| |
Important Breastfeeding Skincare Issues
A lot of information has been written on the subject of breastfeeding skincare. Much of this material has been focused on products that are available to help mother's maintain healthy bodies, while at the same time delivering safe milk to their child. This article details some of the less common problems that can affect these skincare issues.
Breastfeeding skincare should be started even before the baby is born.
The body of an expectant mother will go through many changes as her pregnancy moves through each term. During the latter months of pregnancy it is not uncommon for many women to notice that their nipples are becoming tender and that their areolas, the brown colored circles that surround the nipples, are becoming enlarged.
This increased tenderness at the nipple and around the nipple is normal but can often be inflamed or irritated by wearing a bra. Some expectant mothers find relief by wearing softer bras or no bras at all whenever possible. Another breastfeeding skincare aid pre-delivery is to apply warm cloths to the area.
Once a mother has delivered her baby, her skincare issues change somewhat.
The baby's sucking on the nipples can often lead to a decrease of firmness in the areas as well as extreme tenderness, dry skin and cracked skin. It should be noted that almost all women will experience discomfort during the first two or three weeks of nursing. This is normal and should not cause alarm unless the pain or discomfort becomes too much to bear. Should this level of discomfort occur, or if you have breastfeeding skincare issues that you do not understand, you should visit with your doctor.
Browse through our line of breastfeeding skincare products !!
There are some easy to do breastfeeding skincare options that can help new mothers to keep nipples and the surrounding area from becoming too uncomfortable. One of the most important tips for new mothers is to keep the nipple area as dry as possible, especially after feeding times. This can be accomplished by simply patting the area dry with a soft, absorbent towel.
Another easy tip is to make sure that breast pads are changed frequently. Once these pads become too moist they can lead to skin irritation in a very short amount of time. Again, the key is to keep the area as dry as possible.
How you hold your baby while he or she is nursing is another important issue. Your baby should be positioned so that its lips can easily surround the nipple without any tugging or pulling on the nipple. These bouts of tugging and pulling on the nipple can lead to pain, inflammation, swelling, and even certain forms of infection to the mother's nipple. You may need to experiment a bit before finding the perfect position for you and the baby but it is time well spent.
Some women will find many benefits in using nursing creams. You must only use the best quality products and the more naturally based they are the better. These products can help reduce the incidence of dry or cracked skin. They do this by keeping the nipple area lubricated and hydrated. It is important that you use only the safest products that you can find.
When you are shopping for skincare products, avoid using those that require you to wash the product off before nursing. There are two reasons you want to avoid these products. First, you simply may forget to wash the material off and thus introduce it into your baby while nursing. The second reason is that often the material cannot be completely removed even with washing. Again, this leaves open the possibility of the baby ingesting the materials that make up the product.
There are several good-quality breastfeeding skincare products available for the nipple area that are effective against skin damage, yet gentle enough to use during breastfeeding with no harm to the baby. These products will be labeled as such, and if you do not see this statement on the label, then avoid the product for safety's sake.
It should be noted that there are nursing lotions and creams and then there are firming lotions and creams. Both of these can be found in the breastfeeding skincare section in both online and off line vendors but they are not the same. You must read the label of each before using them. This is the only way to know for sure what the ingredients are and what the safety issues are, if any.
The content presented here on this website is for informational purposes only. These products have not been approved by the FDA and are not intended to treat or cure any disease. This information should not be used as a substitute for professional medical advice.
|
