🍀Doctors have long known that infants who are breast-fed get fewer infections because babies gain extra protection from antibodies and live immune cells found in human milk.
🍀Research shows every tsp of breastmilk has 3,000,000 germ killing cells in it. Even one teaspoon a day is giving baby some immune protection!
🍀Once ingested, live molecules and cells in the milk help to prevent microorganisms from penetrating the baby’s body tissues.
🍀Some of the immune molecules bind to viruses/bacteria/germs in the digestive tract, preventing them from getting into the rest of the body.
🍀Certain immune cells in human milk attack viruses and bacteria directly. Another set produces chemicals that stimulate baby’s own immune response.
🍀The most impressive amount of immune cells are found in colostrum.
🍀Several studies suggest human milk may induce an infant’s immune system to mature more quickly than with formula
🍀Some of the immune factors in breastmilk increase in concentration as baby gets older and nurses less, so older babies continue to benefit from breast milk
🍀Remember, freezing kills some of the live immune factors of breastmilk even though the nutrition (vitamins, protein, fat) is maintained. Offer fresh breast milk whenever possible.
🍀Research is showing that if you’ve had COVID or the COVID vaccine, your milk will pass antibodies to your baby to protect them from getting it!
Author: Julie Matheney
Feeding babies has been my passion since I was ten years old. Almost twenty years ago, I pursued becoming a speech therapist to work with babies in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. In working in that setting, I realized I wanted a more intimate approach to working alongside families as they struggled to feed their babies. I became a board certified lactation consultant and have really fallen in love with what I do. There’s nothing better than empowering families to reach their feeding goals, wherever they are in their journey, whether it’s exclusive breastfeeding, combo feeding, pumping or bottle feeding. I offer prenatal breastfeeding classes, virtual, office and home consultations. I can assess for tongue or lip ties, educate on pumps to maximize pumping sessions, transition baby to bottle in preparation for parents going back to work, help increase or decrease milk supply, and assist with all breastfeeding challenges.
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.
Nipple shield weaning
Did you use a nipple shield to help your baby latch? Want to transition baby off the shield? First, weaning from the shield is your choice. If you like it and it’s comfortable for you, don’t feel pressured to get rid of it before you and your baby are ready. There are risks associated with shield use, like the potential for decreased milk supply. But if that’s the only way your baby will latch right now, give yourselves time and grace to keep trying as baby gets older and more proficient at the breast. As always, if you’re really struggling to get off the shield, find a knowledgeable lactation consultant to help you with the process to make sure something else isn’t going on with baby’s latch.
💡You can always start with the shield on and take it off after your first let down once baby is not as hungry or use it on the first side and offer the second side without it
💡Start by trying without the shield once a day during daylight hours when baby is happy and not too hungry. Catching baby with early hunger cues is imperative. If they’re crying and really hungry, try a different time
💡Start in skin to skin. Taking a bath together can help. Try to be as relaxed as possible
💡Try to erect and evert your nipple. Use reverse pressure softening (RPS, see highlight reel), a pump or stimulate your nipples with your hands before attempting to latch
💡Help baby latch with laid back nursing, supporting the breast in a “C” or sandwich hold, or the flipple. Make sure baby’s chin and cheeks are physically touching the breast as much as possible. A baby that can’t feel the breast can’t latch to the breast.
💡Hand express to get your milk flowing so baby gets instant satisfaction and reduce the work
💡Relax and be patient. Babies can feel your energy. The more you can see it as fun practice, the less pressure you’ll put on yourself and your baby
💡Try a nipple shield weaning system like this one from Back to Mom (24mm) or Lacteck (small/20mm).
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”
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.
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.
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.
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.
Breast pump flange size
Having the right pump flange size can make all the difference in your pumping journey. Most pumps come standard with a 24mm and possibly a 27/28mm flange(s). Did you know I’ve only recommended the 28mm flange twice in the last 3 years? And the 24mm only maybe a dozen times out of hundreds of moms? The majority of the people I woke with need a 17, 19, or 21mm flange and often need a cushion to make it a half size. Too much areola in the tunnel can cause swelling that doesn’t let your milk empty efficiently, leading to plugged ducts and a drop in milk supply. (Ever pump but still feel like there’s milk in the breast? Most likely your flange is too big) Measuring your nipples can give you an idea of what size flange you’ll need. Use a ruler at the base of your nipple (not the areola!) and find the diameter. Add ~3mm and that’s a good place to start. Pumping should feel comfortable with no pain or rubbing of your nipples in the tunnel. It’s like trying to find the perfect shoe. It may take trying a few sizes to get the right fit, but trust me, it’s worth it!! Have you measured your nipples yet? Did you know there are still too many lactation consultants (especially in the hospital) who don’t know there are other sized flanges? There are lots of products (inserts, cushions, different shapes and sizes) to help make your pumping experience so much better.
So why wasn’t this considered when pump companies were making flanges? I read some where the original reason they made 24 and 28mm was for the size of baby’s mouth, not nipple size!
Do you nipples stretch a lot and swell into the tunnel? We call those elastic nipples. You may do really well with something like the Beaugen Mom Cushions which help hold the areola back. Or the Pumpin Pal flanges which have a different shape to help with the stretch.
What size flange do you use?
Oxytocin
Oxytocin is the hormone responsible for making milk eject or “let down” during feeding and pumping. Milk is constantly being made and collected in little sacs (alveoli) at the back of the breast. When the breast and nipple are stimulated during feeding, oxytocin makes the cells around the alveoli contract in what’s called the milk ejection reflex (MER). This makes the milk that is already in the breast flow for baby.
You can train yourself to have MER through your senses and feelings, such as when you touch, smell or see your baby, hear baby cry, or think lovingly about them. If you are in severe pain, anxious, or emotionally upset, the oxytocin reflex may become inhibited, and milk may suddenly stop flowing well. With support, and recognition, once you feel comfortable and baby continues to breastfeed, the milk will flow again.
Signs that the oxytocin reflex is active:
• Tingling sensation in the breast before or during a feed
• Milk starts to drop when you think of baby or hear crying
• Milk flowing from the other breast when baby is sucking
• Milk sprays from the breast if baby unlatches
• Slow deep sucks and swallowing by the baby, indicating milk is flowing
• Uterine cramping in the first week after delivery
• Thirst during a feed.
If one or more of these signs are present, the reflex is working. However, if they are not present, it does not mean that the reflex is not active. Not every one feels or is aware of these sensations.
Breastfeeding isn’t the only way to get a dose of oxytocin. If you can feel milk in your breasts but are having trouble letting the milk down, try this:
◦ Keep baby in skin to skin contact for 1-2 hours prior to feeding or pumping
◦ Do yoga. A small 2013 study found after 1 month of yoga, people had higher oxytocin levels
◦ Listen to music. Multiple studies have found that listening to music naturally boosts oxytocin. This can be especially helpful when pumping at work
◦ Meditate. This helps reduce stress which increases oxytocin
◦ Touch. Physical touch releases oxytocin. This can be from cuddling, hugging or touching another person you love or getting a massage
◦ Laugh! Laughter really is the best medicine
◦ Sex. This is a hard one depending on where you’re at in your postpartum journey, but orgasm is a key way to boost oxytocin
◦ Pet you pet! Animal touch can release oxytocin just like human touch can
◦ Oxytocin nasal spray. Struggling with severe anxiety and nothing else is working? A prescription for an oxytocin nasal spray can help trigger let downs
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.
Friendly breastfeeding reminders
👉🏼Pumping is NEVER an indication of supply
👉🏼Chances are you will need a pump flange size that didn’t come with your pump (We don’t all wear a 36C, why would pump companies expect us all to have the same nipple size?)
👉🏼You can NEVER empty the breast. It constantly makes milk. It takes at least 40 days of no stimulation for the breast to stop making milk
👉🏼Nipple damage is not normal. It is always a sign of something: Shallow latch. Tongue tie. Wrong size flange.
👉🏼Breasts/chest are NOT supposed to stay engorged
👉🏼That full feeling between feedings goes away around 6-8 weeks
👉🏼Babies become efficient feeders, so a 3 month old may get a full feeding in 5 minutes even if they fed for 30 as a newborn
👉🏼Some times they’ll want one side. Sometimes they’ll want both. Sometimes they want both sides multiple times 🤷🏽♀️
👉🏼This is eating. We may want a snack, a buffet, a meal, a treat, dessert or a thirst quencher. Same goes at the breast
👉🏼Some leak, some don’t. Leaking is not an indication of supply. Leaking may slow or stop at any point and is NOT an indication that you’re losing supply
👉🏼Not everyone feels their let down. Many stop feeling their let down with time.
👉🏼The longer you go between feedings the higher the water content of your milk. The shorter you go between feeding the smaller the volume but the higher the fat concentration
👉🏼Every baby feeds differently
👉🏼Your body is amazing!!!!
👉🏼Trust your body. Trust your baby
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#breastfeeding #breastfeedingisbeautiful #breastfeedingtips #motherdaughter #motherhoodunplugged #lactationconsultant #lactationsupport
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.