Help! Rash on Breasts!

It is possible it could be mastitis, you should go and see a dr right away.
Good luck

Get to your Doctor as soon as possible. It may not be anything to do with the baby!

Is the rash on your nipples and areola? If it is, it sounds like a yeast infection. Sounds weird, huh? If you are wearing nursing pads and they are staying moist, then yeast will grow. Your daughter will, if she hasn't already, develop thrush (yeast infection) in her mouth from this. If you don't treat it, you two will pass it back and forth. I have nursed 5 babies and have had yeast infections with some of them. Our pediatrician prescribed nystatin drops for the baby's mouth and nystatin cream for my breasts. Call your doctor and good luck and hang in there...they won't hurt forever!!

Have it checked out by your OB/GYN right away. It could be seasonal allergies that are manifesting themselves in your breasts rather than your nose (I itched on my breasts and inner elbows)or more than likely, it is a breast infection (mastitis) that can be treated with oral antibiotics. I got them a few times years ago when I was nursing (my kids are now 15 and 18) but I still remember the pain vividly! OUCH! You can probably still nurse during the treatment, or at worst, pump your breasts and discard the milk and feed your daughter formula until the meds are out of your system. Then you can resume nursing.

If the infection does not clear up with antibiotics though, please do me a favor and see a Breast Specialist. I don't want to scare you, but there are some breast conditions that OB/GYN's do not recognize, but Breast Specialists do. I speak from personal experience and as a result am alive today to be able to write you this note.

Best of luck getting your probable infection erradicated and CONGRATULATIONS on your newborn baby!!!! P. A.

It sounds like you probably have thrush. I had it when my baby was about six weeks, I can say I feel your pain! Call your ob and tell her your symptoms, she might just be able to call something in for you, it is common enough that mine didn't even need to see me when I told her the symptoms. Same with our pediatrician, she just called something in when I talked to the nurse and told her I had thrush and the baby had a white tongue. We had it a second time, sorry to say, and that time around I went to the ped first and she gave meds to both of us, saving a trip to the ob.

Try to get some time with your bra off to let them dry out well. Make sure you wash your bras, towels and anything that comes in contact with your breasts in HOT water with bleach or vinegar, a couple times during the treatment to make sure you dont reinfect.

Good luck and hang in there, I'm sorry you have this so early on! It will get better, and easier!

Hi A.!

Immediately when I read your email I thought it could be "thrush". Others have mentioned that, but I didn't see the suggestion to use GENTIAN VIOLET. It is a purple dye that you can get at at some Walgreens. (call around first) It is the BEST thing to get rid of the thrush if you do have it. Otherwise it just keeps going back and forth between you and your baby. Trust me.. we couldn't get rid of it forever. The only problem is that it does stain EVERYTHING! Get white sheets, white onesies, and don't wear a shirt. Both of you just paint on the gentian violet (on your nipples) and in her mouth. And then the thrush goes away immediately. You can just bleach all the clothes, and amuse your hubby with your beautiful art on your chest.. hee hee! It can be annoying, but I swear it works best to get rid of it for good. I still have some and my baby just turned a year. So, it was always nice to have on hand. It's only with breastfed kids that you guys get it.

Sounds like it could be thrush, which is a yeast infection on your breasts. Go see your doctor, if it is thrush, your doctor can give you something for it, like Diflucan. Also, you might want to see your ped because your daughter probably has it in her mouth, too. When this happened to me, my ped prescribed Nystatin for my son. Although he didn't show any symptoms, the doc said he should also be treated or we would just be passing the infection back and forth. Good luck and hope you feel better soon. Congrats on the new baby!

Don't be embarrassed! Breastfeeding is such a great thing to do for your child but sometimes us mommies have side effects!
It sounds to me like one of two things: either an allergic reaction to your nursing pads, which is easily fixed, or thrush - a yeast infection. Check with your doctor - there are oral and topical solutions for this as well.
Good luck to you!

You probably have thrush. You should go to your doctor to get medicine for it.

don't laugh but i used olive oil around my nipples and breasts and wore only silk tops/robes no bra(or a silk square inside the bra. it really helped.

Could be a yeast infecton. Chances are she may have it too. Does she have a white tint or color to the inside of her mouth? I would suggest calling your Dr. It is nothing to get embarrassed about, it is pretty common.

A.- Have you tried putting Lanisol on your nipples. THat helps with the tenderness and is safe for the baby. Your skin may be irritated from the nursing.

You might want to consider calling your doctor. You could also have thrush. It is very commom for babies to pass to their mothers. Check your baby's mouth for white patches. If this is the case you can get an antifungle ointment for both of you. Thrush can make the baby fussy becasue their mouths itch and burn. I got it while nursing my son.
Good luck!

A., I dealt w/ sore nipples & awful nursing for 2 of my babies. I would talk w/ your dr. ASAP so you can get it cleared up & not be in pain any longer. I had thrush w/ my first baby & I wanted to try to clear it up naturally, but in never quite went away.... I was in pain for the whole 13 months that I nursed her. I feel your pain. I didn't have a rash, but it felt like sand paper rubbing my nipples when my babies ate.... then I had shooting pains after she was done eating.... ugh! So my advice is to get professional help. :) Blessings, C.

It sounds like a yeast infection. Which means your baby probably has it in their mouth also. Is the inside of your baby's mouth white or white patches? You'll have to go to the doctor and get some medicine. It should go away pretty quickly.

I would suggest calling your doctor asap. This could be mastitis "Mastitis means that the breast is inflamed, and there is swelling, redness, tenderness and pain. There may be an infection, so it is wise to consult your health-care provider to determine whether or not an antibiotic is necessary.
Signs of mastitis include:
Part or all of the breast is intensely painful, hot, tender, red, and swollen. Some mothers can pinpoint a definite area of inflammation, while at other times the entire breast is tender. I wouldn't wait for the weekend. Also you could look up some self help remedies online if you don't like doctors, but in this case I would definitely call!
Good luck-
J.- Mother of four, breast fed all of them.

Definitely call your doctor on this one. I had the same thing. It's commonly called thrush. It's a yeast infection that passes from the baby's mouth to your skin and back, and it can go back and forth forever without medication. It's easy to take care of, though, and doesn't usually hurt the baby. Look for white spots on your baby's tongue and mouth.

Burning is a sign of Thrush. If there are white spot in the baby's mouth, that is another sign, but not required to have thrush. Gentian Violet avaliable at target/walgreens treats thrush. If that does not help within 24 hours then a trip to the dr. for cream is in order.
You can also have excema, not as common as thrush, but has similar symptoms. Thrush is more burning, excema can burn and itch. Hope this helps, don't worry you will get through it.
T.

Sounds like it may be mastitus, try the following link for more information:

http://www.babycenter.com/0_mastitis_251.bc

I would get in to see your doctor as soon as possible.

It sounds like you may have mastitis which is a common condition of breastfeeding. You need to immediately call your doctor and the breastfeeding nurse at your hospital to see how they can help. Even if it's not mastitis they can help you.
Good luck with this!!
P

You may be having a reaction to something given you during delivery. Talk to your doctor about what was given to you while in labor/delivery. My son and I both had a reaction to an antibiotic, didn't come out until three weeks later. It was awful.

The itching turned to burning does sound like thrush to me (you can google it for pictures to compare to your rash) Try to find some genetian violet at health food stores, put on you over the rash & all around it, and in baby's mouth. (you can pass it back & forth between the two of you endlessly).

sounds like thrush which is a kind of yeast infection that nursing moms and their babies can get. does the baby have white stuff in her mouth that looks like milk but you can't brush it away? go to the doctor regardless, you don't want the baby to get!

You most likely have thrush...which means your baby does too! I experienced this with my two older children while nursing, and expect to have it again with my youngest who is now nursing! You and your baby need to be treated by a doctor. Usually they will give you both Nystatin...You will use a cream and your baby will be given an oral. Good luck!

You need to go in and see either your doctor or the baby's doctor. It sounds like you have thrush which is a yeast infection nursing mothers can get. You and your baby will keep passing it back and forth until you get some medication for it.