Pain/too much milk?

[monica82]

My DD is 8 days old. She was feeding every 2 or 2 1/2 hrs our first couple days home, but now it's more like 3 & sometimes have to wake her up during day. This is #2 & last time I switched to soley pumping around 4 months. Having too much milk is a good problem to have, but what do I do about pain? If I just don't pump extra out, will my body get used to waht she needs? I've pumped a couple times at night and/or am to relieve some pain... is this bad, good? suggestions?

[laneysprout]

Congratulations!  It sounds like she is getting what she needs.  One thing you might consider is "watching the baby, not the clock."  My own rule is to never wake a sleeping baby.  This will help regulate your supply since she will feed on her own timetable, which may be more or less often than every 2.5 to 3 hours depending on her hunger, comfort needs, and growth spurts.  Some babies are grazers and nurse a little at a time all day and others go for longer stretches during the day and then cluster feed several times in a row very close together before bedtime.  

I have also dealt with an abundant supply with both of my babies and pumping is generally not helpful since you are essentially telling your body to make more milk.  If you get painfully engorged you can try hot compresses (cloth wipes or baby washcloths in a wipes warmer are perfect for this!) or hand express a little bit of milk into a towel, just enough to relieve the pressure.  You can also try block feeding - nursing on one side for a period of time (three hours is usually a good time to start with), putting baby to the same breast every time she nurses, and then switching sides ones that time period is up.  It can take up to five or six weeks, in my experience, for your supply to regulate, but the painful engorgement should go away relatively quickly as long as you're not stimulating more production by pumping.

I hope this is helpful.  Good luck, mama, and enjoy your babymoon!

[monica82]

That's what I think about the sleeping baby, and def don't wake her during the night. I guess I was just worried b/c she was jaundice when born-intermediate level. But plenty of pees & poop diapers.

I'm not pumping a lot-but in morning it seems very painful. W/ DS he was a big eater so not sure if my body is just reverting back or what. I would get at least 7-10 oz each time i pumped while at work. I tried to just pump enough to make me not feel miserable. I would like a lil frozen for if/when I'm away from baby-tho we r trying to wait on introducing a bottle.Especiall since she doesn't have the best/biggest latch.

So during a 3 hr span use one breast, then switch for the next 3 hrs?  Sometimes she will nurse on both sides-but not as much as before. And sometimes it's 10 min, others it's 20.

Thx for advice & sharing/listening.

[laneysprout]

Yes, so just keep going back to one breast anytime she wants to nurse during that 3-hour time span - whether it's once or five times. Then switch sides for another 3-hour block.  In terms of regulating your supply, it matters less how long she nurses for each time than how many times she nurses.  Give the block feeding schedule 24-48 hours and you should see some difference.  Some women with severe oversupply will stretch that window to six, eight, or even twelve hours, but it sounds like your issue is more related to your mature milk coming in and your body trying to regulate your supply.  By staying on the same side for 3 hours, you are ensuring that she completely empties one breast before moving on to the other.

When do you return to work?  If you can hold off on building your freezer stash, I would wait until 4-5 weeks and then introduce pumping first thing in the morning (when supply generally peaks).  This way your supply will be well-regulated (generally speaking) when you introduce pumping.

[monica82]

It's not too often that she nurses more than every 3 hrs. But I'll try to do what ur suggesting-which I think I am for the most part.  I had such a challenging time last time that it's hard to use it as a way to figure anything out. My DS was tongue-tied & we got his frenulum(sp?) I ended up nursing him & then pumping after every nursing. I'd let him go for like 20 min on each side...so this was an exhausting process-not sure if it was the best advice.  He wasn't emptying me, yet he was hungry. Ended up just pumping by 4 mo or so.

I don't have a job to go back to this time b/c I left when DS was about 1.  I haven't pumped in a couple days now. I think I'll go to a LLL meeting. Going to let hubby try a bottle before any family comes back to visit...just to see if she will take a bottle, in case we want to go on a date. Thx again laneysprout :)

[laneysprout]

You're very welcome :).  Feel free to PM me if you want to talk more about it.