What to do when breasts swell and hurt

During the period of weaning, mothers will feel that their breasts are swollen and very painful, especially at night when the pain becomes more severe. As a result, they will not be able to sleep well, which will affect their sleep quality. If not treated, they will develop mastitis in the future. Once this disease occurs, it is very difficult to treat.

1. Start breastfeeding as soon as possible. The baby should be allowed to suck the mother's nipple within 15 minutes to 2 hours after birth. The baby should suck frequently, and each nipple should be sucked once every 2 to 3 hours.

2. Each time you feed, both breasts should be emptied, allowing the baby to finish sucking on one side before sucking on the other. If the milk supply from one breast can meet the baby's needs, the milk from the other breast should be expressed using a breast pump.

3. Take good care of your breasts to prevent stopping breastfeeding due to nipple cracking and pain. The care method is very simple. Just squeeze out a little milk and apply it evenly on the nipples after each feeding.

When your milk is swollen, you can do some hot compresses, breast massage, etc. If it is serious, you should see a doctor to prevent mastitis. It is not advisable to take milk-reducing drugs or foods because your baby needs precious breast milk.

The main reason is that mothers do not know how to breastfeed their babies. For example, some mothers have inverted nipples, which will inevitably affect the baby's milk sucking. The baby cannot suck milk, and the mother does not know what to do. In the end, the mother's milk becomes swollen. Some mothers simply give up breastfeeding, which is a pity. In fact, as long as the mother uses the thumbs of both hands to press both sides of the nipples from various angles and pry them outwards to make the nipples protrude, the problem can be solved by doing this once or several times a day. In some cases, it is because the mother has too much milk and the baby cannot suck it all, while in other cases it is because the mother does not breastfeed in time.

Breast engorgement: Many breastfeeding mothers have had this experience: when milk begins to be secreted or after milk production stops, the breasts begin to become hot, heavy, painful, and sometimes even as hard as stone. The surface of the breast appears smooth and full, and even the areola becomes firm and painful. In this case, even if the mother endures the pain and breastfeeds, it is difficult for the baby to suckle the mother's nipple. This is called "milk engorgement".