A few URGENT questions on breastfeeding with engorged breasts

[Asparagui]

DC3 is only a week old. I BFed my other two but had repeated mastitis with DC2. I want to avoid that so badly but in hugely e forged and gave been for three days. DC3 is feeding well but he is small and even with his best efforts he can't clear a whole breast in one feed. So:

1. A 40 minute feed on one side stil leaves my breast pretty full and hard, I presume I shouldn't therefore offer the next breast during that feed. Should I start with the other breast next time or continue to empty the still enforced first breast?
   

1. DC3 only happily feeds in tummy to tummy position should I persevere trying other positions to clear whole breast?
   

1. Is there anything I can do to reduce my supply?

[Asparagui]

Oh fear, for 'e forged' read 'engorged' and for 'gave' read 'have'.

[rubyslippers]

I think you need to get your latch checked

Breasts never empty - they may well feel
Softer after a feed

If you're engorged you can try to express a tiny bit before the feed starts to reduce this a bit

Also try the rugby ball hold which is good for small babies trying to latch onto large boobs

How's your baby wee'ing and poo'ing etc?

[Asparagui]

Thanks. His latch feels pretty good compared to DC2, it's much more like DC1's latch who was a dream to feed. He latches securely and my nipple isn't sore. He just doesn't eat as much as my breasts need to get read of the uncomfortable hardness.

He poos like 4 times a day and wees lots. He will be weighed today so we will see if he's putting on weight.

[MsPickle]

Have him checked for tongue tie. If he's a posterior or anterior it could mean that's why he's not draining the breast fully. It's genetic so could also be/have been present in your middle child.

Good luck with it all!

[MsPickle]

(Sorry should have added sounds like dd/ds who had good looking latches but not enough firepower!)

[Asparagui]

Thanks, I will ask the MW about latch if she turns up (she said Sun morn but no sign yet, DC has never been weighed as MW keeps flaking).

My breasts are so hard and painful and have been for three days, I just wish DC would be a bit hungrier, he is definitely my least hungry baby.

[patchesmcp]

I can so sympathise but not offer any good advice I'm afraid.

I have a 5 day old DD and my boobs are also ridiculously engorged. She doesn't feed for long, 15 mins tends to be the norm, although may come back 20 mins later for a bit more and will only take one boob per feed so I'm wondering the same as you re offering the same boob at the next feed. At the moment that is what I'm doing but it means the other side is very painful.

DD is bringing back the less pleasant memories of bf. I think I definitely tend towards oversupply as I can "express" milk without actually doing anything, just get the boobs out and think about feeding and the milk comes dripping out and I can soak muslins and kitchen towel no problem. I fed my DS for 20 months and he was a very hungry baby so it wasn't such a problem but I think it's going to be a BIG one this time around.

Have a look at the Kellymom website and the page on engorgement as there is a lot of info on there about it.

Good luck, and if you find anything that improves it, please let me know!

[Ellypoo]

Could you express some off each time to relieve the pain, and soften your breasts while maintaining your supply? You could freeze the expressed milk for future use?

[mawbroon]

I had this with ds2, he was feeding fine, but his wee tummy didn't hold enough to relieve the engorgement. Luckily I had ds1 on hand, more than willing to help out!

It will settle, but you will probably need to express a little just to take the pressure off.

[sleepyhead]

Engorgement in the early days is caused by extra blood and fluid in the breast as well as milk. You should find that this extra fluid subsides after a few days so even if you can't "empty" the breast it should get better.

As long as it's not making it hard for the baby to latch on then I'd just feed to the baby's hunger and probably avoid expressing any extra off as this will just encourage more milk.

With ds1 I just fed from one side per feed but did have that forceful let down that would result in fussy feeding and also milk ocasionally spurting across the room . I had a couple of weeks of expressing the excess into a muslin at the beginning of a feed before it settled down.

I second the Kellymom recommendation. It's got some good info on oversupply and using block feeding to combat this.

[Asparagui]

Thank you all. The midwife did come yesterday and DS has maintained his birth weight so I think he is feeding well although I am still hugely engorged (not helped by the fact that he woke only once in the night: nice but painful!). The MW suggested doing two feeds on each breast before swapping. That sounds odd to me but I will go and investigate on Kellymom.

[McBaby]

Cabbage leaves and ibuprofen helped me through the first couple of weeks. I had (and still have) oversupply issues. So I would avoid extra stimulation from expressing etc. I did find a warm shower not on nipples which stimulates caused a small let down and relieved some of the pain.

The engorgement will settle down quite quickly.