Help! Engorged breasts..ooowwww..

[maveta]

Wondering if anyone is around for some quick advice? My milk came in last night and today my breasts are hard and painful. I fed ds fine this morning, at lunchtime it was hard to get him to latch on and stay on but after a bit we got there and he seemed to get a good feed but didn´t even empty one breast (the right). He´s still sleeping 3 hours later so seems he fed okay though.

This has left my left breast very hard and now, 3 hours later, the right one isn´t far behind it either. He´s going to wake up and so I´ll feed him from the left one but what do I do about the right one? Leave it? Should I try and express some milk off it just to soften it a little bit so it isn´t rock hard by the next feed?

I´ve been reading my bf book and the advice seems to suggest I should feed him off the left, with a nipple shield if necessary, and maybe express a wee bit first if he really struggles to latch but isn´t very clear on what I should do about the right one?

Help Help Help!

[chirpygirl]

Am a bit confused but did you last feed him on the right and he didn't finish it? If so then start with the right again, odd as it sounds as it will stop blocked ducts.
If it is hard to get him to latch on then definately express some, just a little will do it, try putting a warm flannel on your boob for a few minutes first.

Rest assured it only lasts a few days, I promise! But it is bloody painful.
Have a read of kellymom if you have a minute as well as it has good info about engorgment.

Good luck!
Hopefully someone more experienced will be along soon as well as I can only go by what I have read and from feeding DD!

[maveta]

I fed him on the right and it went significantly softer but was not emptied and of course now has filled up again...now both breats are more or less the same in terms of being hard/ hot etc. So if you say I should go again with the right, what will I do about the left which won´t have been fed from since 9am this morning?

[mammyjo]

Hi Maveta! No great advice I am afraid but wanted to keep your question in the active conversations so that hopefully someone more experienced will see it.

Personally I just kept alternating sides at each feed as dd never emptied one completely, but seeing chirpygirls post perhaps I was doing it wrong! Agree with the warm flannel to express some off, definitely makes latching on easier for both of you.

I posted a question in BF a few weeks ago and got some really helpful advice so hopefully some of those people will be around soon.

[claire74]

Maveta - Doesn't matter which you feed off right now, the main thing is getting the engogement down so he can latch on. You will have to express first to soften the breast like you said. Do this with both breasts even if he only takes milk from one. While the milk is coming in do try and feed quite often, even if this means waking him, every 2 hours roughly is better than 3. This will prevent further engorgement, and once they have softened you can go back to 3 hour feedly if thats what your baby prefers. HTH

[Olihan]

I 'think' you need to stimulate each side equally as the supply on the lesser used side will decrease. Leaving milk in a breast tells it to slow production, whereas emptying it tells it to make more. I'm no expert but I would say to alternate sides at each feed if he's only having 1 at a time. I think the staying on the same side is if he has both sides, then yu start the second feed on the side you finished on.

The other thing I've read on here is that your breasts don't 'empty', they make milk constantly so they won't ever feel completely empty, the softness means the baby has drained the milk that is immediately available in the milk resevoirs.

[Spidermama]

Hi maveta,
I know the feeling. It's like you're going to burst but you're not and it does take a few days to settle after your milk comes in. Maybe more.

My advice isn't very technical but just feed on whichever breast feels fuller or whichever one you want. If both are uncomfortable then swap him over half way through.

Yes it's good to get them to empty the breast, (because the milk which comes first is thinner then there's the creamier hind milk later on), but at this stage you need to be as comfortable as you can while you get feeding established in the early days.

I wouldn't advise a nipple shield as they can affect supply. Your baby stimulates your nipple to make the right amount when he sucks so shields should only really be used in extrmeme circumstances (cracked nipples, thrush etc) and for as short a time as possible.

Also I felt that my nipples took a couple of weeks to toughen up with each baby.

Good luck.

[Spidermama]

It's true that your breasts never completely empty. There's always a little something in there for them.

[Kelly1978]

I'm not an expert, but whne my milk came in with my first, they were like flipping watermelons and dd couln't latch on. I jsut sat in a nice warm bath and expressed a little from both to get it down a bit so that she could latch, and from then they didn't get quite so big. It is rather unpleasent, I'm gettign that achey let down feeling thinking about it, and I haven't breastfed in over a year!

[maveta]

Thanks for all the advice.. in the end I used a cold flannel to cool them down and then hand expressed a really small amount just to take the pressure off them a bit. He then didn´t have too much trouble latching on and I got him onto the other breast halfway through just to spread the joy

The most confusing thing is when all the info says ´halfway through´.. but he´s only 4 days old! There´s no pattern to how long he feeds for yet so how do I know how long is halfway through??! very confusing but we´ll get there.

[Spidermama]

Well done maveta. Four days old? Five now eh. Congratulations and I hope you enjoy the feeding. You seem to have a very positive attitude.

[Olihan]

Maveta, in the early days I just used to swap him from side to side whenever he stopped sucking, fell asleep or satrted fussing. It seemed to work, haven't had any problems with blocked ducts, etc.

If you're panicking about the foremilk/hindmilk thing, then stop! Tiktok has a great analogy that breasts are like a hot tap. When they haven't been used for a while then the milk is 'cold' and 'warms up' as you feed, ie starts off as foremilk then becomes hindmilk as the feed progresses. If you turn them on again after a short space of time the milk is still 'warm' (so still hindmilk).

Tiktok explains it far better than me, will see if I can link to her explanation! Anyway, it stopped me panicking about whether he was getting enough hindmilk.

[Olihan]

OK, daisy - about hindmilk and foremilk

Read the kellymom link, as it will help a lot.

Where you are not quite right is where you say the baby has to 'reach' the hindmilk.

Fattier milk is not present in relation to the length of the feed, but in relation to the amount of milk in the breast.

A relatively empty breast will have comparatively fattier milk; a relatively full breast will have comparatively less fatty milk.
This is what tiktok said (it's on a bit of a fighty thread so I cut it!)

If there are longish gaps between feeds, then more watery components trickle down to the front of the breast and become available to the baby as soon as he gets on. As the feed progresses, the milk gets fattier as the breasts become less full.

But a baby leaving shortish gaps only between feeds may well get a fattier mouthful straight away.


Kellymom explains it well here .

[Olihan]

Erm, not sure what I did there, it's all muddled up!

This is what tiktok said (it's on a bit of a fighty thread so I cut it!)

OK, daisy - about hindmilk and foremilk

Read the kellymom link, as it will help a lot.

Where you are not quite right is where you say the baby has to 'reach' the hindmilk.

Fattier milk is not present in relation to the length of the feed, but in relation to the amount of milk in the breast.

A relatively empty breast will have comparatively fattier milk; a relatively full breast will have comparatively less fatty milk.

If there are longish gaps between feeds, then more watery components trickle down to the front of the breast and become available to the baby as soon as he gets on. As the feed progresses, the milk gets fattier as the breasts become less full.

But a baby leaving shortish gaps only between feeds may well get a fattier mouthful straight away.

kellymom is here.