Mastitis 2x in the past 6 weeks

[@llli*dragon77]

I am currently exclusively pumping due to having twins in the NICU born at 25 weeks. I have developed mastitis 2x in the past 6 weeks. The first was at 2 weeks and then again this past weekend. I am pumping every 2-3 hours during the day and 3-4 hours at night. I am having a hard time emptying my breasts completely. I have been using a microwave hot pack prior to pumping and massaging while pumping. My biggest concern is that my milk supply has greatly decreased and I am worried I won't be able to supply enough for my boys. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I currently use a medela symphony pump and have been thinking of purchasing the pumpin pals. Thank you for any ideas, suggestions and support.

[@llli*ohiomama]

That is rough, mama!

So you feel like you are having a hard time emptying your breasts.

-What size flange are you using? It could be that you may need to switch to another size. You can ask the IBCLC at the hospital to help you with that.
-Your pumping frequency sounds okay, but what about duration- how long do you pump for?
-Are you pumping hands-free? I wore a PumpEase when EPing and loved it. In the meantime, you can try this trick with hair elastics and a nursing bra from KellyMom.
-Many mamas, especially those with babies born early, find that they also benefit from hand-expressing before and after pumping to remove even more milk. This is a good video from Stanford University about this.

Additionally, KellyMom also has this page about recurrent mastitis and plugged ducts.

Hang in there, mama. Repeated bouts of mastitis is awful and frustrating, but keep reminding yourself of how far you and those sweet babies have come!

[@llli*mommal]

Excellent advice and questions from the PP.

If the mastitis returns, you may want to get a culture done. Repeated mastitis is sometimes caused by resistant bacterial strains.