It is said that confinement is a woman's "second rejuvenation", especially as a second-born mother, the sin of the last confinement is too unforgettable! Therefore, just after getting pregnant with my second child, I booked my sister-in-law early with my husband, hoping to take good care of myself.
A week before the due date, my sister-in-law sent me a message intimately, asked me about my physical condition, and warned me that the third day would definitely be milky, and I must prepare the cabbage cold compress in advance.
I wonder why the first confinement is hot, but this time the sister-in-law told me to apply cold compresses? Is it cold or hot? In the spirit of tracing the source of the attitude of verification, I consulted the relevant information and books, found that cold or hot compresses are exquisite, do not use indiscriminately, otherwise it will aggravate the pain of milk blockage and become mastitis.
"Desperate Sanlang" Zhang Ziyi just shared his family portrait with Wang Feng and his three children on social platforms, and his happiness exploded. But in fact, she experienced physiological milk increases in the first and second births, and she described the pain of milk increases as more painful than contractions and childbirth, which made people feel pain. Because of the pain of waking up and getting milk, she consulted the breastfeeding teacher early. Apply hot compresses for 10 minutes before feeding and 20-30 minutes after feeding.
So, when exactly is the hot compress and when is the cold compress?
After childbirth, warm compresses should be applied before starting breastfeeding, and physiological milk should be applied cold
Cold compresses, as the name suggests, are applied to fr with cabbage, potato chips or towels that have been refrigerated in the refrigerator. Hot compresses are applied to RF with a warm towel to promote the flow of milk, the temperature is not suitable for the skin to feel hot, and the temperature is too high to aggravate tissue edema, which is not conducive to milk discharge.
According to the Heidi Parenting Encyclopedia, after childbirth, because of a significant decrease in estrogen and progesterone levels, prolactin suddenly rises, activating the milk-producing cells in the female body, we will experience physiological milk increases on the 3rd or 4th day after childbirth, whether it is a vaginal birth or a caesarean section. Swelling is a sign that the breasts are full of milk, but it is also because the blood is concentrated in the breast that it causes pain and swelling, so as to ensure that the milk is produced in large quantities.
Therefore, every mother will experience physiological milk increase after secretion, which is a signal that milk begins to give birth, and it is prevented early and less guilty.
1. After childbirth, before starting breastfeeding, warm compresses should be massaged
After childbirth, we should suck the baby as soon as possible, the earlier the baby sucks, the easier it is for the mammary glands to unblock, and thus it is not easy to swell the milk. However, some mothers may not necessarily suck on the baby because of caesarean section, the mother's RT flat and short, or the breastfeeding position is not right.
Before breastfeeding begins, we can apply a hot towel to RF's areola to help the areola soften, thus helping to milk. The breasts are then massaged in circular motions with the index and middle fingers, gently massaging from the areola to the RT direction, and gently pat the breasts with the entire palm of the hand, also from the areola to the nipple. Remember to be gentle during the massage process to prevent injury to the mammary glands.
While your baby is feeding, you can support RF with your thumb and index finger and milk from the areola to the RT direction in the direction of the mammary duct, helping to stimulate milk outflow. If conditions permit, it is best to cooperate with the breast pump to prevent physiological milk growth.
2, physiological milk, to be cold compress
On the 3rd or 4th day after childbirth, after the birth of a physiological milk, the RF will be like an indestructible stone, the baby will not be willing to suck, and the breast pump will not be able to suck... At this time, we must not apply hot compresses, because the heat expansion and contraction, hot compresses will cause the breast ducts to expand, resulting in more serious milk rises.
The only thing we can do is cold compresses, whether it's cabbage or potato chips, preferably in the fridge for a few hours before cold compresses. Because the active enzymes in cabbage have analgesic and anti-edema effects, potato chips are also anti-swelling artifacts, thereby promoting local microcirculation.
As a breastfeeding mother who has experienced cold compresses, I tell you with my own experience that cold compresses are really too sour, and the moment I just attach RF is more painful than swelling pain! If you can, try to open the milk as soon as possible before the physiological milk rise appears, let the baby suck more, hot compresses and massage, so as to reduce the physiological milk rise.
Apply warm compresses before normal breastfeeding, and do not breastfeed cold compresses to relieve pain
After waiting for the physiological increase in milk, the milk is generally not blocked, unless the mother does not feed for a long time, and the baby is not willing to suck. Under normal circumstances, as long as the baby sucks more, it will embark on the happy fast lane of feeding.
The sixth edition of the American Academy of Pediatrics Parenting Encyclopedia preaches that when there is a milk increase during lactation, first consider the use of breast milk or expressed breast milk to fundamentally alleviate the discomfort caused by milk rise, at this time the hot compress is conducive to the flow of breast milk. However, when breastfeeding, if the mother feels uncomfortable, it should be cold, which can alleviate people's discomfort.
Back when I was born in 2016, when Dabao was confined, my sister-in-law kept giving me hot compresses, in fact, because I didn't have RT cracks and pain at that time, but THERE were lumps in RF. So my sister-in-law used hot compresses and massage techniques to help me relieve my discomfort. Because people who have experienced cold compresses will understand how happy hot compresses are.
And this year, when the second child was confined, my sister-in-law gave me cold compresses because I was RT cracked, and every time I fed, I tore my heart and lungs and hurt. Therefore, my sister-in-law chose refrigerated cabbage and potato chips to help me reduce swelling and relieve pain. At the same time, the sister-in-law massaged her hands on the one hand and let the baby suck on the other side, and the situation improved a lot.
Hot compresses before breastfeeding can increase lactation, and if there is pain in RF, RT cracks, redness and other discomforts, it is necessary to reduce swelling and analgesia through cold compresses to prevent serious mastitis.
Although the hot compress is good, but it can not be applied for too long, after two or three minutes of hot compress, you must let the baby suck more and suck the milk out. If your baby is reluctant to suck, he can squeeze it out by hand or pump it out with a breast pump to ensure that the milk is discharged to prevent it from blocking the milk again.
Whether it is hot compresses or cold compresses, it is not as good as sucking more for babies
Whether it is a hot compress or a cold compress, it is to alleviate the milk swelling or blockage, and the most effective way to prevent milk blockage is that the baby sucks more, which works better than any method.
At the beginning of breastfeeding, it may be normal that the baby will be reluctant to suck, after all, breastfeeding is a hard job. But the efforts of the mother and baby will set sail for the journey of breast milk.
How to get your baby to suck smoothly?
We can adjust the breastfeeding position and feed by lying on our sides, cross-hugging, holding our hands together, etc.
The Heidi Parenting Encyclopedia teaches that regardless of the feeding position chosen, make sure you're guiding your baby to rf, not rf. Many feeding problems are due to the mother's bulging figure and wanting to put RF in the baby's mouth. Instead, the mother straightens her back and guides her baby in finding RF.
When we adjust the position with the baby, the mother can first touch the baby's lips with RT, or first squeeze some breast milk on the corner of the baby's mouth to attract the baby to open his mouth to suckle. When your baby opens his mouth to suck, try to hold the RT and areola as much as possible. If the mom is feeling pain, it's that the baby is biting the RT, not sucking on the RT and areola, and we need to interrupt the baby's sucking, remove the RT, and start over.
It should also be noted that when breastfeeding, we should give the baby some room to breathe, making sure that RF is not blocking the baby's nose. If RF is blocking your baby's nose, you can gently press RF. At the end of breastfeeding, do not let the baby sleep with RT, the mother can gently place a finger on the corner of the baby's mouth and let the baby release the RT. Otherwise, holding RT for a long time will cause RT pain, which is what my blood pain experience has bought.
Write at the end
When I became a mother, I learned that the sin of pregnancy and the pain of contractions in childbirth were nothing, and the pain of breastfeeding was the most devastating torture. And if we know the knowledge of breastfeeding, mothers will suffer less.
May all nursing mothers get their wishes!