It's really feeling like fall here, with crisp air, cold nights, and lots of photo-worthy foliage.
As I was driving by some beautiful red-leaved trees this afternoon I started thinking about how some breastfeeding issues seem to change with the season.
Take thrush, for example. Many women who struggle with yeast overgrowth find that a humid summer is the hardest time to beat it back. It often improves when the air becomes more dry in fall.
And then there's Raynaud's Phenomenon. As the weather gets cooler and dryer in the fall, I hear from women who had their babies in the summer and have been nursing comfortably. Then, as the weather changes, they find that they're having a burning pain with nursing, and often in between feedings. They're often treated for thrush before realizing that they are experiencing Raynaud's vasopsasm of the nipple. More on the treatment of Raynaud's is here.
And I'm think that I've noticed more mastitis in the winter. Do we get more dehydrated, or do we get so busy with holiday preparations that our nursing schedules become irregular? Do over-stimulated babies change their nursing patterns, leading to more stasis of milk? I don't know, but I'm pretty sure that winter is mastitis season.
Does any of this sound familiar to you?
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