Confusion over which boob to use... Advice needed!

[ivanapoo]

Hi I have a 5 day old DS who is gorgeous - but I digress. My milk has come in and my boobs resemble two Zeppelins. They are huge. I think DS is feeding well thankfully but on the average 15-20 min feed isn't even getting close to draining the breast.

As a result I don't know if he's getting the hind milk (although have read that hind/fore milk is all rubbish anyway). I'm also worried it will lead to other probs as they're not being drained.

So I'm wondering;

On the following feed, should I continue with the half drained breast? Or start on the other one? I'm doing everything I can to make him feed a bit longer eg changing nappy half way through etc and some feeds are lasting an hour in total but not all. I'm probably feeding about 10 times a day but some are mini (he loses interest and nothing gets it back).

Also even though it is v painful I'm not expressing as I don't want my body to continue making this much milk. Is this a mistake? Is there anything else I can do for the pain? I'm already taking painkillers due to episiotomy/labour trauma.

Thanks

Don't feed on the same side at the next feed. Go onto the next one in my opinion.

He's only five days old so will get the hang of feedi g for longer soon. At the minute his tummy is still tiny. You're doing all the right things of trying to keep him interested to keep him going for longer.

Your milk has only just come in and your body has gone a bit bonkers as it hasn't worked out the supply/demand thing yet so is making loads. Again this will improve.

Warm flannels on your boobs might help sooth things a bit. You're right that you don't want to express if you can help it. However if pain is too much then I'd express a tiny bit off. You'd be surprised how small an amount can make a difference to making things feel more comfy.

Good luck.

Hi - thank you so much for your replies. I've just dipped them into a sink of warm water (!) and expressed a few drops off each (they're leaking anyway) which has provided a little bit of relief.

It's good to know this is likely to pass soon. I'll make sure I swap boobs for future feeds - I did two or three close together on one boob earlier thinking I should drain it and theyve definitely become more painful since so seems that wasn't a good idea.

He's getting quite a few dirty nappies, they are a bit "seedy" now - yesterday I think we did about 9 or 10 changes and probably more than half were dirty too. I'm not sure if that's a good amount or not TBH.

Sometimes I'll see little cues when he's asleep - like he'll put his hand up near his mouth - but am loath to wake him as not sure if they're genuine and I'm already feeding every 2 hours ish, slightly less at night...

Thanks also for all your encouraging words, I feel really lucky that I've not had too many problems with getting him on the boob to start with and it's nice to be reminded why I'm doing this when it does get a bit tough and I'm massively sleep deprived (really need to restrict mumsnetting to while he's feeding!).

Oh and happy Christmas!

Sounds like a good amount of dirty nappies to me.

My boobs were similar to yours. Porn Star Boobs. Yuk. Took about 3 days I think to go down. Cabbage leaves in your bra help.

Every 2-3 hours is fine. If he is hungry he will probably wake up.