Too soon to express?

[anotherBadAvatar]

DD2 is 6 days old now and feeding really well, so much so that she's barely lost any weight at her weigh in with the midwives today.

She's been a bit sleepy today, and I've woken her if she's gone 3 hrs without a feed. However, I have been feeling really engorged all day because of this, and can feel some lumps in my right breast which I think may be blocked ducts. It's not red or painful but I had mastitis with DD1, and it started similarly.

Would it be too soon to express to release some of the pressure or will I make things worse- i.e. Encouraging increased supply?

If you've got lumps you do need to release some of the pressure but you don't want to try and get much expressed as the will make your body think it needs to make more and you'll be back to square one.

When I got blocked ducts I used to co sleep with my LO (following the safety guidelines) and let him suckle all night. A baby will be much better at clearing the blockage than a breast pump anyway.

just express by hand - not with a pump to ease the discomfort. a hot flannel compress will help