Bleeding whilst expressing...help!

[pinkpip100]

Hi,

My ds is 16 weeks old and exclusively breastfed; I have a Medela hand pump, and have recently been trying to express milk twice a day - mainly to mix with the gaviscon that he has to take to treat his reflux, but also to build up a bit of a supply in the freezer in case I fancy a night out. Recently 'pumping' sessions have been especially painful, and at my last two attempts I noticed blood in the pump afterwards, obviously from my nipples although I can't find any visible cracks. This seems to be happening from both sides. Feeding my ds is now also uncomfortable, but not to the same degree. I'm pretty sure that his latch & position are fine (and always have been before). Could the breast pump be causing damage to my nipples? Has anyone else experienced this? I'm now panicking that I won't be able to express again, which could cause real problems with treating the reflux... I'm also worried about this affecting feeding in general.

Any advice would be great.

Thanks,

Ursula

You are sucking too hard with the pump - cut back on the suction by using shorter and faster strokes, and perhaps hand-express until the tenderness has gone.

The blood may well be coming from the milk ducts and not your nipples

Thin I would also give expressing a rest if poss whilst your breasts settle down. Can you not give gaviscon on a spoon?

Thanks to you both for your replies; We did try to give ds gaviscon on a spoon, but he wasn't keen to co-operate. That was about 6 weeks ago though, so maybe I'll try again.

Ameriscot2005 - bleeding milk ducts sound serious, should I be worried about any permanent damage?

I don't think you have to worry about it.