Clogged milk duct in middle of growth spurt

yty0205

LO is 5.5 wks and going through a hell of a growth spurt. The last two days he wouldn't nap during the day unless he was on my chest. As a result, tonight I discovered the top of my left boob felt engorged. When I pumped (while LO slept on my DH, thank God) I got pretty much nothing. That's usually my high producing side too. I did hot compress, massage, hot shower, pump, nurse, etc but still have this rock hard top of the boob. LO is acting crazy hungry still after nursing like crazy on that side. I am about to lose my freaking mind.

Any advice for how to make sure LO gets enough to satisfy him during a growth spurt but also clear this stupid duct?

FutureMrsCaesar

Try placing baby on some pillows on your bed and nurse on all fours, with your boob hanging down, baby's chin toward the clog.  Looks and feels incredibly silly, but the one and only time I've been successful in getting a clog out without it turning into mastitis that's what I did.

Eggerkr

Keep working on it so you don't get mastitis! Have you introduced formula yet? I had to go full force with formula at 6 weeks since his demand was so high. The 6 week gs is the worst by far!

yty0205

Thanks, y'all. Finally got him to go to sleep at about 2 (so I crashed). Waiting on him to wake up any second, so I'm doing some warm compresses now. Will try the all fours thing too - I'll do anything to avoid mastitis!!

For those of y'all that have had these clogs, how long did it take to clear?

@eggerkr - No formula yet but I'm not against it. I've got a little bit of milk in the fridge, but not a lot. Once those bottles are gone, we may need to crack open the Nutramigen samples our pedi gave us. I feel like I'm starving LO. Talk about FTM anxiety here...

FutureMrsCaesar

My last clog that didn't turn into mastitis lasted about 3 days from when I first felt a little tenderness to when I could confidently say that it was starting to get better, so about 2 full days of compresses, massaging, feeding, pumping, etc.  

6 week growth spurt and having a clogged duct is NOT the time to introduce formula. if you can in any way get through this time without supplementing (breastmilk or formula) your supply will be better for it in the long run.  also it's important to keep the clogged duct as empty as possible.  GL

sportsmomma

I've been getting recurrent plugged ducts and love these little heat packs from Lansinoh: https://www.lansinoh.com/products/therapearl-3-in-1-breast-therapy

You can just pop it in your bra before nursing/pumping and it snaps around the pump too.

[Deleted User]

The user and all related content has been deleted.

yty0205

No worries, ladies - formula is still closed. Since I've slept a little, I feel more rational now.

@bluecards - just ordered the gel things from Amazon. Those look awesome! Thank you!

I'm continuing to nurse, heat, shower, etc and it seems like it's helping. Fingers crossed! LO seems a little more satisfied today.