Engorged as not BF 9wk old DD as often during the night

[arabellaandbaby]

Hi all, wondering whether any MNers can provide some useful advice.

My DD (first DC) is 9 weeks old and has over the past couple of weeks been sleeping for longer at night (5-6hrs between the start of one feed to the start of the next).

Whilst this is great and means I can get some much needed sleep after weeks of sleep deprivation, my breasts seem to fill up with milk every couple of hours, so much so that I become engorged and at one stage even developed blocked ducts. In order to avoid this and the accompanying painful episodes, I find I have to get up every couple of hours to express which kind of eliminates any benefit of DD sleeping for longer stretches at night.

Is anyone else having this problem? Do I need to stop expressing at night in order for my body to know not to produce too much milk during the night but more during the day when DD becomes ravenous? How do I get out of this cycle?

Any MNers out there who can advise please? Much appreciated as always.

x

I wouldn't express TBH. My DD is 24wks and Whenever DD used to change her sleep pattern and it lengthen through the night my breast would become engorged. it would take a couple of nights for my breast to adjust but they did. Expressing only stimulates the supply (i think). I don't express so don't take my word though

I would express enough to take the pressure off and no more. Blocked ducts and the other nasties they can lead to are not fun!!

Your supply will get the message that you don't need to make as much over night and should adjust accordingly over the next few days.

I really really wouldn't express at night if your baby isn't feeding at that time. Your breast need to adjust to supply / demand and expressing will interfere with that and you'll just keep on making more milk when your DD doesn't need it. It will only take a day or two to adjust and stop being so engorged if you let it be. If you wake in pain in the night then just put a hot flannel on your breasts and gently massage to release a small amount of milk and ease the pressure.