Breastfeeding Remedies

| Modified on Dec 13, 2020
Fennel Tea
Posted by Lucena (Uik) on 01/16/2014
★☆☆☆☆

Good day everyone. My daughter has her baby a week ago. She tried to breastfeed but baby kept on crying. Midwife suggested to topup every feed. When we took them home, I gave her fennel tea as I have read it here. After a couple of days, no improvement. Anyone has natural suggestion to stimulate mom's milk? thanks a lot

Antibiotic Use While Breastfeeding
Posted by Mama To Many (Tennessee, Usa) on 09/13/2013

Hi Rachel,

I have used ACV, Coconut Oil and probiotics while breastfeeding. Personally, I think they are all safe to use internally. I have never seen any ill effect from them for myself or baby while breastfeeding.

As far as the fungal infection on your legs/feet, it might help the most to treat internally and externally, especially if it is causing discomfort.

~Mama to Many~


Antibiotic Use While Breastfeeding
Posted by Rachel (Maryland) on 09/12/2013

Recently I developed a UTI which became a bladder infection. I was prescribed an antibiotic, which I hate to use. I would like to replace the good bacteria that was lost, so I am considering a probiotic. Is there any reason I should be cautious using one while Breast Feeding?

I also believe I may have a fungal infection on my feet, toes and shins. I have read about ACV and coconut oil. Again, is there anything I should know about starting a regimen while breastfeeding? Would a foot soak be better then taking it internally?

Thank you so much. Your site is wonderful!

Ductal Yeast Remedies
Posted by Ky Mama (Clinton, Ky) on 03/21/2013
★★★★★

Hi! I usuallly use earth clinic to find natural remedies but this problem is not too common and wasn't listed here, so I did do reseach and tried many things and seem to be healed. I hope this will be helpful to other breastfeeding mothers who want to treat ductal yeast naturally.

I have a nursing one year old and was suddenly plagued with terrible, terrible pain in the breast. It was a deep, sharp shooting pain. After some studying I realized it was a yeast infection of the milk ducts. I had no visible sings of yeast infection, but that can happen. After I would nurse on the bad side, within 20 minutes I would have pain that about took my breath away. He wasn't nursing a ton and I quickly cut back on nursings on the affected side. I did not want to take Diflucon, I don't respond well to pharmaceuticals, and they are expensive, side effects, etc. Plus, for ductal yeast you have to take it for a month!

So, I started to do everything I could think of or read of that might help. Here is what seemed to knock it out.

- GSE (grapefruit seed extract) 250mg 3x day
- Garlic oil capsules (3, 3 times a day. I am sure a fresh garlic clove three times a day would have been better, but I can't stomach that.)
- Oregano oil capsules - 2, 3x day
- Vitamin C (ideally, tons - to bowel tolerance. ) I did trail off on this at some point as it tends to bother my stomach some.
- Avoid sugar. Limit carbs. (I would have some homemade whole wheat products.)
- Garlic oil - topically (mince a couple of whole bulbs (yes all the cloves in each of two bulbs) and cover it in a combination of coconut oil and olive oil. Let this set for 10 days. Strain out garlic and keep oil in fridge. Apply 3x a day. (Obviously you don't want to wait 10 days for it. Go ahead and get a little out each day- it won't be as strong but better than nothing.)

It took a month or two of treatment. Somewhere in there I found out I was pregnant and cut back the GSE to once a day and quit the oregano oil. My milk dries up when pregnant, so I can't be positive that the lack of food source for the yeast didn't have something to do with this all going away.

Other notes of interest, I think reoccuring mastitis can be cause by yeast. I have mastitis many times with this baby. He is my 9th baby. Only with my first baby 19 years ago did I have this much trouble. (I had at least 75 incidences of plugged ducts in the first year! ) Finally, at a year, nursing was so painful I could barely stand it. The nipple was cracked and bleeding and so painful. (But my baby had food intolernaces and really needed human milk. I couldn't wean him. ) I tried many things. The thing that finally knocked it out was calendula tincture. I would put a dropperful of tincture in a dixie cup of water and hold it over each nipple for a minute or longer after each nursing. It really did work. I could have done that with the ductal yeast and didn't try it. Calendula tinture could also be taken, 1 dropperful 3 x a day internally.

Gentian Violet for Thrush
Posted by Joy (Battleground, Wash) on 03/06/2013

I have never used this treatment , BUT "dental issues" I seek answers for all the time. The teeth can remineralize themselves given the right nutrients and minerals.

I read in a childrens site in Earth Clinic .... --- Ted commented about a childs teeth that were deteriorating, HOW to treat them , to help restore them. Wish I were better at attaching things from the site to help you find it faster but saw it yesterday after MY Heart went out to your post..... Keep your hope alive!

My teeth also are responding well to brushing with organic, virgin coconut oil , removes the sensitivity, and fights bacteria, some books say add baking soda in the mix when brushing teeth with it. I also added a multi mineral complex to my diet recently.


Gentian Violet for Thrush
Posted by Sylvia (Centurion, South Africa) on 03/04/2013

I used Gentian Violet for thrush on my nipples while breastfeeding when my baby was about 11 months. It stained her teeth purple and when the thrush was cured (about 4 weeks) her teeth was not only stained but was completely brittle and broke off! She is 18 months now and her top 4 teeth has disintegrated to stumps 1 mm from the gums. She had a healthy diet so could the Gentian Violet have caused the damage to her milkteeth?

Coconut Oil
Posted by Marisa (Norton, Oh) on 02/15/2012
★★★★★

Coconut oil is actually good for mom and baby when she is nursing. Since it is anti- viral, -bacterial, -fungal, she may detox quickly if taken too much at one time. Start slowly, then increase slowly. It is a good immune booster for both, and the fat is good for mom's milk. Coconut oil is especially a good alternative if a mom has to exclude dairy from her diet, as she can easily replace butter in baked goods, cooking, etc.


Cabbage
Posted by Bj (Porirua, Wellington, New Zealand) on 08/26/2011
★★★★★

yes! I did not believe such a simple thing could work and suffered terribly with my two firstborn children. I finally tried it when my 3rd child was born (some many wise years later). It is like a miracle. I used it cold as above, wore one leave as a bra liner, it also helped soften my cracked (bleeding) nipples. Better than anything else.


Cabbage
Posted by Sunnymummy (Seattle, Wa) on 06/24/2011
★★★★★

Cabbage for engorgement is AWESOME! When I had my frist child I got very very engorged, to the point where my breasts were red like they had been sunburned and I could not put my arms at my sides anymore. So I put a head of green cabbage in the fridge and let it get cold. When it was cold I peeled off the largest outside leaves and put them on my breasts and then put a bra on to try to keep them against the skin. There was instant relief from the pain beacause the leaves were cold but after a few hours the swelling had reduced and I was not in excruciating pain. I only had to use this method one more time becasue my child was nursing better so the engorgment was gone but it was awsome when I needed it!


Breast Milk
Posted by Mesem (Toulon, France) on 01/16/2011

For some support and humour go to Utube and enter 'Phyllis Diller Breast Feeding'. This lady was really onto it. Despite her humour to the contrary she was a natural mother and great home maker. Here in France I think you might get put away for being so pro-mothering.


Multiple Remedies
Posted by Lauren (Carlsbad, Ca) on 12/19/2010

I am currently breast-feeding a 6 month old and am taking a lot of supplements, so I wanted to see if anyone thought I was over doing it or if something I am doing could be harmful to my 6 month old. I have pretty much researched everything, but since I don't have a family practitioner to ask, I thought I'd get earthclinic users feedback.

I put 1 tbls molasses in my morning coffee and 1 tbls in rooibos tea at night. I drink 1 to 2 tbls of ACV in hot water 1-2x day and add coconut oil to toast and whatever else I cook during the day. I take a probiotic (10 billion strains), D3 (3000-4000 iu), B-complex, fish oil (1000 mg), magnesium (400 mg). I was taking a mulit-vitamin but stopped because I didn't want to overdo the iron. As a side note, my infant is perfectly healthy, calm and happy, so I can't say anything is directly affecting him. Thanks for any feedback. Lauren


Coconut Oil
Posted by Bekah (Gresham, Or) on 06/15/2010

EVCO is completely safe to use while nursing and while pregnant. There are no known allergies to EVCO and there are hundred of health benefits! Google 'health benefits of coconut oil' you'll be amazied at what you find!


Pineapple
Posted by Kathleen (Glenwood, Nova Scotia) on 06/03/2010

Significant typo re [farming] udder wash on my earlier ['cheesemaking'] reply, although the way I gave it only would have made the wash, 'ineffective'; it would have worse the other way around. (someone in the past has addressed the 'diluting issues' with Hydrogen peroxide. -

Anyway, with 3% hp, I use one part hp to 5 parts water; with 35% hp, I use one part hp to [more conservatively here, because you don't mistakes with this product] approximately 15 parts.

The point I had wanted to make is that hp is, in our recent experience, superior to an iodine wash in this procedure -and for daily use, I think the same thing can be said for us -


Pineapple
Posted by Kathleen (Glenwood, Nova Scotia) on 06/02/2010

I've been reading some of the recent posts [I only recently found Earth Clinic], came upon this one from a recent mom, and thought it might provide a good opportunity to address a few 'milk-related' issues I've noticed here,[as a recent reader] and elsewhere, where 'milk'/'dairy' have apparently had quite a wicked reputation for awhile now -

We have milking animals, -due in large part to one of those childhood 'fascinations'-that just never quit, I'm speaking of the one that comes when a toddler first asks, 'what's curds and whey?', and the answer received just doesn't 'pass muster', so that it's years -maybe years and years- before they ever even get to, 'what's a 'tuffet'?' I don't precisely recall how it went in our house, long ago, but I think it went something like this. 'curds and whey' means 'cheese'. [I LOVED cheese]. 'How do you make cheese??' to which, the busy young mother of the toddler replied: 'Oh, no one MAKES cheese.' which put it, for me, in the early years of Religion scholarship, in the same category as 'manna from Heaven', and/or 'grace' [another mystery]...as what Mary might be 'full of...' but let's leave this, or we'll never get to the clogged milk duct' or the 'milk is bad' posts, and it's vital that we do. 'vital' being the operative word here, because in fact, milk is VERY LINKED TO 'LIFE', 'TO 'HEALTH', -and it is a rather recent a 'modern' phenom that it now seems to be doing quite the opposite.

When you understand how cheesemaking works, you'll quickly see why and how this is happening in the world of our epoch, which is a very sick, very impaired bio-eco-system, biosphere, and why environmental problems are now so widespread, that life-giving milk ...is now being blamed! In fact, the problems are occurring because the human body is at the perfect temperature for cheesemaking, and acids both environmental acids, and dietary acids- quickly leach calcium from the bones, essentially creating a 'cheese-like' bloodstream. Many of the most prevalent toxins (sulphur dioxide -'sour gas'-, and many of the chemicals used in the oil industry --'ring compounds' -- like the benzenes - compound the problem, by almost acting like a 'salt','on top of AllThis' and then, on top of that, we've got the individual problems associated with 'fat', -in anything to do with 'milk' and 'cheese', we're talking about 'butter fat' which is the cell-loving, wonderfully permeable stuff that makes babies grow and by the way, -die, which is how we learned about AllThis here, under the 'Cloud' of targeted Pollution that quickly took out the finest youngstock.. But that's another Long Story, and you just want to know about 'clogged milk ducts' which, of course, can move on to abcess/mastitis ['things don't flow'conditions..] ll related to 'cheesemaking', as just described. [I apologize if this is sounding complex, or worse, incomprehensible, because it's actually very very simple].

Our bones need the calcium we get from 'dairy'; babies NEED 'butterfat', as do all animal young, in order to grow. What we have to know how to do is to regulate the 'cheesemaking' that is done in our bodies, constantly, as a response to environmental and dietary acid levels, so that the bloodstream can continue to flow, and 'breathe'. This isn't as difficult for adults as it is for youngsters. Adults can and should cut down on butter fat, which soaks into the cell walls [which is why it's so great on lobster, and potatoes] use olive oil, instead [which doesn't do this, and thus cuts the risk of sudden 'inflammation']. And if you use mostly already-soured milk, you'll be at much lower risk for the sudden changes wrought by environmental acids [and they can be very sudden, with widespread, dramatic, and ill effects] on bone-level calcium. You need to keep the body's 'cheesemaking' pores, inside and out, clean. Vinegar and lemon juice are very very useful for this, and outside, I know of nothing better than 3% foodgrade hydrogen peroxide. In fact, this is the first year I've used this in warm water [probably fifteen parts water to 1 part 3%hp, but this is approximate; I'm not going to say I measure it at 5 o'clock every morning], in a wash of the udders, before and after milking [other years, we've used iodine, but they stopped making the product we've long used, so we just happened to switch to 'what we had'] and this is the first year along with dietary changes that now include vinegar and whey in their diets- this is the first year I haven't seen even one of those little 'milk duct clog bumps' SO, I would advise:

-see if you can get a reading on the butterfat content of your own milk, and try to adjust this, if it's too high, a real favor for both you and your infant.

-add things [aplenty!] like vinegar and whey and yogurt [in place of milk] and add brewer's yeast to your diet; baking soda and molasses are also useful. In fact, anytime a milker has a problem here, I drench her with whey, molasses, vinegar and baking soda, and 'fizz it outta there'..

-gradually [it's hard to do this 'cold turkey'] replace all the the fats you use presently with olive oil. For the past ten years, we've used only olive oil, with butter, now, only rarely, and really, the benefits are noteworthy.

I'm rather busy here, but I will try to post our very easy recipe for 'curds and whey' over the next couple of days. The addition of whey to the diet -well, you'll consider it a 'Moment', when you first begin to use whey in your cooking and baking, and it's as easy as it is 'heart-y', beneficial.

I'm sorry if this isn't too easy to grasp. Looking it over, I'm thinking that if I said this to a child who asked: what's 'curds and whey'? or, 'how do you MAKE cheese'? ...they'd probably run the other way and say to their own youngster, eventually ' no body MAKES cheese'..

Well, in fact, *every body MAKES cheese*... and believe me, it's in your very BEST INTEREST to know as much as you can about how it is done.

Good Luck.


Pineapple
Posted by Shannon (South Park, Pa) on 06/01/2010
★★★★★

I had a clogged milk duct for two days, with a fever and all...since this is my fourth child, I am accustomed to soaking it in warm water for about 15 minutes, massaging it, then immediately feeding my child, and that has always worked for me. This time it didn't. I read about the pineapple remedy on this site, happened to have a pineapple on my counter, so I ate a fourth of it, thinking "It couldn't hurt."

Much to my surprise, the clog gradually got smaller and less painful throughout the day. By morning, it was completely gone. Thank you so much Earth Clinic! I was afraid I'd have to go on antibiotics and stop breastfeeding (although they may now have some that are "ok" to take while breastfeeding?).


Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by Maggie (Springfield, Il) on 02/09/2010
★★★★★

I took ACV (organic) all through my last pregnancy and while nursing with no problems at all. Helped a lot with the problems of constipation during pregnancy. I also took unsulpherated blackstrap molasses and never needed iron sups (I needed them for my first kids). And oh yes....I had my last when I was 47, am still nursing at 48 1/2 and she is perfectly healthy and I feel great. In fact, I can eat anything (healthy of course) and it doesn't bother her. A very happy baby!


Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by Casey (Norwalk, Ohio) on 01/31/2010
★☆☆☆☆

Apple Cider Vinegar and Breastfeeding

I breastfeed my son, and he was 8 months old when I started taking the apple cider vinegar for joint pain. At his age, nothing I ate or drank bothered his stomach, but when I was taking the apple cider vinegar he had frequent stomach aches, was very fussy, and would go days without bowel movements when he normally would have one twice a day. I would definately not suggest drinking apple cider vinegar if you're a breastfeeding mother.


Gentian Violet for Thrush
Posted by Mmiller (Tracy, Ca) on 11/17/2009
★★★★★

I experienced thrush with my first daughter and now my second. Gentian Violet is the way to go. As previously stated it is VERY messy. If you rub the area around baby's mouth with oil (I use coconut oil) it keeps the skin clean. Also, soak any stained fabrics overnight in one of the oxy-type laundry cleaners.I use two scoops to a bathroom sink of HOT water. It has worked every time so far however, every so often I need to soak stubborn stains two days. Wash normally after soaking.


Pineapple
Posted by Carrie (Woodinville, Wa) on 10/12/2009
★★★★★

New to nursing burning problems in breasts

Eat pineapple, 2-3 day cure. don't take the drugs.

Suggestions:
Do not wait for the mastitis to go away by itself. Contact your health care provider immediately for treatment with antibiotics that are safe for you and your baby. It is very important that you continue nursing often during this time. Your milk is not infected and will not harm your baby. Also, complete the entire treatment of antibiotics (seven to 10 days) so the infection does not come back. Consider contacting a lactation consultant to teach you how to prevent mastitis from happening again.

No no no, just pineapple canned works too not just fresh

Cabbage
Posted by Ann (Paris, France) on 06/24/2009
★★★★★

A few years ago, my daughter having had her baby and having chosen to breast feed her, began getting "knots" in her breasts. Apparently the baby was not drinking enough milk to have a smooth flow and the milk was causing congestion in the ducts. The result was very hard and painful swollen breasts.

I believe this is a situation that many nursing mothers face. We tried using fresh cabbage leaves and it worked miracles! Just take the individual leaves, dip in boiling water for a couple of minutes to soften; let cool till warm and wrap the breasts in 2 or 3 layers of leaves. Cover with a warm damp towel and leave for an hour or so, then repeat until the breasts have become supple once again.

Try it, it works! Cabbage works for alot of other types of congestion and swelling and even for wounds. It's a great home remedy.

Coconut Oil
Posted by Helena (Nashville, TN) on 05/16/2009

Nursing and Cleansing: Hi...I have a question. I would really like to do some cleansing, but I'm still nursing my 5-month-old baby. Can I use EVCO safely while nursing? Do I need to wait until I stop nursing to start anything new? Thanks for the help!

Apple Cider Vinegar, Garlic
Posted by Freeha (Ferwania, Kuwait) on 03/24/2009

Hi, I am lactation women and i want to know about apple cider vinegar/honey and garlic mix,,,i am using applecider vinegar/honey and garlic mix three times a day and two tablespoon of apple cider vinegar and lime mix in 16oz water and sip all day long for weight loose,,,,so need to know that can i do this during lactation becouse i ahve 8 months old baby ,,,can i use only ACV and lime without baking soda for weight lose during lactation? if the toxins are released to drink all these things then will it harmfull for my baby,,,,If the toxins are entre to baby so what can be heppen ,,is that so danger and what the symptoms if and how do i know that the toxins enter to my babay,, thanks but waiting your feedback,


Breast Milk
Posted by Christina (Minneapolis, MN, USA) on 03/12/2009
★★★★★

Here is an article from Mothering magazine about the healing properties of breast milk. I see that there are no posts about breast milk, that surprises me as it has been used to cure many ailments throughout human history.

Your Walking Medicine Chest
By Liz Laing
Issue 133, November/December 2005

Mother's milk is the perfect panacea for a whole host of ailments - from pinkeye to acne. Just a squirt will do the trick!

Most people know about the health benefits of breastfeeding, but few know about breastmilk's medicinal benefits. Breastmilk is sterile, antibacterial, and has many healing properties. It can be used to treat a variety of ailments and can be applied topically for eye and ear infections, minor skin injuries, sore or cracked nipples, diaper rash, sore throats, and stuffy noses. Is breastmilk an everyday cure-all? Read on and judge for yourself.

When your child gets a cold and has a stuffy nose, drizzle breastmilk into each nostril. It will thin the mucus, and the milk's natural antibodies will help fight infection. Jay Gordon, MD, FAAP, IBCLC's nationally recognized pediatrician, author, and breastfeeding authority, encourages the use of breastmilk in this way. "I recommend breastmilk as the best nose drop for babies and children with colds," he says. "The milk kills viruses on contact (sounds like a TV commercial!), and the best part is that it makes babies sneeze. The sneeze sends viruses, bacteria, dust, and more flying out of the nose at 100 mph."

Several clinical studies have shown that since each mother's milk is made specifically for her own baby, it is effective in ridding the infant's eyes and nose of viruses and germs. I have used it on my own children, and even on myself. Recently, my son had pinkeye; when I applied my breastmilk to his eyes several times a day, the conjunctivitis cleared up. A friend of mine used her breastmilk on all her family members whenever they got pinkeye, and thus for years she was able to avoid having to buy prescription eyedrops.

You never know when breastmilk will come in handy. I got liquid soap in my eye once while in the locker room at my gym. My eye was burning and extremely red, and rinsing it with water didn't help at all. I checked my purse for eyedrops but found none. Then I remembered the built-in medicine chest I carried around on my own chest. I went into a bathroom stall, cupped my hand, squirted out some milk, and bathed my eye in it. Ahhhhhh! Instant relief - the redness and painful stinging were gone. I was glad to have this option available, and felt proud that my body produces something that can be used to help heal other parts of my body. What a great way to recycle.

Besides colds and eye irritations, there are several other conditions that might benefit from the use of breastmilk. In most cases you simply express your milk into a clean saucer, cup, or bowl, then use a cotton ball or eyedropper to apply or squirt milk directly onto the area, as needed, for the desired results.

In many places - including Mexico, Russia, Africa, South America, and India - the use of breastmilk in alternative ways is quite common. One mother on a Midwifery Today online forum said, "In Nigeria, if a child has a condition of the eyes, such as mucus, we simply squirt a bit of breastmilk and it clears right up."1

Besides healing common minor afflictions, breastmilk has recently been in the news for helping to treat more serious illnesses. Adult cancer patients have been drinking breastmilk in an attempt to boost their immune systems and cope better with the side effects of chemotherapy.2 While this is not a common practice, a milk bank in California has supplied a group of pioneering patients with breastmilk for the past few years. One lucky recipient of this donor milk, Howard Cohen of Palo Alto, California, strongly believes that ingesting breastmilk daily has helped his prostate cancer go into remission.3

Donor milk is used to treat a variety of health problems. I spoke with Pauline Sakamoto, RN, MS, executive director of the Mothers' Milk Bank in San Jose, California, about some of the other ways breastmilk benefits people. "Historically, human milk has been used for diseases and health conditions of adults and children and as a superior food for babies. These folk cures have been tested throughout time. Currently, there has been more interest in the scientific community to test the components of human milk's effect on different health problems that plague us today. Hopefully, in the near future, we will validate the incredible power that our body has to promote growth, heal itself, and preserve its integrity via human milk.

Breastmilk may even kill cancer cells. In 1995 physician and immunologist Catharina Svanborg and a team of research biologists at Sweden's Lund University discovered in breastmilk a protein compound, alpha-lactalbumin (they gave it the acronym HAMLET), that selectively induces apoptosis in tumor cells.4 In other words, HAMLET makes cancer cells commit suicide. In fact, it has killed every type of cancer the researchers have tested it against. HAMLET has also been used to successfully treat virally infected warts, which were reduced by 75 percent in volunteers who received daily treatments with an ointment containing the protein. The same viruses that cause warts are also linked to cervical cancer, genital warts, and some types of skin cancer. Well, we all knew that breastmilk is powerful.

You may wonder why this discovery of a possible cure for cancer has not received greater attention. Funding is part of the problem, but slowly, in the past decade, more attention has been paid to this small laboratory in a quiet corner of the world. Even the American Cancer Society has given its stamp of approval by giving a grant to Svanborg and her team to help fund further research into their discovery.

While this type of scientific news is exciting, let's not forget the real miracle of breastmilk and its primary use. The healing powers of this liquid gold are incredible enough, but breastmilk's most amazing quality is that it gives life. No other food or substance on earth comes close to doing what breastmilk does. Human breastmilk is the ideal food for human babies. Pediatrician Jay Gordon reminds us how crucial breastfeeding is when he says, "Babies denied breastmilk during the first year of life get sick and die at a much greater rate than babies who nurse."

I am still amazed when I watch my son nurse. I know that his healthy, growing body is thriving because he is suckling the perfect food, which my body makes for his body. But in addition to satisfying this primary need, my breastmilk can help heal his body in other ways as well.

NOTES

http: //www.midwiferytoday.com/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=383

Michael Day, "Adults Turn to Breast Milk to Ease Effects of Chemotherapy," Daily Telegraph (16 January 2005); www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/01/16/nteat16. xml

"The Man Who Swears by Breastmilk," BBC News Online, UK edition (23 January 2005): http://news.bbc.co. uk/1/hi/health/4187697.stm

Catharina Svanborg, MD, PhD, "Treatment of Skin Papillomas with Topical Alpha-Lactalbumin-Oleic Acid," New England Journal of Medicine 350 (2004): 2663-2672.

Liz Laing, ACE, is a freelance writer and mother of four beautiful, breastfed children. She has been a stay-at-home mom for the past 12 years and most recently is overcoming the challenges of single motherhood. A certified childbirth educator and doula, Liz lives in Los Angeles, California.


Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by Earth Clinic (USA) on 02/18/2009
★★★★★

UPDATE: We decided to email the _____ company this afternoon to see if they could answer the question as to if apple cider vinegar is safe for pregnant or nursing women.

John Westerdahl, PhD, MPH, RD and director of the _____ Health Foundation emailed us back, "_____ Apple Cider vinegar is safe to consume for pregnant and lactating women."

Good to know.. FINALLY!


Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by Danielle (Everett, WA) on 02/18/2009

I was looking on your site to see if there were any dangers of using ACV while breastfeeding and I see that there are three others with the same question, but couldn't find any answers. I am not having any trouble breastfeeding my 7 month old. My mother in law just started using the daily ACV dose and looks and feels great and has more energy and has not gotten sick this year (she is a grade school teacher). I want to do the same, but want to make sure there will be no problems for my baby or my milk production.

EC: We've been searching the net and this is the typical response to your question:

Pregnancy and Breastfeeding
Not recommended due to lack of sufficient data.

However, here is one response from mothering.com: (http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?t=886927)

"When I had some problems with plugged ducts in the early weeks of dd's life, I came here and read some of the threads looking for suggestions. Someone suggested apple cider vinegar in order to prevent plugged ducts/mastitis. I did a search on google and found out that it can be used to prevent mastitis. I've been taking a tbsp daily with a little honey and some cold water. I use Bragg - organic apple cider vinegar. You should not have any problems, in fact it will probably be good for you. That's just my 2 cents

Tara"

Dandelion Tea
Posted by Jolynda (Long Beach, California, USA) on 01/19/2009
★★★★★

Our daughter is almost seven months old and she is breastfed. When I first started nursing I would get these terrible shooting pains as soon as she latched on. It hurt so bad that I almost stopped nursing her! I went to a lactation consultant and she said it was probably thrush. Then I went to my doctor and he said I had clogged ducts and that it would eventually go away as long as I continued nursing. He gave me motrin for the pain. However, the pain stayed for over two months! Then a friend of mine suggested trying dandelion leaves or even dandelion root tea. She said that dandelions will not only help with the milk supply, but it will help the milk flow through the ducts more easily. She said we would be able to find the dandelion leaves in an Asian Market, because they are not found in the regular grocery stores. I tried the dandelion leaves as a salad. It's very bitter so you have to put a lot of dressing on it. I ate this salad for a couple of days and the pain went away! I was so relieved! Then I checked online for the dandelion root tea bags (it's caffeine free). I ordered a few boxes (30 tea bags in each box) and I drink one every day! I have not had any nursing issues since! Just make sure you follow the directions on the box. I once let my tea bag sit in the hot water longer than the suggested time and after I drank it, I had a bad stomach ache! The box I ordered says to steep tea bag in a cup of no more than 6 oz. of boiling water, press the bag and remove. It's still bitter but I add 2 scoops of honey to sweeten. Good luck to all the nursing mothers out there!

Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by Vanessa (Denver, CO, USA) on 01/11/2009

Please if anybody has any information about taking ACV for weightloss and the side effects it has on breastfeeding, if any, let me know. I was just wondering if there was any reason why I shouldnt be taking it while breastfeeding. Thank you.


Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by Leticia (Houston, Texas) on 01/08/2009

Does taking Apple Cider Vinegar affect anything having to do with nursing? My niece has acid reflux and I want to recommend this to her because ACV has helped me so much...can someone shed some light? will it affect an infant thru her milk? If so, what are the side effects?


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