Novice BFer, milk just in, ouch, advice please!

[Deliaskis]

Hi ladies, hopefully one of you more experienced Mums can help.

DD is 3 days old, and milk has just come in overnight. She's feeding OK although not really 'demanding' yet so am waking her and coaxing her through feeds.

At the moment, my boobs are really hard and sore and she's not taking enough to relieve them yet. I was going to pump and dump a tiny amount just to relieve the pressure, but DH pointed out that this will just make me produce more? I assume DD will start taking more now anyway, but we're just at this limbo stage and don't know how to proceed.

Can anyone advise? If I just need to tough it out then so be it (but ouch!), but if it's OK to take a bit off at this 'just arrived with a vengeance' time without it making me over-produce forever more then I will do.

Ta in advance.
Dx

Hand express enough to help her latch on but dont pump a lot.

You can express a little to be comfortable defo but yes you don't want to encourage more production - ideally you want her to really drain the boob well - you can express a little of the other one to keep it comfortable. once she has drained/softened it well then offer the other. this should keep your supply in check... but it is really common at this stage so all good, congratulations!!!

Express just enough to be comfortable and it should be fine. Are you feeding every few hours?

I have a 4 week old and did exactly what you are describing and it worked a treat. Ds could not have latched on otherwise, they were so engorged. Congratulations sounds as if you are doing great

OK thanks ladies, I will take a tiny amount off the really sore one and try and leave it at that. She is only just starting to accept feeds every 3 hours - she's only 6lb9 and very sleepy so it's a challenge to get her to feed often enough, we're getting there though.

Thanks for replies.
D

The chilled cabbage leaf thing may bring some relief too.

Or try expressing a little off in the bath or shower (if you're managing to get them yet that is!)

Ouch. I remember waking up on day 6ish and instead of boobs I had rock hard, hot, throbbing lumps stuck to the front of me. I found expressing off a tiny amount and cabbage leaves helped. The cabbage would heat up and start to cook in my bra though. We used to freeze it for half an hour before using it as the cold was just bliss. DD was sleepy too but we woke her 2 hourly during the day for a couple of days and she soon started demanding. And demanding. And demanding...

I remember day three waking up thinking someone was sitting on me.

But no just the weight of the comedy boobs. V much like Lolo from Eurotrash!

Congratulations!

Hot rocks! Ouchy. You're doing the right thing just hand expressing a little to take the edge off and enable your daughter to latch on.

Have you been advised to wake her to feed?
If you try cabbage leaves in your bra remember to remove them once they're warm.

I found alternate hot/cold compress worked, so gel things you put in fridge, and later on, hot water bottle.

The breast nurse gel pads were amazing when I was getting blocked ducts. Ideally you need 2 pairs though - 1 in the fridge/freezer and 1 warm for before feeds.

I used flannels with very hot water on the sorest days and expressed a little before getting them to latch on just so that they could get something in their mouths. Expressing is not a bad idea, just a little by hand in a cup is fine.

Don't be put off by the thought that you'll just produce more -- you really need to keep the milk moving through the ducts and out, and the whole idea is that you go on to produce more after all. Doing it in the shower is a good idea, with the hot water getting you started. The whole idea is that you go on to produce more after all.

The huge size will go down over the next few days. Keep on waking the baby to feed, and every two hours is better than every three.

Sounds like you are doing fab.

IME getting in a hot shower and thinking "Is that DD crying I hear?" should be enough to make it start coming out on its own. I say that in case you feel they are too painful to squueeze.

When mine started leaking and I didn't want them to, I found putting the flat of my hand against the nipple and pushing it back into the breast for a second or two stopped it. I don't know if this works for everyone.