Remind me how long this lasts?????

[NellyTheElephant]

DS is now 6 days old. My milk came in with a vengeance about 36 hrs after he was born and I'm producing enough milk for triplets. I look like a comedy porn star with enormous, rock hard gravity defying breasts. The problem is that DS finds it really hard to latch on initially as it's like trying to latch onto a football. As such the first couple of mins of each feed are agony as he effectively sucks at the nipple until everything softens up and he can then sort out a proper latch (at which point there is no more pain).

I've tried expressing before feeds - which does work, but I need to express off about 75mls before the breast even begins to soften and I'm loath to do so as I'm trying to stop the crazy over production of milk rather than encourage it by expressing off loads of extra milk each time I feed.

I did have this with my DDs too, but not so badly and I can't remember how long it goes on for, my milk has been in now for 4 days - surely my breasts should start adjusting soon?

Any advice in the mean time on how to get a baby to latch on properly to an engorged breast would be very welcome.

Congratulations on your new ds .

Most mums find the initial engorgement passes in a few days or less. Often it can be down to swelling in the breast as well as a slight over-abundance of milk. Many mums find reverse pressure softening helpful in softening the breast sufficiently for their baby to attach. Sometimes a biological nurturing position helps the baby to attach better too.

If you are uncomfy, then cabbage leaves inside the bra can be helpful (not only are they cold is refridgerated, but also if you split the stens then there's a chemical in them that actually helps with engorgement). There are more helpful suggestions here.

Many thanks, I'll try RPS. V interesting as I had a section, my third, and it was quite complicated this time and took much longer than my previous ones so I had lots of IV fluid - maybe that's why the problem is so bad and going on so long this time......

There certainly is some evidence to suggest that could be a factor. I do hope you are feeling more comfortable today and that the feeding is going better now too.