Ok to express to relieve v engorged breasts? DS2 only 4 days old....

[Pannacotta]

DS2 born on Monday a.m. and has been feeding ok ish (enough wet and dirty nappies every day).
But by late afternoon/evening time at each feed he starts bobbing on and off and screaming, seems v uncomfortable.
My milk came in yesterday but my poor boobs feel quite engorged as with his fussing he is not emptying them properly.
I know you are supposed to wait until 4 weeks or so to express, but am feeling really uncomfortable and I think my huge breasts are making it hard for him to feed.
Would it be ok to express some milk to relieve the engorged feeling, and if not what is the best way forward? Can't cope another night with him flailing around and screaming blue murder....

Congratulations.

I expressed from day dot, as I had to leave tumbletot for a few hours in the evening when she was very small. I expressed and nothing bad happened to me. I am still feeding her a year on. Found my boobs when through phases of getting engorged until things settled down around four months etc..

With my ds also had same problem re engorgement and was not expressing then and used to take some off as they were so engorged he could not get on. There is a great website for bf ing called kellymom it has great advice and is well respected by the bf profession.

No bf counsellor me, sure one will be along soon. But can't see any harm just be careful you don't take too much off. The more you take off the more you will produce ifyswim and may aggravate things.

Take care, and once again congratulations.

sponge them with very hot water, and you can (if I remember well) massage them, to help them leak a bit

totally agree let them release onto maybe a muslin enough to feel comfy
it won't affect your supply or lead to oversupply

It does pass it can be really uncomfy for a few days though, I liked to stand in the shower and massage to get some relief!

www.kellymom.com/

I also had to use an electirc pump to express as dd was very poorly at 5 days old and wouldn't latch anymore to the breasts, and it was alright, but didn't have any problem of engorgement.

He might be bobbing on and off because your letdown is very forceful at the moment (or for a million other reasons tbh)

This happened to me and I kind of hand expressed into a muslin before feeding to make things a little easier otherwise ds got an eyeful of milk!

Second the warm bath and not expressing with a pump as you might end up stimulating your supply further which you don't want! It'll settle down over the next few days - I seem to remember every day feeling like a lifetime at this stage though...

I had the same prob but the NCT breastfeeding counsellor came round and sorted me out i'd just not got it quite right, the whole latching on busness. Once that was sorted, all was well Good luck, these are beautiful times when they are so small and also times of panic (now and then). Enjoy it, they are so small and so lovely

I'm no expert but I've hand expressed and used a pump with both DDs just because my boobs felt like they were going to explode. Taking a few ozs off with a pump really helps that engorged feeling and also helps keep the supply up.

I think the fussing you are experiencing is perfectly normal for a baby as small as he is. I remember DD2 just wanting to suck all the time especially in the evening, I just watched TV and let her I think she calmed down after a few weeks. It's all very new of you both and you are both still learning a new skill. Just relax with him keep him close and loads of skin to skin contact.

Congratulations on your new DS and well done your doing great

I had to hand express when I got engorged otherwise ds couldn't latch on, he'd just bounce off the boob, poor thing! Once the supply had stabilised it got a lot better. My midwife said to hand express for a good five minutes to get the areola softened enough to latch on to.

Nipple shells are brilliant for stopping your boobs becoming beach balls! Just don't wear them in public or you will look like Madonna in her cone boob period!

I remember the night my milk came in properly. I had taken ds home from hospital and he had slept for 4 hours. By this time, my boobs were so big that he couldn't latch on. I was sat up at 4am, with h kneeling in front of me, expressing a little milk off to make things comfortable! I just sat there mooing!

Congrats Panna
I think that the 4 week wait to express is just a precaution against expressing for the purpose of bottle-feeding, so that baby gets the breast-feeding established.
If you are v. uncomfortable, it may help to express to relieve discomfort. When I was quite engorged, a quick hand express in a nice warm shower allieviated the situation (albeit temporarily)
You may find this helpful
Good luck

Thanks all, will try the hand expressing (bath and shower didn't work enough to make much difference, have tried both).
Never had this prob with DS1 as he was v quick to learn the art of b feeding, bless him!
Ds2 seems bit slower and gentler, am sure he will get the hang of it soon and my supplu will settle... Thanks again

that's alleviate, not allieviate. something about typing late at night after all have gone to bed bar me makes my fingers misspell something terrible, which i find as soon as i have read my own posts. the lack of capitalisation is just sheer bone idleness.

anyway pannacotta, as others have mentioned, your lovely little one may not be feeding as well later on in the day because you're getting more and more engorged- boobs inflating and hardening so he can't latch on as he expects to. Hope the hand expressing helps.