Hints and tips for weaning (merged)

Fritha_2

Gravity tolls, another thrush sufferer here, it's horrid isn't it! Putting your own milk on instead of vaseline and then air drying might help as I think vaseline et al can make thrush worse as it creates a moist enviroment that the fungal stuff thrive in (nice!). Whether that will help with the dryness though I don't know. Your lo will need to be treated for thrush too if he isn't already so you don't pass it on to each other. I've been told by several people that treating you both with daktarin oral gel (in his mouth but but rubbed your nipples not your mouth obviously! I wondered for a while myself!) is the big cure, didn't work for us though tbh! (Nystan appears to be our treatment of choice!)

Can I recommend this book as well, there's an older child version too. Getting your child to sleep without tears (theirs or yours!), it's a lovely book and great for attachment parents. I hope it gets easier for you soon :-)

fernliebee

gravitytolls wrote: »

Thanks Sue darling.

He does drink from a bottle, beaker and lidless cup. But when he's tired, hurt, poorly etc., he just wants me. Co sleeping adds to the problem.

I tried sleeping elsewhere, but I could hear him crying, and DH is too woozy from night time pain killers to do more than pat his back and whisper shush. I can't listen to him cry, so \I give in. Maybe I should leave the house altogether? LOL.

I use nystan and lamisil to combat the infection, which is proving highly resistant to permanent eradication, and vaseline for the dryness caused by the creams. I dare not try anything else, as I had a horrendously painful reaction to the very gentle kamillosan several years ago, which stripped layer after layer of skin from my nipples, with even the MW recoiling in horror.

As for the air thing, I have no problems with it, and the children are well used after years of breastfeeding, to seeing bosoms, and are completely unfazed. Good, hopefully the human form will hold no illusions or fascination for them, beyond the normal hormonal urges.

I don't know, I think I may have to grin and bear it, at least until I am able to communicate with him that it's no longer acceptable.

If vaseline works for you that is good- everyone is different, but as vaseline is petroleum based it actually dries skin more, although it feels softer at first once the vaseline is off, the skin is drier which is a vicious circle. I didn't get on well with kamillosan either, although lot's of people rate it. You could try lansinoh- pure lanolin. I have very sensitive skin and it is fine on me (it was my saviour during breastfeeding, and I still use now occasionally during growth spurts!). Or you can get stuff like badger balm which is olive oil based but intended for lips, or try plain olive/ almond oil!

Please ignore me if this advice is unwanted! Hope you get things sorted soon!

fernliebee

Forgot to say that you can use live natural yoghurt either topically or eat a lot of it, and cut down on sugars as much as possible as this creates a nice environment for them.

I got thrush during pregnancy a lot, and found that eating a small live yoghurt a day kept it away- didn't much fancy applying topically! ha ha!

Hell_Dans_Un_Handcart

Gravity - my daughter is 18 months and we are very much in the same boat. I am ready to give up breastfeeding now, but she isn't! I do think she needs it at night/nap time, as it helps her sleep, and I'm more than happy to carry on with it.

I've moved on to feeds at separate times; she has one in the morning, one after lunch for her nap, and then not again until the evening. I've experimented with different cups, water, watered juices, flavoured cow's milk...all sorts. She soon got used to using a cup. It does break my heart when she 'asks' to feed and gets upset when I say no, but gradually, she is starting to understand and I'm better at distracting her. I find that if I'm up and busy, she also doesn't ask as much.

Thrush-wise - grapfruit seed extract is meant to be good, both taken orally and applied to the nipples. You can get it from health food shops and websites. I would try Palmer's cocoa butter for your nipples, the waxy stuff in pots (try Boots). I know of no better moisturiser.

Savvy_Sue

GT, you saying your DH is woozy from painkillers, I thought that was a bit of a no-no for co-sleeping?

Beyond that, I don't think I can add anything. Although I'm sure that if HduH's 18 month old can understand that booby only comes out at bedtime, your slightly older one can too.

gravitytolls

I know what you mean SS, but it's that or no sleeping. WE have a kingsize bed, which is pushed up against a cotbed with the side removed. Four year old daughter sleeps in the cotbed, next to me, and the baby sleeps on the outerside of the bed, as the cotbed is there instead of the floor. Sometimes he rolls into the bed and snuggles up to his sister, which is really cute.

gravitytolls

Hell_Dans_Un_Handcart wrote: »

Gravity - my daughter is 18 months and we are very much in the same boat. I am ready to give up breastfeeding now, but she isn't! I do think she needs it at night/nap time, as it helps her sleep, and I'm more than happy to carry on with it.

I've moved on to feeds at separate times; she has one in the morning, one after lunch for her nap, and then not again until the evening. I've experimented with different cups, water, watered juices, flavoured cow's milk...all sorts. She soon got used to using a cup. It does break my heart when she 'asks' to feed and gets upset when I say no, but gradually, she is starting to understand and I'm better at distracting her. I find that if I'm up and busy, she also doesn't ask as much.

Thrush-wise - grapfruit seed extract is meant to be good, both taken orally and applied to the nipples. You can get it from health food shops and websites. I would try Palmer's cocoa butter for your nipples, the waxy stuff in pots (try Boots). I know of no better moisturiser.

I tried to get GSE, but our local health shop had none, she'd not heard of it either. I should've tried online ~ dur ~ I also took 8 garlic capsules throughout the day, biowhatsit capsules, and bio, progoodbacteria whatever they're called yoghurty drinks too. All to no avail.

The pharmacist and several forums suggested washing in diluted vinegar solution, but I wasn't prepared to do that :eek: they were sore enough. I tried it on my scalp once, and it ain't going nowhere near me nips!

Savvy_Sue

gravitytolls wrote: »

I know what you mean SS, but it's that or no sleeping. WE have a kingsize bed, which is pushed up against a cotbed with the side removed. Four year old daughter sleeps in the cotbed, next to me, and the baby sleeps on the outerside of the bed, as the cotbed is there instead of the floor. Sometimes he rolls into the bed and snuggles up to his sister, which is really cute.

All that, and you still have 8. :rotfl:

A cot-bed next to the bed had crossed my mind. Will the four year old be moving on any time soon? Just thinking of things which might help.

You comment about the vinegar suggestion did make me think that you should always test anything you try elsewhere, before using it on your nipples - inside of your elbow is usually suggested, isn't it? It's not uncommon for really popular potions to cause a reaction - my boys couldn't use E45 because it made them red and spotty, but that was what the HV was forever suggesting!

There are a few threads on the Health Board with tips for dry skin, but I can't find the one I'm really thinking of right now and I need to get moving. However it is worth asking your pharmacist / local health food shop if they've got any samples you can try. Then try them on your inner elbow. Obviously this is in addition to anything prescribed from GP to treat the thrush itself, but worth checking anything you put on isn't going to act against the prescribed thrush treatments.

wendyphant

gravitytolls wrote: »

The pharmacist and several forums suggested washing in diluted vinegar solution, but I wasn't prepared to do that :eek: they were sore enough. I tried it on my scalp once, and it ain't going nowhere near me nips!

:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: Please NO NO NO NO NO to vinegar we stopped recommending that when the NHS came into being

I was:( a breast feeding mum up until monday when my little boy latched on and said mummy all gone so tried the other side 2 sucks and again all gone bot bot please

I was gutted but he turned 2 last week so I think I did ok:T

As for the thrush I would recommend a briliant website to get the advice breastfeedingnetwork.org.uk (sorry mse hope this is ok) but if you have had symptoms for more than 2 weeks or it is causing you pain in the nipple/breast during and after a feed you wil need to have a prescription from the gp. I am training to be an expert in this area so i hope this helps

gravitytolls

You did great Wendy, two years is way more than the vast majority of mothers ever manage, so big pat on the back.

Good to hear you're training for this field ~ although books all talk about breast feeding counsellors, and the support they can give, it's all a bit rose coloured specs, when the reality is they're thin on the ground, and midwives are so over stretched, that they simply don't have the time to spend with mothers with problems.

The thrush has been with me since April. It was two weeks before \i saw a GP, one had cracked and was weeping, she prescribed antibiotics. Had I shown her the other one, which was red and sore, she may have realised, but I just assumed it was through overuse, as I'd favoured that side due to the crack.

One week later, I returned, having found the diagnosis on the net. By then, they looked so awfyl taht the nurse sought a second opinion from the MW, as she'd not encountered anything like it before. The MW confirmed it.

Various websites seem to concur that thrush is becoming increasingly resistant to nystatin, and another GP prescribed lamisil as well. I thought I had it beat, and stopped using the creams in November, preferring to apply vaseline (because I use it on my lips), to counter the dryness, which I assumed was caused by the antifungals.

Anyhoo, back on the treadmill, and I fear I shall never be free of it, until I'm no longer feeding.

Incidentally, bambino is treated with nystatin too. Pharmacist and the info leaflet both suggest holding it in the mouth for as long as possible, to keep it in contact with the infection. This is, of course, impossible with a baby, which is probably why it's ongoing for so long.