Hi Rob,
which part of the breast is affected? If the lateral aspect is affected, and
she is feeding lying down at night, I suggest she sit up and feed the baby
under-the-arm in the morning. Sometimes I think the outer part of the breast
doesn't drain well when it's resting on the bed (especially if she sleeps in
a bra). Repositioning the baby with the chin toward the blockage can make a
big difference. Some women go on feeding like this in the mornings
prophylactically - to prevent further bouts of blocked ducts / mastitis.
As far as the length of antibiotics goes, I would be interested if anyone
knows of any research that has looked at optimum length of antibiotics. I
would suggest "as long as necessary" - she should take a 6 day course, but
if everything is fine I think there is little to be gained by taking more
(and of course, the risk of thrush increases with more antibiotics). The
recent Australian guidelines say 10 days - so I am speaking in my not so
humble opinion here!
Lisa Amir
MBBS, MMed, IBCLC in Melbourne, Australia

             ***********************************************
The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html