We’re talking phone, charger, snacks, water bottle, nursing pads, nipple cream, headphones, pump and pumping supplies, a book or magazine, and of course, any baby stuff you may need. Set the station up in the area you most often feed in, whether that’s the living room, baby’s room, or elsewhere. Some parents like to have these supplies in a cart with wheels or a basket, so everything is easily portable. Have a lactation consultant on speed dial When all you need is at hand, you’ll be as comfy as possible during cluster feeds or bleary middle-of-the-night nursing sessions. Sure, you probably got some initial support from a lactation consultant right after birth, but you may still have issues or questions crop up over the course of your breastfeeding relationship. Don’t hesitate to reach out to a location consultant for additional support with breastfeeding. Community lactation consultants are wonderful resources for everything from latch and pumping to teething and weaning-and having an established relationship with one makes it super easy to get support when you need it.ĭo some Googling or ask for referrals from other parents in your area. If you’re limited on local choices, companies like Simplifed and Expectful offer easy online consultations via the comfort of your own home. Rest (and then rest some more)Īs modern moms, the message from society is “go go go.” But that’s not always the right mode, especially if you’re a brand-new parent. Whether you’ve been breastfeeding for one day or 365 days, providing human milk can be intense for the body, mind, and spirit. So, all the more reason to rest as much as you can. We are huge advocates of dedicated postpartum rest. Vaginal birth or cesarean, you need serious time to recover from pregnancy and birth. Your MO should be lying down, hanging out, drinking fluids, and eating nutritious foods with plenty of fiber, protein, and fat. We always recommend people follow the adage “five days in the bed, five days around the bed, five days on the couch” directly after birth. Watery eyes, known as epiphora, seems like a misnomer for dry eye disease (DED), which can be very confusing to patients.And yes, do sleep when the baby sleeps, if you can ? If it’s not possible for you to have dedicated postpartum rest of this kind due to work, family, or other circumstances, think creatively about how you can build a bit more rest into your daily life, like an early bedtime or Saturday afternoon family nap. It’s imperative that we first determine the cause of the epiphora so we can properly educate patients and provide them the best treatment options. If it is caused by dry eye disease, or more specifically lipid layer deficiency causing the lacrimal gland to upregulate, then it becomes very important to educate the patient that their eyes are tearing due to a lack or decrease of one of the components of the tear film. If it’s not caused by dry eye, the appropriate management or referral must be made.Įpiphora is typically a multifactorial issue with many causes. 1 Four general categories include: (1) lid apposition issues, (2) nasolacrimal duct obstruction or stenosis, (3) dry eye disease and (4) a broad category we’ll define as something you’d see on a slit lamp examination such as trichiasis or allergic conjunctivitis. A large-scale study showed that epiphora causes included lower lid malposition (33.3%), nasolacrimal/canalicular obstruction (29%), multifactorial (22%), punctal stenosis (11%) and reflex tearing (4.7%). 1 It also showed that women tended to experience epiphora at a younger age than men and the primary cause of their epiphora was punctal stenosis compared with men (34.6% vs. 22.4%) however, more men had eyelid malposition than women (39.5% vs. 1 Let’s look at all the potential causes. The first step is to rule out the non-dry eye causes. During your slit lamp exam look for a turned-in lash (trichiasis) that requires epilation or a foreign body.Ī diagnosis of ectropion, as seen here, may warrant surgical tightening. One very important cause of excessive tearing is conjunctivochalsis, or folds in the conjunctiva due to a loss of Tenon’s. 2 Conjunctivochalsis can often advance to the point of resting on the lower eyelid. If this is present, the patient requires a surgical procedure to tighten the conjunctival tissue via resection or cautery. Most cases of conjunctivochalasis can be monitored, but once it causes a foreign body sensation or persistent epiphora, it should be surgically treated.
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