OMG The Leakage :-( Advise please

[melliebobs]

Complete noob in the BF feeding world. 8 days in and after a few lil niggles when my milk came in we are managing ok and baby gaining weight at a rate of knots. However, the leakage is really getting to be a pain in the ass. It's just one side that's causing problems (before birth it was always the leakiest of the 2) and I've already had a few embarrassing moments and i'm sick of being wet :-( What I want to know is

1. Will this settle down?! Or something i'm just going to have to live with
2. Is it worth expressing any? I haven't been so far as i don't want to trick my body into thinking all this milk is needed when it isn't and for my body to keep replacing what i've not used
3. Any recommendations of good breast pads?! I've been using Boots slimline ones and they just aint cutting it at the mo!

Hello, and congratulations on your new DC!

1. Yes, it will settle down. Timescales vary between women, although I think many find it gets a lot better around three months (but some don't - for me it took a bit longer).
2. I think your instincts are right, and if you can avoid expressing, it'll help it all settle down sooner.
3. I found the Lansinoh ones the best. They are pricier, but in my case as they lasted longer, it worked out better value for money. Once things settle down a bit I also liked the Johnsons ones.

Congratulations on your new LO . It's good to hear that you are both doing so well too. Here's my answers to your questions:

1 yes it will settle down, well in my experience anyway.

2 personally I wouldn't, just for the reasons you mention. However, if you are going to be somewhere where a leak might be embarrassing you could always express first, just to be on the safe side.

3 I always liked the Lansinoh ones.

if its a problem at night, try sleeping on a towel.

Congrats!

It will settle down. It might take a while. I resorted to stuffing my bra with muslins while at home.

no idea about expressing sorry.

Johnsons breast pads will make life a lot easier. I never tried the Lansinoh ones but all other ones I did try were terrible by comparison. Oh, and congratulations!

Another vote for Lansinoh breast pads. I am VERY leaky and these have never let me down - well worth the money I think (and they are think and non-bulky too, so don;t show through clothes or anything).

I wouldn;t express if I was you - in my experience it won't help! Things get better once the initial engorgement etc passes but I am 4 weeks in now with my 2nd child and still v leaky. When DD feeds from one side the other one leaks like crazy. The Lansinoh breast pads are the answer :)

x-posted with red, almost an identical post sorry. Forgot about the Johnsons ones, found those very good too.

hcmummy if you are leaking lots whilst feeding have you thought of collecting the milk and saving it? My friend was very leaky and could collect 4oz whilst feeding.

I was very leaky, still am sometimes at nearly a year I used breast shells to collect the excess.

Lansinoh pads worth every penny

Jilted - no I hadn't actually but that's a great idea. Am hoping to introduce the odd bottle of expressed milk soon for evenings out etc so collecting the milk for that would be great & save the hassle of expressing! Will look into the breast shells - thanks chillikat.

Another vote for lansinoh pads here! I'm very leaky atm with dd (only 3wo) and going through pada at a rate of knots. Lansinoh are more expensive, but you can get them slightly cheaper than boots or mothercare on Amazon.

Thanks guys. I had a sample of the lanisoh pads but used them before the major leaks but will be on amazon tommorow to see what bargains i can find. once everything has settled down I'll see about shields and saving some milk. But as I've never used them. Don't they make your boobs look a little odd?!

Hi there. I also found boobs to be very leaky in the early days and hated all the pads I tried - I found them all itchy and unpleasant. I then realised that the nursing bras I had bought had removable pads inside - these are made of fabric and can be washed sperately from the bra so I could change them regularly. The nursing bras were quite expensive but for this and other reasons were well worth it - Bravado seamless bra from John Lewis.

Things definitely calm down after a while but after 4 months I still get a bit leaky, especially since DS can be a bit erratic about feeding and I'm not brilliant at expressing. I personally wouldn't bother expressing as a rule, but sometimes you have to realease the pressure! At these times I found that expressing by hand meant I could express just enough and (hopefully) not encourage too much more over-production.

yet another vote for lansinoh pads. got mine off amazon for fairly cheap, and they are a godsend for the very leaky (like me!)
however, my DS is 5 months old and i still leak - not as badly as the early days, but sometimes enough to soak through my top if not careful. one thing a MW told me to try is gently press on the boob the baby is not feeding from, and that tends to help stop the gushing. if you find you're getting engorged and leaky, you could try expressing just a small amount, just enough to release pressure, but no more or your boobs may go into milk production overdrive!
dont know why its never occurred to me to try and collect the leakage..doh!

Yes, the breast shells do make your boobs a funny shape - I always thought of Madonna and the conical bra, though they are more rounded. I'd reserve for home use only! I tended to leak most while I was feeding - the other side would leak so tried to remember to put the shell on before feeding and my bra would help to hold it in place. Occasionally there was so much leakage the shell got filled and overflowed so a breast pad helped to catch excess.
I would then put into a milk freezer bag and add to it over a couple of days before freezing. That said DD only tried a bottle a few times - I mainly froze small amounts (up to 70ml or so) and used in the early days of weaning.

very random... what bra(s) do you have? DD1 I went with cheap-multipacks and one half decent - a Royce/Royal (?). DD2 I treated myself to a Hot Milk bra and WOW! I will never wear the cheap ones again. I just don't seem to leak when wearing the nice expensive breastfeeding bras! (Good lift too lol!) I have one other "good" one, not hot milk but a similar make (sorry, can't remember! but the Hot Milk is my favourite). I got mine from Figleaves in the sale.

Mine didn't settle down but I was BF twins and had an abundance of milk, I wore pads for 9 months out of the 12 I BF for, it gets better once the feeds decrease and babies are on solid food.
Expressing would make it worse I think
I used boots, then discovered the Asda own brand ones "little angels" they were the best I tried including lansinoh. I think they've won some mother and baby awards, just remember to always have spares on you.

My top tip is to buy some nice un fugly BF bra's, I bought 2 of these and they were worth every penny, also very discrete when BF in public.

You can hand express for up to about 15 seconds normally without the reflex being stimulated/triggered to produce more.

I found the tommee tippee pads to be best for me. I found them more absorbent and less likely to go lumpy than some of the other brands. They are cheapest from Asda or Ocado.

The Tommee Tippee pads combined with the Bravado bras have been great.

As the others have said, yes it will calm down.

It sounds like you'll be good at expressing should you need to do that later on.

Remember to change the pads frequently so you don't get warm and damp in there.

I had a couple of Elle MacPherson (sp?) bras. Not cheap, but so lovely. One to wear and one to wash and they really helped make me feel like a woman and not a cow!

You might have to play around with what clothes you wear so you won't be anxious when you're out and about.

Well done BTW, it sounds like you're doing great.

Thanks ladies. I know I'm doing something right. My lil guzzler went from 7lb10 to 8lb3 in 4 days.

Well I had a voucher for Boots do got some Tommy Tippy & Johnsons pads they didn't have the other ones. Gonna see how I get on with them for the time being.

I also had some shells that I got free do gave them a go but it's like they needed taping down to create some kind of vacuum cos i just leaked down the sides.

And fiiiiinally. Bras. I got fitted for some at M&S i just dont like the lack of underwire I don't quite trust getting any online as like clothes I find sizes vary a bit. And the way I am at the mo I feel brave just leaving the house let alone try on bras! Lol but later down the line I'll remember them ones above

If you don't fancy going public to try on bras get in touch with your local www.nct.org.uk and see if they can put you in touch with an nct voluteer bra fitter. They offer a great service and there is no obligation to buy.

Good news on the weight too .

Yes! The NCT bra ladies sell the Bravado bras that some of us recommend. Give them a call - you won't need to leave your house.

They are a bit stretchy and come in s,m,l rather than cup sizes which is ideal - ice found I've changed size and shape several times whilst feeding, but these bras always fit comfortably.

Washable breastpads from mothercare are great. Saves £s as well!