What to Do About Plugged Milk Ducts While Breast-feeding

There are many different problems that may occur while breast-feeding your baby. While it is one of the most satisfying experiences, it is not always easy. Throughout my experience of nursing my son I repeatedly dealt with plugged milk ducts. For some reason I was prone to them. Especially after I started working again, they got worse. This was when the actual pores that the milk flowed out became clogged. Sometimes there was even a little white dot that was the dried milk. It was very hard to find actually help on the internet or from my doctor on how to reduce or resolve this issue. Here is some first hand knowledge from my experience and a few tips that may be helpful to you. This is no way meant to treat or diagnose any condition, but purely what I encountered and what helped me.

Make sure you are wearing the correct size nursing bra. For about five months I was wearing a size 40d. I thought it felt comfortable, but never got properly measured. Then I was browsing in a great baby boutique in Denville NJ, called The Birth Boutique. I overheard someone getting measured for a maternity bra. The idea never even struck my mind. It was a slow day and I asked the saleswoman if she was free. She took a few minutes to properly measure me and wow what a difference, I was actually a 36e. Yes that was my correct size. The woman told me how common it was for new nursing moms to be wearing the wrong size. She then went on to say that it was probably the reason for the plugged ducts occurring so frequently. She offered a few bras to try on and I left the store with three brand new correctly fitting bras.

Remember when you are nursing, what you eat is what your baby eats. So if you are eating a diet high in fat, sugar or caffeine, so is your baby. Yes a lot gets passed to baby in very small amounts, but it can affect your body more. You need to drink a lot of water. My doctor told me to start drinking double what I would normally drink. When I didn't drink enough fluids and few days later I noticed that I start to have pain and had plugged ducts.

Try not to skip feedings. Whenever I skipped feeding and did not express milk, they would get plugged. I started taking my pump to work religiously even though I only worked part-time; it made a huge difference in my problem. When I was home and started to feel the problem I would nurse nurse and nurse. The baby sucking would help clear it out and the baby's latch was much stronger than the pump.

A great way to get the milk flowing steadily again is to take a warm shower and massage the breast. Sometimes I could feel a small lumpy area that was tender and sometimes not. By massaging gently you can work out the plug. Taking a bath and soaking in it works well too. Massage the breast under the warm water and you may even see the plug pop out. Spreading the nipple and then gently squeezing the white dots may help as well. Be careful, you do not want to damage the delicate tissue but sometimes you can squeeze it out like a whitehead pimple. Sometimes the milk may look stringy or thick. This resolves usually after the duct is clear. As always if you have any flu symptoms go to your doctor, because you may have developed mastitis and need antibiotics.