BTDT moms who BF, had to stop for medical reasons (slightly TMI) then BF again - WARNING....LONG!!!!

So, I have a very bad infection. I had an ingrown toe nail since the summer (TMI!!). Of course, as a new mom, I was clueless and oblivious of it. Well, until I wore my first pair of closed toe shoes when I went back to work.

Anyhoo... took care of it. Went to dr, then specialist. I was on BF safe antibiotic (Keflex) after I INSISTED I was BFing and it needed to be safe for DS. I thought it was fixed.

Fast forward 3 weeks later or so (today), I had to go back to the specialist for the same toe nail but other side. Same procedure. Local anesthesia again (will dump milk for 24 hours, etc...) and removing parts of nail. I had to tell the specialist I was still BFing so we had to take that in consideration again.

He did not like it at all. I can understand. He sighed!!!! I will take Keflex again to take care of the bad infection (which I know... that's been going on since the summer). But now it really flared up into this very bad infection.

My dilema.....

If it turns out that the antibiotic is not strong enough, I will have to take something else that will. And yes, that means DS will have to be on formula. since he won't be safe for him.

I was really set on BFing/pumping until at least 6 months. He is now almost 4.5 months.

If that were to happen, should I give him formula, keep pumping /dumping to maintain my supply then go back to BFing once I am taking care of.

OR... once on formula... I should just forget about BFing all together?

If you were in that situation, what did you do?

Re: BTDT moms who BF, had to stop for medical reasons (slightly TMI) then BF again - WARNING....LONG!!!!

How long will you have to be on antibiotic??

I think you have done an amazing job BFing for 4.5 months! That's wonderful!

It's so hard to say but I might try to maintain it by pumping and dumping if it doesn't exhaust/frustrate you. If not, you are SO close to when you wanted to stop anyway!!! Great job!!

Hope you feel better

Re: BTDT moms who BF, had to stop for medical reasons (slightly TMI) then BF again - WARNING....LONG!!!!

I would probably be on for 7-10 days.

Re: BTDT moms who BF, had to stop for medical reasons (slightly TMI) then BF again - WARNING....LONG!!!!

I got sick and was put on Levaquin antibiotic for over a month when my DD was just 3 weeks old. Needless to say, with that long of a time frame, and the fact the doc said to wait 2 weeks after I finish taking so it can leave my body, I ended up switching to formula all together. When I tried to keep up by pumping, it didn't work. I was hardly getting any milk (mind you I was sick with a kidney infection).

Try it. At least you can say you did if it doens't work out.

Re: BTDT moms who BF, had to stop for medical reasons (slightly TMI) then BF again - WARNING....LONG!!!!

I was almost in this situation. When I went for my 1 wk post-op appt for my c-section, my blood pressure was very high. My Dr sent me to the emergency room to be evaluated. There was a possibility that I might end up on medication that wouldn't allow me to BF. At that time and under those conditions, I immediately knew that I wanted to BF at whatever it took. (I ended up not needing to be on any medication at all and it came down on its own.)

This is really such a personal decision. If you had to go onto the stronger, non-BFing medicine, how long would it be for? That will probably influence whether it's easy or not to return to BFing, if you choose to. Pumping is not easy and sometimes a baby can develop a bottle preference.

I really hope that the BFing safe medicine does the trick GL

Re: BTDT moms who BF, had to stop for medical reasons (slightly TMI) then BF again - WARNING....LONG!!!!

Posted by thiadora

I was almost in this situation. When I went for my 1 wk post-op appt for my c-section, my blood pressure was very high. My Dr sent me to the emergency room to be evaluated. There was a possibility that I might end up on medication that wouldn't allow me to BF. At that time and under those conditions, I immediately knew that I wanted to BF at whatever it took. (I ended up not needing to be on any medication at all and it came down on its own.)

This is really such a personal decision. If you had to go onto the stronger, non-BFing medicine, how long would it be for? That will probably influence whether it's easy or not to return to BFing, if you choose to. Pumping is not easy and sometimes a baby can develop a bottle preference.

I really hope that the BFing safe medicine does the trick GL

Re: BTDT moms who BF, had to stop for medical reasons (slightly TMI) then BF again - WARNING....LONG!!!!

How long will you have to be on this stronger medication?

If you had to pump and dump for a week I would say give it a shot- its a lot of work and hard on you- but he may go back to the breast pretty well as he is still young.

If we are talking 2-3 weeks I would say forget it- pumping round the clock is hard.

Maybe do it as much as your can- see if he goes back to the breast- if not, keep on pumping for another few months but maybe 3x a day only to put in his bottles- not too stressful for you but he will still get some BM.

Re: BTDT moms who BF, had to stop for medical reasons (slightly TMI) then BF again - WARNING....LONG!!!!

Sorry Sophie - I have no advice whatsoever - just want to wish you a speedy recovery!!!!

Re: BTDT moms who BF, had to stop for medical reasons (slightly TMI) then BF again - WARNING....LONG!!!!

7-10 days is long, but not THAT long... i would try pumping and dumping and see what happens. i'm sure DS will go back to BF, but if not, at least you can say you tried your best. at this moment, though, it sounds like you need to take care of your own health. hope you feel better soon!

Re: BTDT moms who BF, had to stop for medical reasons (slightly TMI) then BF again - WARNING....LONG!!!!

Unfortunately for me, the trip to the emergancy room and then hospitalization was enough to dry up most of my production. I tried to start again but DD wasn't to happy about that and didn't want to keep a latch.

Re: BTDT moms who BF, had to stop for medical reasons (slightly TMI) then BF again - WARNING....LONG!!!!

A friend of mine had to go through this and it was very upsetting but ultimately she had to take care of her own body. She pumped and dumped while her DS was formula fed then went back to BF but she never EBF again she wound up giving him a bottle of formula once or twice a day.

Re: BTDT moms who BF, had to stop for medical reasons (slightly TMI) then BF again - WARNING....LONG!!!!

Re: BTDT moms who BF, had to stop for medical reasons (slightly TMI) then BF again - WARNING....LONG!!!!

I would pump and dump. Do you have any forzen BM, I would start mixing the BM now while on the safe one with some formula so that you will not have to go to 100% formula and then go back to all BM.

Re: BTDT moms who BF, had to stop for medical reasons (slightly TMI) then BF again - WARNING....LONG!!!!

When my DS was 3 weeks old I had to go on Cipro for an antibiotic-resistent UTI. I had already taken Macrobid and Keflex and they just were not strong enough. I decided to pump and dump for 7 days and used formula. Breastfeeding was really important to me, so I felt that was the best decision for me at that time.

If you are already pumping 5-6 times a day, it probably would not be that big a deal to continue to pump, but the dumping part is tough. It's like all that work and it goes down the drain! If you are considering switching to formula feeding though, now might be the time. It is a very personal decision. Good luck

Re: BTDT moms who BF, had to stop for medical reasons (slightly TMI) then BF again - WARNING....LONG!!!!

Can you try to build up your supply now so you can freeze some to use if you have to take the other antibiotics? I nurse DS on one side every morning and pump the other. Eventually, my supply in one boob got to be enough for his feeding and then I get at least another 6 oz out of the other side to freeze for a later date. I don't know if it's too late to try this.

Re: BTDT moms who BF, had to stop for medical reasons (slightly TMI) then BF again - WARNING....LONG!!!!

You really sound like you have your heart into bfing.. so i say keep pumping and dumping to keep your supply. Then once your done with meds, start bfing again and see how your DS is. If he goes back to bfing great, if he doesnt then you know you did the switch over to formula.. Best Wishes and Vibes for a Quick recovery so you can back to bfing

Re: BTDT moms who BF, had to stop for medical reasons (slightly TMI) then BF again - WARNING....LONG!!!!

Sophie, I know how excited you are to BF, so I say pump and dump. See how much you can pump before you go on the medication. If you can at least give one feeding of expressed BM during that week, then you're doing well. If you can build up a way to give one feeding per day, than woohoo!!! Ask your pediatrician what formula would be best.

We all have 'plans' when we start to breastfeed. My plan was to never even give a bottle until at least 6 weeks. At 6 days pp I was hospitalized and needed to start pumping. Then I got the word that I needed a procedure where I needed to pump and dump. I barely even had a milk supply by that point, but I was determined to make it work. I know you are determined too!!!!

You need to take care of yourself in order to take care of your baby.