Help! Engorged breasts but no milk!

[MissYamabuki]

Lovely DD is 3 days old and we were discharged from hospital yesterday. After some initial latching problems we seemed to be doing fine with BF and I could feel what I thought was my milk coming on (bigger, fuller, slightly warm breasts). She had a good 20 min feed at 2am and was wanting more at 4am. By then my breasts were harder and I have been unable to extract a drop, by hand or pump (sent poor DP to Tesco's at 5 to get a breastpump). I have managed to settle her but I'm afraid she's hungry and I'm failing, it is so upsetting to hear her cry for milk I'm at my wits end. Has anybody been there? Any help is welcome.

MissYama, you are not failing, she had a good 20 minute feed at 2 and was after more milk at 4 which is perfectly normal in some new babies, no matter how you feed them.

Don't forget too that your baby will be much better at getting the milk out than you are with the pump. Some Mums are never able to express much at all.

Have you tried calling the Ward for advice or maybe one of the bfing helplines?

This link from Kellymom might help too.

You do have milk. Lots of babies have trouble latching onto engorged breasts. You could try Hot flannels on your breasts, which might make expressing possible. If you can just soften your breasts a little you might find she can feed more easily.

But frequent feeding is VERY normal and good at this stage. Your dd's tummy is tiny so she needs to feed a lot. She also needs to stimulate your supply. Try to feed her every time she wakes up or makes the slightest sign of being hungry. It will help with the engorgement and she will love the closeness. 2 hours from the start of one feed to the start of the next is absolutely normal and not a sign that you don't have enough milk.

You are NOT failing. Keep feeding, keep resting when you can. And keep posting if you need help. Congratulations

You can call the midwife - she might even come to see you.

You absolutely have milk. Your baby's need to feed 2 hours after feeding before is absolutely normal. Hope you feel more comfortable soon and that you get some good help.

What is it that is worrying you - that she can't latch on or that she wants to feed often? My ds is almost 4 months now and is only just going three hours between feeds, he'd often want to feed more than every two hours.

It also took me weeks to be able the express anything, even hand expressing is a struggle.

It sounds like she's feeding fine but I can understand that being engorged can be uncomfortable and can make it hard for baby. You don't need to express for her because she's doing well from you by the sound of it but expressing for relief may help.

A tip I was told is to cut the tip off a syringe, put the plunger in the cut end then put your nipple in the other end and pull the plunger out. In the early days when you don't have tons of milk it can bring those small amounts out.

I also second the warm flannels, try standing in the shower and letting the water run over your breasts. Whilst you do make a fist and run your fingers down your breast, towards the nipple, try to cover as much of the breast as you can by moving around each time.

thanks very much everyone so grateful for your supportive comments and ideas. I was worried there was something fundamentally wrong with my breasts and I wouldn't be able to BF. The midwife has been to see me and reassured me. Warm flannels and a bath sounds like a good idea. I look like I've had a massive boob job this morning!

Ineedsomesleep thanks for that link to kellymom, it's brilliant!

A very kind MNer told me about this technique to help because I got very, very engorged at first. It saved the day at 4am on a couple of occasions!

Congratulations :)

Glad that you have found everyone's comments useful and also glad that you MW has been out and been reassuring too.

at the boob job comment.

Congratulations on your DD and keep feeding and keep posting, you are doing a brilliant job