I saw a mom today who is currently nursing a 5 month old baby. He is
exclusively breastfed, feeds 4-5 times a day and sleeps through the
night. I don't know his weight, but he had rolls of fat on his legs
and looked well nourished to me. His mother had a large area of
inflammation on the bottom of her breast, 6-9 o'clock which had
developed the day after valentines day. She had been up late baking
cookies for an older child the night before. She started on an
antibiotic and it seemed to work, no more fever, chills etc. but
there is still an area of wicked redness, it felt and looked swollen
and tender to the touch.  This mom teaches aerobics and uses two
excercise bras at a time and then leaves them on several hours after
the class, she stopped that 2 weeks ago and has been braless since.
Her baby pulls and tugs a lot while nursing, but when he was finished,
 he was finished.  She is experiencing bi-lateral nipple pain, the
baby's tongue was clipped as a newborn which relieved intense
discomfort at that time.  Mom nursed her last baby for 27 months and
claimed she nursed "all the time", we talked about the Ezzo method
which a lot of her friends use, but she didn't need to use it because
this baby scheduled himself so well and she said she would meet his
needs whatever they were if he hadn't. Thrush crossed my mind several
times, but she doesn't have yeast anywhere else, no diaper rash,
vaginal yeast, baby's mouth is clear.  She is ready to wean from the
discomfort. Any ideas? She asked if she should have a mammogram or
see an MD (who will probably recommend weaning) she lives in a small
town 1 1/2 hours from here. She could get an RX for thrush (oral or
cream) from her pediatrician who thinks highly of LLL and lactation
consultants, but my gut feeling is that this is not thrush Any help
or ideas for where to go next would be appreciated. TIA, Cathy