Boobs about to burst!

[dairymoo]

Last night my DTs slept from 7pm through their normal 10:30pm feed (cue Hallelujah chorus )and I woke up at about 3:30am with boobs that were literally about to burst. I actually woke them just after 4am as I was so afraid of developing a blocked duct (which I am prone to) but am annoyed that I didn't see how long they'd sleep.

When babies do start sleeping through (am praying this wasn't a one off!), how long does it take milk production to adjust? I really don't want to have to express in the middle of the night as I've avoided the pump for the last 7 months but my boobs were really freakily large and hard.

Also, if they sleep through one night and not the next will my body be able to keep up with that?

Thanks!

In answer to your questions...

When do babies sleep through? Your guess is as good as mine!

Will your baody be able to keep up with changes? Yes. My dd will sleep through occasionally and it hasn't affected my supply in the long term. By now your supply is v well established - even is they fed less for a while and then suddenly demanded more, you could cope. This happened to me when dd had a tummy bug and could only keep bm down.

About the freakily large/hard thing - this hppened to me when I spent the night away from her when she was about 8 months old. at 10 months she is eating far more solids and has decreased her milk intake gradually so when she misses a night feed (like last night) I don't really get engorged.

Good news and bad, they slept through again last night (hooray, although suspect it won't last!) but now got a blocked duct as they are a little poorly and aren't feeding as well as normal.

Does pumping actually help the situation or does it encourage the breast to make more milk?

Have tried hot compress and wide toothed comb but doesn't seem to be shifting. Do blockages ever just go away of their own accord?

Pumping would encourage more milk production I should think but at times like this I would pump enough to relieve the engorgement but not to be 'drained' (not that you can really drain a breast of course!)

As far as your blocked duct goes could you try getting them to feed from that side at the start of every feed before switching to the other breast? I have also heard that getting the baby's chin in line with the blocked duct helps to get it out.

Good luck!