exploding boobs and soaking bed in the morning...any tips?

[RozzieR]

My 9 week old dd dropped her middle-of-night feed 2 weeks ago, but my boobs haven't realised yet, and i'm being woken between 4 and 6 every morning with very sore, leaky boobs, too uncomfortable to get back to sleep, too much of a mess even to share a bed with dh.

same thing happened with my first - i perpetuated it by getting up to express, and it went on till he was 5 months old, even though he slept through the night from 2 weeks. so i'm not keen to go down that route now. i'm just lying there trying to bear it till i wake her up at 7 - I'm more desperate for that morning feed than she is!

anyone else had this problem, and what did you do about it?

Can't you feed her at 4am? I'm sure babies can feed in their sleep iyswim. Better than suffering in silence.

Am at your DC sleeping through so early. DS2 has been known to latch on at midnight and then come off again in the morning...

Rozzie, you could express enough just to take the discomfort away and to stop you leaking. You don't have to express the whole lot!

After a few nights, your supply will decrease and you can tail off the expressing.

It will give you a wee stash of EBM for in the freezer too.

Wow very jealous about the potential for so much sleep, lucky you

You can buy Pampers bed mats (for kids who have little accidents). You can either sleep on these on put them under the sheet and sleep on them. Quite pricey but it will feel dry alternatively put a towel underneath your sheet (much cheaper but not as dry). These might save your matress but not your sanity.

You could try hand expressing a little to get comfy and hope your supply adjusts soon. Much sympathy. I wake in a puddle too.

I had this with DS1 - I used breast shells in my bra (which used to express out abit of milk as my boobs got engorged - enough to take the edge off) along with lots of breast pads and slept on a thick towelling dressing gown. The engorgement went in a couple of weeks from memory...

Thanks for your ideas. I already sleep with a towel under the sheet - I wake up with it soaking, as well as the sheet and the duvet cover (and probably the duvet as well - I haven't dared check). I feel like a big cow. Like the sound of the bed mats though.

As for expressing, I've avoided it this time because I thought it would get the boobs used to producing milk at that time when I don't want them to. But I suppose just a little bit for relief...

How long does it take your boobs to adjust to dropping a feed? I thought they were supposed to settle down around 6 weeks and only produce milk when needed. It hasn't happened to me yet! Is it possible for them to feed 3 hourly during the day but go an 8 hour stretch at night? Because this is what my dd does...Or will this problem continue till I'm only feeding her morning and night?

BTW, I do know I'm lucky to have a good sleeper for a baby, but being woken at night is being woken, whether it's the baby or the boobs. I guess if I express I'll get back to sleep sooner...