaviors are normal and don’t last.

If baby is having these behaviors all the time and isn’t making the amount of wet and dirty diapers you would expect, schedule a lactation consultation immediately.

Low Milk Supply

There are people that will struggle to or never make a full milk supply. From 1 month to 1 year, exclusively breastfed babies average 25oz of breast milk per day. True low supply means making less than this when the breasts are stimulated at least 8 times in 24 hours. Chronic low milk supply is linked to either a greater health concern or something out of your control which you cannot change or fix with cookies, teas or even medications and pumping. 

🗝Low milk supply that can be increased with time and support:

  • 💡Taking certain prescription medications with a side effect of dropping milk (Sudafed, Benadryl, antibiotics)
  • 💡Baby not feeding efficiently from lack of oral motor skill or tongue tie
  • 💡Taking certain prescription medications with a side effect of dropping milk (Sudafed, Benadryl, antibiotics)
  • 💡Not feeding or pumping enough, especially over night
  • 💡Scheduled feedings or over use of a pacifier
  • 💡Birth. Many medications designed to help you labor and deliver actually inhibit baby from latching and feeding effectively for hours to days after birth. Hemorrhage or birth trauma can also cause low supply in the beginning
  • 💡Supplementing, especially in the two weeks after birth

🗝Reasons for chronic low milk supply that may NOT increase even with maximal support:

  • 💡Breast or nipple surgery, augmentation, reduction, trauma
  • 💡Insufficient glandular tissue (IGT). Breasts never developed during puberty and look tubular or widely spaced. Signs of IGT include breasts did not grow in puberty, or increase in size during pregnancy. No engorgement in the week after birth
  • 💡Uncontrolled or undiagnosed thyroid disorder
  • 💡Uncontrolled diabetes
  • 💡Hormone or endocrine disorders, including severe PCOS
  • 💡Hormonal birth control placed/used too soon after delivery
  • 💡Nipple piercing that scars shut instead of staying open

There is a mistaken belief that prescription galactagogues, teas, or herbs can cure ANY chronic low milk supply. Before self-prescribing or taking Domperidone, Reglan, fenugreek, or any other lactation supplement, consider having your serum prolactin levels tested and a full evaluation by a skilled lactation consultant. Continue to follow @lalactation in Instagram or see my videos on YouTube for strategies of breastfeeding with chronic low milk supply.

Do I need to give my breastfeeding toddler cow’s milk or switch to cow’s milk when they turn one?

If you’re still breastfeeding into toddlerhood, no. The World Health Organization recommends breastfeeding until 2 years old. After 2, you can wean to water and table foods or to any kind of milk per your family’s choice. If you’ve decided to wean between 1-2 years, yes and no. Cow’s milk provides a convenient source of a lot of nutrients, including calcium, protein, potassium and vitamin D that are important for building bone and brain development. But if your toddler won’t drink it, has an allergy or intolerance, or your family follows a vegan lifestyle, a well-planned diet can provide these nutrients too. According to the USDA, children ages 2-3 need two servings of dairy per day (milk, yogurt, cheese, or calcium-fortified non-dairy beverage), children age 4-8 need two and a half, and kids 9+ need three. Can you use a milk alternative such as soy, almond or oat? Yes, but they’re not one-for-one swaps. For instance, almond and rice milk have only 1 gram of protein per serving, compared to 8 grams in cow’s.

When choosing a non-dairy milk, make sure it’s fortified with calcium and vitamin D. Homemade versions won’t have this fortification. Shake milk substitutes well before serving, the calcium settles on the bottom. Look for varieties labeled “unsweetened” as many milk alternatives contain lots of added sugar! If you’re choosing not to offer your toddler cow’s milk, make sure they’re getting a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, beans, grains and protein to get them the vitamins, minerals, fats and protein they need for growth. When in doubt, discuss nutrition with a pediatric dietician

Milk is a very convenient source of calcium, but not essential. It is recommended that a 1-3 year old child have 700mg (2-3 servings) of calcium per day. Eating a diet rich in beans, tofu, spinach, kale, broccoli, kiwi, figs, brown rice, oatmeal and certain fish such as salmon can give your child just as much calcium as drinking milk. No one ever “has” to drink milk. Human milk contains less calcium than cow’s milk, but the calcium in human milk has over twice the bioavailability of the calcium in cow’s milk. Increasing your calcium intake does not increase the calcium in your milk – your milk always has the right amount of calcium for your baby. Getting adequate calcium in your diet is recommended because if you’re not getting enough, your body will take calcium from your bones to provide to your baby, making you more prone to bone fractures. However as soon as you wean, your body regains bone mass and your bones will actually be stronger than before. 

Human milk averages 5.9-10.1 mg/oz calcium. 67% of this calcium is absorbed by the body. 

Whole milk contains 36.4 mg/oz calcium. 25-30% of cow’s milk is absorbed by the body.

Infant formulas contain 15.6 mg/oz calcium; toddler formulas contain 24-27 mg/oz calcium. Extra calcium is added to infant formulas because of the lower bioavailability of the calcium from formulas as compared to human milk (they aim for baby to absorb the same amount of calcium as would be absorbed from breastmilk).

Toddler formulas have come on the market in recent years touting that they’re great nutrition for the 12+ month group. In reality, it’s all clever marketing. If you supplement baby with formula, there’s no need to switch to a toddler formula at 12+ months. In the second year of life, growth slows. Your toddler doesn’t gain weight or length as quickly as they did right after birth.

If you’re still breastfeeding, your milk adjusts to this based on how toddler nurses; how the breast is emptied tells your body what kind of milk to make. When breast milk is the primary diet, like in the first 6 months, your milk is made for growth and immunity. When your toddler is taking lots of table foods and nursing, your milk is made for development and immunity.

At 1 you don’t need a fancy toddler formula or cow’s milk. If you’re exclusively formula feeding, switching to whole cow’s milk is fine. While cow’s milk is a convenient source of calcium, protein, fats, and vitamin D, there’s no need to switch to that, either. As long as your child takes a wide variety in their diet and has a good source of calcium (yogurt, cheese, dark leafy greens like spinach, fortified cereals or juice, soybeans, etc), just choose what you offer your child wisely. If you’re still breastfeeding, know your child is getting good nutrition from your milk suited to their growing needs. If you’re concerned about your toddlers diet or they don’t eat a wide variety, consult your pediatrician or a pediatric nutritionist for advice and help.

Sudden breast milk supply drop

Breastfeeding going well and all of a sudden you feel like your milk is gone? Go pee on a stick. A drastic drop in milk supply when breastfeeding has been going well can be a sign of pregnancy, even if your period hasn’t come back yet. Research shows it is safe to continue breastfeeding while pregnant and does not increase the risk of miscarriage. So there no reason to wean unless you’re a high risk pregnancy (if you are told by your health care provider that you can’t have sex, you shouldn’t breastfeed. If it’s safe to have sex, it’s safe to continue breastfeeding.) If so you are not alone—far from it.

Key points to remember when breastfeeding and pregnant:

• Milk will shift from mature milk back to colostrum around 14-20 weeks of your pregnancy to prepare for the birth. Babies under 6 months may not get enough milk from the breast alone while toddler eating solids may do fine. Monitor weight gain for babies under 1 year

• Colostrum is saltier than mature milk. Some nurslings are fine with the taste shift and others may self wean

• Aim for a total of about 600 to 800 extra calories — 300 for the fetus and 300 to 500 for milk production.

• Nipples may become extremely tender during pregnancy, especially at the beginning, due to hormone changes

• Breastfeeding aversion while pregnant is normal (feelings of stress or anxiety or wanting to stop breastfeeding)

• If your toddler always nurses to sleep, you may want to find other sleep routines to make putting older one to sleep easier when you have the new baby.

• As your belly grows, you may need to experiment with new breastfeeding positions.

Empty breasts make milk faster than full breasts

FULL/EMPTY BREASTS

While it seems counterintuitive, the emptier your breasts are, the faster they make milk. A full bread has no place to store or hold the milk, so milk production slows to prevent plugged ducts and breast discomfort. Cluster feeding on an emptier breast actually tells the body to make more milk at a faster rate!! Some incorrectly assume you have to wait for the breast to “fill up” before feeding your baby or for pumping while at work. This will eventually lead to less milk, as a fuller breast tells your body baby isn’t eating very often and to slow milk production. The more frequent you empty the breast, the higher the fat content in that milk and the faster milk is made. The longer often you wait and the fuller the breast, the higher the water content in that milk and the slower your body will make milk overall.

W atch the baby, not the clock. Breasts may feel really full between feedings in the first few weeks after birth, but they’re also not supposed to stay engorged. There will come a time when they stay soft and don’t feel full between feedings or pumping, so waiting for that as a cue to feed will also sabotage your supply. Don’t be alarmed when your breasts no longer feel full between feeding. You’re entering a new stage where you’ll still make plenty of milk for your baby as long as you’re routinely emptying that milk. Trust your body. Trust your baby.

The science vs the art of breastfeeding

SCIENCE AND ART

Breastfeeding is the perfect blend of science and art. There are basic principles that apply, but within those principles is a lot of variation

🔬Science says you should switch which breast you start with at each feeding to keep milk supply balanced

🎨Art says this mom always starts left to try to increase supply on the slacker boob while that mom only feeds one breast per feeding. This mom needs to block feed and that mom offers whatever breast passes the boob shake fullness test

🔬Science says babies should poop at least once a day

🎨Art says some babies poop every time they sit in the car seat and others in the bathtub🤷🏽‍♀️ Some babies poop after every feeding and others have just one a day (or every other day)

🔬Science says eat whatever you want

🎨Art says one can eat dairy without a problem for baby and for another it causes a rash and digestive upset in baby

🔬Science says having baby in a good position will get you a deep latch.

🎨Art says you over here love koala hold a rolled up wash cloth supporting your breast to help reduce reflux. While you over there do better in cross cradle sitting up.

🔬Science says as baby ages they can sleep in longer stretches at night

🎨Art says many babies still wake up 1-3 times a night to nurse until 18 months and need help from an adult to transition back to sleep

🔬By understanding the science behind breastfeeding, we can understand typical patterns of behavior which helps guide us when things aren’t going well.

🎨By appreciating the art of breastfeeding, we can celebrate the unique differences of every feeding baby within its own family dynamic.

🔬If you’re struggling with the science of breastfeeding, find help.

🎨If breastfeeding is going well, appreciate the art of your own masterpiece that you’re creating with your little one.

My baby won’t breastfeed I think there’s a tongue tie

As an SLP/IBCLC, I look at three things when doing an assessment on infants: what does the tongue look like, what can the tongue do, what symptoms is it causing. The tongue needs full range of motion (in and out, side to side, and up and down ) for feeding, dental hygiene and to some extent speech. You can have a frenulum can still have good range of motion. A frenulum is considered tied when the tongue can’t move in all directions and it’s causing symptoms because it’s not functioning correctly.

Symptoms to watch out for are:

👅Can not grasp and hold a nipple for breast or bottle feeding

👅Pops on and off the breast/unable to latch or maintain the latch

👅Leaks milk from breast or bottle

👅Fatigues easily from tension on the tongue and jaw/“sleepy” at the breast

👅Wants to feed all the time and never seems satisfied

👅Causes nipple pain and damage when latched

👅Pinches the nipple when feeding causing recurrent plugged ducts and mastitis

👅Doesn’t empty the breast well causing low milk supply

👅Tongue constantly in a “stimulation” mode instead of efficient sucking at the breast, causing an over supply of milk with fast let down

👅Cannot create the vacuum needed to draw breast milk and makes a clicking or loss of suction sound at the breast

👅Poor weight gain

👅Chokes and gags during feeding

👅Fussy at the breast

👅Swallows air while feeding causing reflux, gassiness or colic

When range of motion is restricted, or is causing symptoms, I will refer to a pediatric dentist who also looks at how the frenulum is impacting structure: is it pulling on the structures of the floor of the mouth and the jaw? Is it putting tension on the bone? In those cases, when function is restricted and it is currently causing symptoms, a revision is warranted. I never recommend revision to avoid symptoms down the road. It’s not ethical.