Breast Engorgement - Riverside,CA

J.,
It takes a while for you and your baby to create a balance. In the meantime, massage and heat and self expression may be the best thing for you be careful with pumping, you can create more demand and stimulate more milk). If the baby is having trouble latching on because they are too full, try taking leaves of raw cabbage and placing them on your breasts for some relief - inside a bra or laid on the breast. 20 minutes a few times a day until they aren't painful is all that's needed. I don't recommend this for long, however, for it does lower milk production. Also, don't worry about pumping now. You can worry about that later. Right now, it is about finding balance.
good luck,
N.

Congratulations on your new one. It sounds like you have already received good advice. Like you mentioned, be careful on the "over" pumping. Your body is smart and will adjust to your baby's needs. Don't give up. You are doing a great job. A good breastfeeding hotline is Loving Support 1-888-451-2499.

Hi J.,

I'm a mother of 3 and 1 on the way, I would advise to coutinue pumping to eleviate some of the engorement it's not going to make you produce more milk.Also when your baby wakes up to eat try to keep her up a little long to nurse longer. this will help too.

If you're still ROCK hard after the shower and pumping, it sounds like you're not getting the milk out. Pumping for 5 min may be too long.

What you need to do to get the milk out is relax. If there is absolutely no possibility of waking her to feed, then you will have to pump. A warm shower and no let down may only mean more milk production. So you need to apply something cool (ice cold cabbage leaves help for some reason) and pump or manually express for comfort.

You'll want to massage the breast to help stimulate letdown. This may be too painful for you. But by massaging, I mean start at the chest wall and massage toward the nipple. Make sure you are massaging all around the breast (but not in a circular motion) to stimulate all milk ducts.

If massaging is too painful, some how try to juggle the baby skin to skin (that means her in just her diaper against your bare chest)and applying a pump. Having her skin to skin will help with letdown.

And remember, pump for comfort. If that means more or less than 5 min, so be it. You shouldn't need to do this for too long. Your body is smart and will back off on the milk production as long as the breast is not being emptied.

You mentioned going back to work. Save every ounce or part of an ounce that you pump. Mostly likely it will still be good by the time you go back to work or if you find yourself needing to be away from the baby any time before then. Keep in mind that your milk supply is not fully established until 4 weeks after exclusive breastfeeding. Pumping before then may affect your milk supply when you return to work.

And above all, get in touch with a lactation specialist. There are several in the Inland Empire.

Good Luck!

After nursing, ice packs work like brakes do in a car. Although heat will help with milk let down so you can express it, after nursing, heat is like a gas pedal. Make sure you apply ice packs after each feeding until you reach the milk production level you want.

To kind of better understand what is causing all the massive milk production, amniotic fluid and breast milk are essentially the same thing. When women are pregnant our bodies super produce amniotic fluid month after month and the switch over to breast feeding seems to hit women like a fire hose. Essentially your body is not only stopping a river of amniotic fluid production, but it is also adjusting to the appetite of your new baby.

New babies need to nurse at night to help our body adjust. In fact, new babies do not start to experience REM sleep until about 6 weeks old. This is also the time when the uterus has returned to its pre-pregnant size.

You might also find this interesting. While women in America are single handedly taking on this frustrating and overwhelming challenge of transitioning at home alone, other cultures have it be standard procedure to have a support network present directly in the home as mothers bridge the divide between birth, a well recovered body, and a steady, well-paced milk supply. In Japan, for example, women stay in the hospital for an entire week being catered to during this process, they are fed foods of the highest nutritional quality, they are given back rubs and facials and then are assisted by their mothers at home for no less than a month. The government even has programs to assist women with no nearby family for up to two months following birth and even longer if necessary and this is done for up to 4 hours a day. I currently live here, gave birth to our fifth child here, and that is how I know this. While U.S. culture encourages mothers to prove themselves in a sort of maniac, false way by flying solo, the culture here (in regards to post partum recovery) is one of honoring and support. Every culture has its weak areas and its strong areas, of course.