Engorgement and frustrated newborn!

[kelly]

I did not experience this with my girls, so I need help! I delivered last Thursday, and yesterday my milk started coming in. Today I am painful and my bbs are huge. My son is now starting to cry and get frustrated when latching on, I am guessing b/c the nipples are hard to grab onto. I tried pumping a little bit after he feeds to get some of the swelling down, but is there anything else I can do?
How long is this going to last?

[MaryMarg]

Oh, I'm sorry--not fun for you! Consider pumping or expressing a little milk just before the feed (instead of after) to make it easier for your precious baby boy to latch on (not too much pumping, though, as you don't want to add to your problem). And feed often to help with the engorgement. For your pain, bags of frozen peas or frozen corn (kernels) can be easily shaped to the size of your breast and decrease pain. Use for short periods of time only. Hang in there--it shouldn't last more than a few days and your body will level things out! Congrats to you!

[pbjmama]

Agree with pp and you can take ibuprofen too. You can use a warm compress as well as cold which ever feels good, or alternate.

[Heba]

You could also try reverse pressure softening (it can be particularly helpful if engorgement is partially due to fluids you received during labour which can take a week or two to dissipate, but is also good if engorgement is due to bountiful milk production); basically hold your hand in a claw/spider position, place over the breast so fingernails are a few cm away from the nipple - around where the baby's mouth would go - and press in. Hold for a couple of minutes. This moves the swelling back, away from your nipple/areola. making it easier for babe to latch on.

http://www.llli.org/FAQ/engorgement.html explains it better than I can, and includes alternative ways if your fingernails are too long to do it this way.

Good luck!

[tinybutterfly]

I am going to close this thread, so we don't have a duplicate.

Please see kelly's thread in the main Breastfeeding forum.

http://www.mothering.com/discussions....php?t=1221186



tinybutterfly