Expressing milk but breasts are still rock hard and hurt! Is this normal?

[rak5a]

I had my baby 3.5 days ago and he has taken to breastfeeding pretty well but he did a bit of damage on my nipples in the first day when I wasn't getting him to latch properly. He is latching well now but it's so painful that I decided to use a pump to express to give my nipples a break from the baby. I am getting about 20ml per breast after 10 minutes of pumping, so he is getting 40-50 ml per feed every 3 hours. But my boobs are still huge, rock hard and sore. Is that normal or do you think there is another problem (blocked ducts, etc)? I'm hoping it's normal and will settle down after a few days but would love some reassurance before I get desperate and throw in the BF towel!

Normal. It's not unusual at all to have enormous boobs leaking away like mad (I am talking complete rivers of milk here!) for the first few days, and then your body settles down and figures out what it needs to do. I'm not sure expressing is a good idea in the first few weeks, as your body makes milk to demand and it will confuse it - if you pump more, your body will make more, and it will be a bit of a vicious cycle.

Do you have a MW visiting you at home who can give you advice? You should still be under MW care at 3 days. If you can get your hands on it at short notice, the book The Food of Love is an excellent guide to BFing.

The whole first few days BFing is one of the reasons why it's advisable to lock yourself in your bedroom and have people bring you nice things while you spend time with your baby getting to grips with feeding him.

BTW it is quite often difficult, sore and dispiriting for the first couple of days to weeks, but by the end of week 2, with good guidance, you will be confident feeding your baby and the discomfort should be over.

Also, don't assume that you are pumping the same amount as your baby is getting - he will be much more efficient than you at getting milk!

Absolutely normal. At around 3 days, your milk come in hence the rock hard feeling. It will probably get better quite quickly, but I found a nice warm bath, and warm flannels helped.

If you feel a bit teary, this is normal too. My mil told me it used be called "milk fever" (old school Norland Nanny!), and they always said, spend days 3-5 in bed, with baby and paracetamol. X

Try and feed too, as he will suck more out of you than you can ever pump (even with a good pump). Have you tried Lansinoh, it's fanatastic? Also biting on a wooden spoon at times (you not the baby)!!! Something I found really helpful was to pump off a bit so the boob was not so hard, as it makes it more difficult for the baby to lactch when the boob is very hard. Get a bit taken off till it's softer and then latch him. Keepgoing, it will get better, and it's so satisfying, releases all sorts of happy hormones too.

Savoy cabbage leaves are good, I found. Took down some swelling.

Good luck and big congrats on your wee one.

Thanks so much for all of the advice! Will take a warm bath and try to go back to letting him feed on his own. x