pseudomonas and nursing

[anonymous]

I have what might be a stupid question ...

We just brought our little baby girl with CF home from the hospital on Monday, and while we're waiting for our first appointment with the CF doctor (next week), I'm trying to make sure that we're keeping things in our house as safe as possible for our baby.

I know pseudomonas grow in stagnant water, but is there a risk in other liquids as well? I'm breastfeeding, and as nursing moms can all attest, the first few weeks you leak milk like crazy. I'm using nursing pads in my bra, and I just realized today that that is a lot of stagnant fluid. Can pseudomonas grow in breastmilk? And if so, what can I do about preventing that?

Thanks for any input you might have ... I'm clearly new to all of this.

-- Jenica

 

[cfmomma]

Congrats on your little girl! I nursed my CF son for a year and he did wonderful, he has not cultured pseudomonas yet. Breastmilk has a natural antibiotic component and resists germs. Your milk will leak, more so in the first few weeks of nursing, but as long as you wear nursing pads and practice good hygiene there is nothing to worry about. Nursing a child, especially one with CF, is extremely beneficial for it's immune system and giving her antibodies now will help her fight the infections she may face in the future. Nursing is not for every one or for every child, but if you can and if your daughter is able I say go for it!

 

[HollyCatheryn]

 I was a nursing mom who has CF herself. Here are a few didbits. 1) Breastmilk retards growth of bacteria, which is why it can sit out in a container for longer than other kinds of milk without becoming contaminated.2) Using cloth breastpads are healthier for you and for baby because they don't encourage the retaining of moisture - which can cause skin irritations and encourage yeast. I used contoured cotton cloth pads and they worked wonderfully.3) There is Pseudomonas in water and in soil. You can't really prevent Pseudomonas from entering your home, but breastfeeding your daughter and giving her that immune system boost is one of the best things you can do besides basically keeping your home clean. There was another thread on here not too long ago about "Safe Cleaning Products". There were a lot of good suggestions there about house cleaning that is healthy, but not obsessive. 4) The more often you nurse, the less you will probably leak. If you go long stretches of time without nursing, your breasts can become overfull and will leak more to relieve themselves. 5) Contact La Leche League (LLL). In nursing a baby with any sort of issues, a support system is indispensible. The LLL Leaders also have at their disposal a medical advisory board and professional liaisons that can help get you accurate information in case of illness or need for antibiotics or other therapeutic changes that may affect breastfeeding. More than once LLL saves my nursing relationship with my baby, by finding more current research and information or alternatives that I was able to discuss with my doctors. Check out <A href="http://www.geocities.com/MurrensNatureMama/breastfeeding">www.geocities.com/MurrensNatureMama/breastfeeding</A> and <A href="http://www.geocities.com/MurrensNatureMama/specific_concerns_of_breastfeeding">www.geocities.com/MurrensNatureMama/specific_concerns_of_breastfeeding</A>. Those pages on my website have lots of current information on breastfeeding and CF. CF is also mentioned specifically in The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding by La Leche League in their section on Special Situations. You can also go to <A href="http://www.lalecheleague.org">www.lalecheleague.org</A> and type cystic fibrosis into the search. There are quite a few articles available there and LLL Leaders have access to some other articles and resources that can help. Feel free to email me (<A href="mailto:jaloughlin3@sbcglobal.net">jaloughlin3@sbcglobal.net</A>) if you have other questions, I've researched breastfeeding and cystic fibrosis extensively and I may be able to help you find the information you need.

 

[anonymous]

Thanks, Sheli and HollyCathryn. I nursed my older daughter for a year, and although it was a miserable experience at first (I was a bloody mess), it worked out really well for us in the end. I worked a lot harder this time making sure I had a correct latch from the beginning to prevent the awful pain I went through with my older daughter.

I am nursing frequently, on demand day and night, but still leaking quite a bit, so that was where my concern for the build-up of milk moisture came from. I tried the cloth nursing pads with my older daughter and leaked through to my shirts constantly. I found the disposable ones worked better, but maybe I'll give the cloth ones another try.

As far as the pseudomonas, are there any other new baby hot spots that I can avoid? What about the bulbs they give you in the hospital to suction out your baby's mouth and nose? Other than using a different one for the nose and the mouth obviously, can those present a danger? I haven't had to use either since we've been home, but I'm running them through the dishwasher each time I run it just in case I need to.

Any other advise you can give about keeping a new baby healthy would be greatly appreciated!

-- Jenica

 

[HollyCatheryn]

Really hot heat or sun drying kills most germs, bacteria and fungus. So, if you run baby items through the dishwasher go ahead and use the heat dry setting. You can put cloth items in the dryer on high, iron them (the hot iron serves to kill germs, etc.) or hang them in the sun. You can clean with vinegar, Grapefruit Seed Extract (GSE) and/or Tea Tree Oil (TTO) since all fo these are antifingal. GSE and TTO are also antimicrobial so that you can use them to kill just about anything germ-like, but it isn't toxic. Try not to let the house be too humid as that will encourage bacterial growth. If you need a humidifier for the baby's room, use TTO or GSE in the water tank to kill germs both in the tank and in the room.A little bit of sun every day is excellent for vitamin D production (which people with CF tend to have more trouble with). You can express and use your milk topically on abrasions, rashes, etc because of its antibacterial, healing properties. Feel free to keep my email (<A href="mailto:jaloughlin3@sbcglobal.net">jaloughlin3@sbcglobal.net</A>) on hand and email me any time you need to. I've gone through a lot of trial and error with both breastfeeding and staying healthy with CF. Good for you for getting the latch worked out in the beginning! Even though you're an experienced mom (both in breastfeeding and other mothering skills) I still highly encourage you to get in touch with LLL (<A href="http://www.lalecheleague.org">www.lalecheleague.org</A>) in your area. Especially with a baby with CF and needing to do some things differently and keep in close contact with doctors, it is good to have support people and access to correct information. It can make all the difference between weaning under duress because of a treatment plan and being able to continue nursing through treatments and surprises.Good for you for making this decision for your daughter - you will never regret it.