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By Mayo Clinic staffMinimize your chances of getting mastitis by fully draining the milk from your breasts while breast-feeding. Allow your baby to completely empty one breast before switching to the other breast during feeding. If your baby nurses only for a few minutes on the second breast — or not at all — start breast-feeding on that breast the next time you feed your baby.
Alternate the breast you offer first at each breast-feeding, and change the position you use to breast-feed from one feeding to the next. Make sure your baby latches on properly during feedings. Finally, don't let your baby use your breast as a pacifier. Babies enjoy sucking and often find comfort in suckling at the breast even when they're not hungry.