Stopping Nursing for 3 Days - Should I?

If you do decide to put off the MRI, might it help to see a physical therapist for some exercises that might alleviate the pain without meds?

I have a different issue, being older and a bit less active than I should be, I thought my hip weakness/pain was due to oncoming arthritis. the physical therapist my doctor sent me to see suggested some exercises that would get my hips more flexible and strengthen the muscles surrounding them as well as my back and abdominal muscles supporting them. It helps immensely. These are opposite the muscles used in running...Best of luck...I am sure you will make the decision that will be best for you and your daughter for the long term...and hopefully that will also be as pain free as possible...

I agree! I had a couple as well. They didn't say anything a out nursing just needed to make sure I wasn't pregnant. They said it was fine to nurse. Ask your lactation consultant or contact the La Leche League. Good luck!

Greetings H.: As the mother of 5 and the grandmother of several I would like to take this from a very personal vein of thought.
What ever you do as a woman and now as a mother is very important and should not be thought of lightly. As a mom you make many decisions that effect everyone around you. That said-- again I am thinking from my own experiance in making heavy medical decisions. Are you aware that someone can help you nurse your baby for a few days and you are still able to keep your milk coming in.-- You just may not want to use it if the concern is the contrast they will be useing for the MRI. I used to wet nurse other people's children and it really is safe and pratical. Your childs health as a premmie- was # 1-100 for you and well it should have been. But now you need to be able to take care of yourself so that you can care for your child with the current needs of growing up.
I really do know how this is a torment to decide on. One thing you may need to consider doing is making a list of pro's and con's and see for yourself which is the greater to listen to.
I have a saying I like that goes-- " I,God, never said it would be easy--- I only said it would all be worth it". I find that many times decisions are not easy but the right one is always worth it. Good Luck, Nana Glenda

H.,

Last year while still nursing my daughter I had and MRI and x-rays for pain in my lower left hip and shooting pain and numbness down my left leg and foot. I had no contrast dye and I did not have to stop nursing for one second. Like the LC said Dr. say pump and dump to cover their rear and don't know the info concerning bfing. My MRI was able to show that I had a pinched nerve and bulging discs in my back so the dye wasn't needed. I've even had treatment since finding this out while still nursing. I say take care of yourself so you can take care of your little girl.

Hi there, I highly encourage you to put off your MRI until your baby is at least 6-8 months old. I had a horrible time after my appendectomy and my baby would never accept the breast after she discovered the bottle. I felt so terrible and had to pump her milk and wash bottles. It was a lot of work. Since your issue is not life threatening I would say to wait until your baby is much older and can handle the change. Good Luck!

I would consult your daughter's doctor to get his or her's opinion on if she could handle 3 days on not nursing because she might get fussy at the bottle and not eat as much. If you choose to do the MRI I would suggest feeding her the bottle in a nursing position or even finger feeding using a tube. Also, have a lactation consultant number on hand if there are any issues after the 3 days.

I have a 7 year old and a 2 year old. I nursed the first for four months and the second for a year.
I highly reccomend waiting. Your baby is still pretty young and you haven't been nursing that long to stop for 3 days. Even if you are pumping it is not the same. If you do stop you may want to try mothers milk tea to bring it back. Just saying if you can wait 2 more months it will make a big difference... in my opinion.
Good Luck,
L.

I wouldn't do anything that could effect the nuring relationship you have going. At 14 weeks old I'd say it's still vunerable to change. A baby can get very used to the ease of feeding with a bottle and not have the patience for breast feeding. If it's important to you I'd put it off. Best wishes

Hi H.,

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Good luck.

N. Marie

I am a former La Leche League leader and to the best of my knowledge the only time an MRI makes breastfeeding unsafe is if they are using radioactive contrast dyes. I would question your doctor about thespecific technology and drugs to be used and then contact La Leche League. They have special medical advisors who can tell you the latest information on the drugs being used for you. Either contact your local LLL or go to www.llli.org. If it is definately unsafe to nurse your daughter I would wait a little until she has an adjusted age of 3-6 months and is easily nursing, you worked so hard to get her started. Also I would make sure you have a latation consultant handy to help if their are ant issues afterwards.

H.,

Last year I had two ct scans and two MRI's. In my experience, the doctors and other staff that will work with you have a profound lack of knowledge in the subject of breast feeding! I was given several sets of conflicting advice about nursing afterwards some of which obviously made no sense! Remember, they are also employing the CYA procedure (cover your a#%)
Contact your pediatrician or lactation consultant (if possible).
An MRI alone should not be any reason not to nurse afterwords. If you are having contrast dye, it will clear your system fairly quickly - according to my son's pediatrician, pumping and dumping once should be enough to get rid of it. Good Luck.

My girlfriend just went through this scenario after delivering her 3rd son. She was having severe pain and blood in her urine after her c-section. In order to make sure there wasn't any tears or serious issue with her bladder they had to do a CT w/ contrast (dye). She didn't have an option not to do the scan, and she regrets doing. Mind you her son was only 2wks old, but after 3 days of not nursing he wouldn't latch on. And was highly irritable. My thoughts are maybe to wait until she's a lil older.

But then again she may have no problem. I had my son on a bottle & nursing since he was brought home from the NICU. I used the FirstYrs Breastflow bottle. It's a pain of a bottle to clean, and you always seem to loose an oz in the nipple. But he never had any problems going btwn the two with this bottle. Just a thought....Best wishes on your decision & congrats on your new lil one :)

Check out this website: http://www.kellymom.com/health/meds/radioisotopes.html
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And another poster on a different website said this:

"I work in Radiology and do MRI scans all the time. There is no reason why you can't bf after an MRI scan, even most contrast media are safe as they are excreted pretty quick. The only scan that requires you don't nurse for 24-48 hours is a Nuclear Medicine scan, as this involves an injection of a radioactive isotope, so your milk would be slightly radioactive for 24-48 hours depending on how much they give you."

I also want to say congratulations for perservering through the issues I'm sure you & your daughter have faced since the beginning!

I'm a peer counselor with Nursing Mothers Counsel, and we give free one-on-one counseling to breastfeeding moms. If you have any questions in the future, please feel free to call us at (650) 327-MILK or visit our website at http://www.nursingmothers.org for valuable information & worksheets. kellymom.com is also a valuable resource for breastfeeding moms!!! Good luck, and I hope you're able to find a remedy for the chronic pain!

Just confirming your are having an MRI with contrast. If you are not injesting a contrast when you have the MRI you do not need to pump and dump. If your kid takes the bottle ok I would say you should be alright as long as you pump at least eight times in each 24 hr period. Babies get more than the pump so your body will "read" this as a decrease in demand. Again, confirm if you are having an MRI with contrast or if they can do it without contrast. The orthopedic may not be current on breastfeeding advice. Again contrast have to pump/dump...no contrast and you can feed normally (I did on lactation consultants ok and lots of internet reading).

Hi H.,

I am a Lactation Consultant in Sacramento, my name is J. Simpson. Talk to your Dr and find out if they plan on using a contrast dye - if so, then depending on what it is you may be able to breastfeed very soon after the procedure. Some dyes are out of your system very quickly, others take a bit longer. Docs typically do a bit of overkill on the pump and dump stuff to cover their butts...not yours. The information is out there for them to find out how long breastfeeding should or should not be interrupted...

My advice would be to find out what they are using. If nothing, then there is absolutely NO reason to interrupt breastfeeding. If they are using a contrast dye, you can research it on the La Leche League site (as suggested by another respondent - thank you!) or give me a call or your local Lactation Consultant and we can help you do that research.

As far as waiting to take care of yourself, I don't know that I agree with others who say wait, and put the breastfeeding first. This is YOUR health and you NEED to not be in pain. If you are unable to have a pain free life (and I know oh so well what that is all about) it does make it harder to enjoy our babies and care for them at times. So, I encourage you to do what you need to do for yourself and find a way to balance that with taking care of your daughter.

If you were in the Sacramento area I'd refer you to the gal who does my body work - out of 8 or so practitioners over 11 yrs she is the ONLY one who gave me back full, 100% functional use of my body - which, due to my injuries and the severity of them, I really shouldn't have. :) She helped me avoid surgery, and painful and expensive testing...she simply fixed the problems and allowed my body to heal itself and relearn how to function. She is fabulous! If you are up to the drive let me know...

Warmly,
J. Simpson, IBCLC, CIIM
www.breastfeedingnetwork.net
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Don't do it. I understand the pain and that is specifically what the doctor is attempting to address but hello!? Stop nursing the baby? Even if you do have enough breast milk for three days, the problem is the effect it can have on your bonding with the baby. This time is sooo precious and it is so worth cherishing. Nursing can be a tiresome job but when it's gone, well, it's just that- gone, in the past and suddenly your baby is a small child and you'll miss the time.
My mom had 10 children (1974-98)and under NO circumstance would she EVER take ANY medication that interfered with nursing. If you think about it, if the medication is harmful to a baby via breast milk, do you really want to ingest something like this at this time?
Your knees will be okay. On a side note, a lot of people are cutting wheat because so many people are experiencing sensitivities to the genetic modifications. Focusing on a flourless, whole foods, ancestral diet may offer your knees some positive effect.
Good luck!

hi H.,

i would say put if off at least for another few weeks. your daughter needs the stability in this early part of her life. why traumatize her when it is not an urgent matter for you and you can do your MRI later. in those first few months every moment matters for shaping her sense of the world.

love,
A. m

Hi, H., of course this is a personal decision and I'm only giving my opinion...I would wait. Your little girl is still very young and I'm always "over-worried" about when doctors tell me to wait 3 days, it may take even longer to be completely safe...who knows. I was in lots of pain from plantar faciitis in my feet and I really needed to take anti-inflamitories and get a cortizone shot in my foot, but I stuck it out until 13 months before I quit nursing. I know you aren't planning on stopping, which is great, but maybe just try and give her a little more time to get accustomed to breastfeeding, especially since it was difficult for her. Just my thought...

A.