[wombat girl]

Hi,

I am jenayds's sister and can I start by encouraging you to keep breastfeeding, you are doing a great job despite all the challenges. Breastmilk is by far the best thing you can feed your baby and is actually way more nutritious than any formula out there. Sadly many doctors do not have training on the advantages of breastfeeding and so give bad advice. The WHO recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the 1st 6 months then continuing to breastfeed after solids are introduced.

I had thrush and a tongue tied baby. My son's frenulum was only tied slightly but I was in so much pain we got it clipped. He was only about 1 week old, so as the LLL leader mentioned, it healed very quickly. It was more traumatic for us to watch as his parents but he nursed immediately and it helped it to heal quickly.

The thrush was more of a challenge to treat but be assured that it is conquerable and you will be able to nurse without pain one day! It is horribly painful, you have my complete sympathy. The white tongue is a classic sign of thrush.

First, do not worry about your milk, it is still the best thing to feed the baby. Second, watch out for a bright red nappy rash, that can be the fungal infection coming out in the poo and you may need to treat it with antifungal medication.

The way I treated my thrush was following the advice of a Canadian breastfeeding expert, Dr Jack Newman. You can read his advice on thrush (candida) on http://www.drjacknewman.com/help/Candida-Protocol.asp. I used gentian violet, the all purpose nipple ointment and took grapefruit seed extract tablets and acidopholous tablets. I also ate a lot of plain yoghurt. He gives you the recipe for the ointment and I had to get a Dr to give me a prescription and the chemist then made it up for me. I kept taking the acidophilus and GSE for as long as I was nursing, even after I got rid of the trush, to keep it from coming back. I got them from health food stores in Canada, where I then lived.

Have you tried pumping after feeding to empty your breasts and keep up your supply? My babies refused bottles but my husband fed them expressed milk from a teaspoon when I was out.

La Leche League is a great source of support and their website also has info on thrush: http://www.llli.org/NB/NBthrush.html

Good luck!
wombat girl

[elmo]

When my second baby was born, two nurses at the hospital told me that they thought he was tongue-tied. They said getting it sorted was a simple procedure. I mentioned it to my ped and he told me not to listen to the nurses and said I needn't be worried about anything. Feeling assured I forgot all about it until recently when I came across a forum about it and I realised why I never managed to get my son to latch on and feed properly. He would latch on for a minute or two, latch off and start crying. This happened at every feeding session. I tried feeding him from a bottle, but he didn't want a bottle. I bought all kinds of sippy cup but he wasn't interested. I thought perhaps my milk supply was low, so tried supplimenting him with formula and changed formula several times but nothing worked. It got me really worried because each time my baby's weight was taken, the ped kept telling me he was underweight. At 4 months, I started him on solids as I didn't think he was getting enough nutrients from the measley amount of breastmilk he was getting from me. I persisted with the breastfeeding till he was 1 year old before giving up for good. At almost 2 years of age now, he's only about 10.5kgs. He's developed normally although he walked much later than other kids his age but so did his brother. He's also rapidly expanding his vocabulary and can say simple sentences so other than the breastfeeding problems I had in the first year, he seems to be doing just fine now. Still, I wish I had done that 'simple' procedure as it would have saved me a lot of worry not to mention poor bub never got fed enough!

[jenayds]

The accepted medical wisdom used to be that you didn't clip a tongue tie, but this is now swinging back in the other direction and it is being done more now (in Western countries at least).

[LLL_Sarah]

Dear Muimuimolina,

I think that your doctor may not be up-to-date on the huge benefits, both nutritionally and for the immune system, that breastfeeding has. Most recommendations are to exclusively breastfeed for the first six months and then introduce appropriate solid foods while continuing to breastfeed.

Two useful site which explain the symptoms of thrush are:

Thrush,
http://www.llli.org/NB/NBMayJun93p83.html

Yeast Infections and the Breastfeeding Family: Helping mothers find relief for symptoms and treatment for the infection preserves the breastfeeding relationshiphttp://<br /> http://www.llli.org/l...tNov98p91.html

If I have yeast infection in the breast (got all the symptoms), does the milk contain yeast?
Yes the milk does contain thrush but as you have an over growth of thrush it means the baby does too. Both of you need to be treated for thrush together ? otherwise you?ll just keep passing it back and forth between the two of you.

If yes, is it safe for the baby?
Yes it is safe for your baby ? occasionally the baby finds the thrush in his mouth uncomfortable and so is irritable. But some babies don?t seem to care.

My bub has this white patch on his tongue n ped says it's probably yeast infection too. He's taking Nystatin. Does he have pain when he suckles which makes him fussy on the breast?
Yes the thrush could be uncomfortable and cause baby to be fussy.

Should I stop bf until the yeast is gone?
No ? stopping breastfeeding will not help and will stop your baby from getting the best food and the antibodies in the milk.

Best wishes,
SARAH