Very hard swollen breasts, newborn latches poorly, not sure if she is getting enough milk :-(

[Forensica]

Hi, I am getting desperate here and not sure what to do. My breasts swell hugely today making it really difficult to latch on. She also gets fairly frustrated after few tries making it even more tricky.

I am also not sure if she is getting enough milk so planing to weigh her from now on.

I am a complete mess now, and really desperate since I hate seeing her frustrated. I think that my boobs just do not start flowing the milk as they should after few sucks. Is there anything I can do?

Please help!

How old is she? If your breasts are engorged you can express a small amount off to soften them a bit. Newborns can often be a bit fussy at the breast, the world's all new to them. What do you mean by planning to weigh her? Weighing too frequently can do more harm than good.

Firstly how old is little one?
If your milk has just come in you could be engorged making it hard for little one to latch on.

Great minds and all that Charchar.

agree with the others, from what i have read on here it's a really common thing and easily sorted, don't fret. congratulations on your wee girl, by the way.

but if you can manage to get in front of a proper breastfeeding counsellor, that's worth it's weight in gold. for your confidence, as much as anything else.
have a look for the numbers here www.howbreastfeedingworks.com

Yes agree with that, a bfc would be a great help, even if everything's fine and you just need some reassurance

I agree that you need some RL help. National bf helpline: 0844 20 909 20.

If your milk is just coming in then you could try reverse pressure softning (RPS). Video here demonstrates the technique (it's the one on the right -the lady with both breasts out). Also diagrams here (scroll down).

She was born this wednesday 7.1. so 4 days and a bit

give yourselves a chance, then. you're both learning. congrats again.

Yes, I'd definitely give it a bit longer to get the hang of it. She's still only new. Do ring the helplines though if you want to put your mind at rest. Congratulations

yes my milk just came today properly, so it is probably engorgement....she would try to latch on few times and then she would cry..so get tired, needs calming down and eventually gets really tired ...we just weighed her and she is down from 3680g to 3340g so I guess that is still OK. I am just very sad it is not working...

Maybe I should try to express some and spoon feed it to her, since when my boobs were not that large she latched on at some point even though after a long time.

don't be sad yet, please. this is just the beginning. i don't knkow about spoon feeding, did you try to let a little off first?

yes, I am now softening the nipple, few hours before I tried to pump and then she latched on but I do not think the milk was flowing well afterwards for her so she was sad again

it's not for you to say at this stage, tbh. the milk might just as easily have been flowing too much, the effect is similar on the baby. please try not to worry, babies get sad while they're getting the hang of this, i'm sure your boobs will do what they've gotta do and so will your baby. but you're both still getting the hang of it, and your milk has only just come in.

i wish i knew more about having hard breasts, unfortunately my problem was the opposite, in fact i'm a little .

did you watch the video clips?

Yes I did the reverse pressure to soften the nipple, but she still didn't latch on.

I don't think that she should be starving.

do you think she is starving right now? what about if you more or less express right into her mouth, does she get interested then?

no, she just screams instead and then falls asleep when we calm her down. it is easy for people to say that she is small and will learn eventually, but what will happen till then they do not say.

anyway we have tried to express some and spoon fed her and that went really well! I think that will give me some piece of mind before my breasts soften up. Till then I will keep on pumping to ease the engorgement...hope that this will help, wish me luck

well, it sounds like she sleeps when she calms down, so then you try again when she wakes up, i suppose. and make sure you speak to a bfc in the morning. is she peeing and pooing?

also, what do you want to do? i'm just trying to help, that's all. i'm not that great a bfer, my supply was never good, so maybe i'm not the best person to help, sorry.

x-posted. good about teh spoon feeding.

will the pumping not make the engorgement worse? what about having a bath and letting some of the milk subside?

I really appreciate that you communicate with me, I was so stressed and concerned for my little girl.

I am pleased for the spoon feeding, I think we shall always try to latch her on and if that does not work, we will use the spoon. I do not think that should interfere with future bfd, I hope.

You might be right about the engorgement, maybe I should only express when feel painful. Thanks :-)

just a little, though, and maybe using your hands and some warm, wet flannels or something? cos i think if you pump you'll be sending your body the signal to make more milk?

anyway, i hope it all works out tonight. one day at a time, remember? and if you can phone and speak to someone that would be helpful i think. good luck.