Jill, my deepest sympathy with this mom. I have just had a client with *very* similar complaints. The pain went on and on, and occurred a little during the breastfeeding, but mostly afterwards, lasting for 1 - 2 hours. We thought Thrush, but it didn't quite "fit". I sent her back to her doctor, who did a milk culture and found a staph infection. It was treated with appropriate antibiotic, but the pain went on and on. Could it be Thrush after all, what *was* it? Mom elected *not* to treat for Thrush, just hung on and finally reported to me yesterday that the pain had resolved. I still don't know what it was, but the baby had one sore throat after another, now has yet another infection with fever and sores in the mouth, which is being treated with Abx. I wonder if the bacterial infection just never really cleared and they were both suffering from the same thing. For your mom, I would be hesitant (as I was with my client) to recommend unilateral weaning, which might pose an additional risk of mastitis if the cause of the pain *is* bacterial. I would ask for a culture of the milk, and maybe the baby's throat, and see what comes up, meanwhile I'd suggest very careful drainage of the affected breast for now, and maybe ibuprofen for pain and anti-inflammatory benefits. Please keep us informed of how this one turns out. Pamela Morrison IBCLC, Zimbabwe mailto:[log in to unmask]