supply/demand?

[sallybee]

My LO is 4 days old and after a rocky start where i ff on the night and bf during the day we are now exclusivelybf. I am guessing my milk has properly come in as last night the breast she hadnt fed from in a while started pouring milk so i expressed some as LO was asleep and not interested.

However now i seem to have WAY too much milk my breasts are getting full and sore well before she is ready to feed. Im worried she isnt getting enough as she only feeds anywhere from 3-6 hours apart even at night but often for longish periods 40m to an hour. I have expressed 4oz today and am grtting full again with no sign that she is hungry

I dont know what to do, is this normal? Will expressing be making matters worse? Is she feeding enough and getting what she needs? Please help ladies xxxxxxx

 

[Karate Kid]

Heya hun, well done for getting so far the first days are tough!

Is LO having wet and dirty nappies? How was her initial weight loss? This will help to ascertain if she is getting enough. I wouldn't worry too much though as LO is still so tiny there stomachs are the size of a marble to start off with!!

As for supply, the more you pump the more you will produce so try hand expressing. Use warm flannels and gently massage your breasts using a 'C' shaped hand. This will ease the pressure. Engorgement is common when your milk comes in so don't panic. Afterwards get someone to buy you some Savoy cabbage, pop some leaves into the fridge to cool then put them on your breasts. Sounds funny but it helps ease pain.

Loads of nipple cream, skin to skin with LO and a good box set. Get your latch checked out and feed, feed, feed! The start is tough Hun but you are already doing a brilliant job xx

 

[Rhino Horn]

During the day I wouldn't let her go 6 hours without a feed. Bethan had long stretches without feeding at night but she was feeding every 90 minutes during the day to compensate.

Your boobs will settle down, once they've worked out how much your baby needs. So expressing although providing some relief will make things worse short term. However I know the pain of boulder boobs so if you are really uncomfy then def express some because
If you get engorged she may find it difficult to latch on.
You'll know if she is getting enough by her nappies...is she having wet and poo nappies? If she was hungry she'll be crying or chewing on her fists.

The early days are such a minefield. Well done with persevering. It will get easier

 

[mrswoody]

This happend to me. My milk came in and my boobs were HUGE literally over night the size of melons. The only way I could ease some of the uncomfortableness between feeds was to hand express some out, it gave me some releif. Things have settled down now though, but the more you express with a pump your body will produce the same amount as this is what it thinks you need x

 

[Wilson28]

Im in the same boat, cried n cried the past 2 days with pain in my boobs, im 4days today and having to express to easy the horrid psin, which fist 2dsys made me feel like fluish, hot lumpy boobs and horribly painfull.
My little one only seems to suckle ten mins then wants breast again in 40 mins, but feeds longer in the night.

HELP.... Its making me cry xx

 

[Karate Kid]

Hun try not to express, only hand express to relieve pain. As I said above hot flannel, hand express a little then cold flannel/savoy cabbage. It will supply xx

 

[Miss]

3-6 hours is a rather long stretch to go without a feed for a 4 days old.....the again I dealt with a lady not so long ago who's baby did the same and then all of a sudden he started feeding every 45 mins for a week!

Each baby is different and those first few weeks are so hard on both of you.

As advised above lots of skin to skin to promote feeding and although expressing is a great thing too much of it will leave you even more uncomfortable.

It does pass ladies and your baby will settle into a feeding pattern all of their own so you milk will regulate. I know it's going to seem like I post this on every post I make but if you have a local breastfeeding support group try and make it along to talk to an LC or peer supporter. sometimes knowing you are not the only one and that it is all normal can really help not to mention the great advice they can give!

 

[Wilson28]

well today my ickle man has wanted to feed within every hour but always falls asleep on the boobie, i can blow, nudge is cheek and he just falls off to sleepies, so i put him down, 20-30mins later he's crying for more milk, last night he went every 1 1/2hrs to feed, it really has varied since he was born xx

 

[sallybee]

Thanks for the advice ladies - it makes a lot of sense that expressing would make it worse in the long run, however I'm probably gonna keep a few bottles in the fridge for situations where bf might be awkward (eg my Grandad's birthday party tomorrow - he's 80 I think seeing my boob might be a bit too much for him!).

If she is sleeping for that long between feeds should I mention it to my mw tomorrow? Or start waking her up for a feed? We're getting plenty of wet and.dirty nappies - she thinks its funny to wait until her nappy is off then wee resulting in a huge puddle and lots of tears! She's getting weighed tomorrow so that will give me an indication as well. Xx

 

[sallybee]

Wilson - is he latching properly? I know me and Cathy have had lots of problems with our latch but every day we get better! Ended in very cracked and bleeding nipples for me - midwife recommended nipple shields as a short term help (most midwives hate them as they say it can cause breast/bottle confusion but for me if I hadn't used them I would be ff by now) and slathering on lansinoh (think that's how you spell it), they have turned bf from something I was dreading to something I love doing - of course now I have my nipples sorted my milk supply goes crazy! Lol xx

 

[Wilson28]

no nipple problems hun, milk came in straight away, because hes a big baby they said hes a good feeder, its just my milk supply has come alot quicker than expected xx

 

[sallybee]

Oh I have no idea hun honestly it makes me wonder how they managed in the olden days before formula and breast pumps! Xx

 

[mrswoody]

Keep going ladies, I had 2 days where Madison would feed none stop in the evening from about 6pm through to 1am it was tough! Poor OH tried his best to encourage me, the best thing was when she was weighed she had gone past her birth weight upto 8lb4oz so I know everything is ok.
Some days she can sleep upto 4hours without a feed sometimes 5, she is happy and healthy so I just leave her to sleep. Babies will sort out their own routine eventuallyx

 

[Wilson28]

Arthur is cluster feeding now in the day and going every 1-30-2hrs at night xx

 

[Wilson28]

Woohoo feed for 20mins at 11pm, then 1am and then 5.30am ) xx

 

[Karate Kid]

Well done Arthur, and mummy! Xx

 

[sallybee]

We had 40m at midnight then an hour at 5 now I'm feeding her again. Think I will try to get her to latch every 4 hours if she doesn't want it sooner. Plenty of nice dirty nappies for Daddy though xx

 

[Miss]

Welldone to you both!

Sounds like you are doing great!

 

[Wilson28]

Boobs are starting to hurt again think its my temp from my infection xx

 

[BevG]

my lo slept a long time between feeds at first, id wake her up every 2-3 hours tbh as my cousin was advised to wake that time for the first few weeks as they dont necessarily wake with hunger at first. they dont know what food is or what being hungry is really and so it could turn into the situation i had where i had to give formula to get energy into her and wake her up cos she was sleeping 4-6 hrs and falling asleep on the boob and just comfort suckling for an hour or so. she lost weight and got lethargic with the lack of energy. at least for the first week or 2 id not let her go more than 3 hours between feeds hun