[amyandelle]

I am so engorged it's not funny! I am in so much pain what can I do? She does not even come close to emptying me out.

TIA,
Amy

 

[~gilli~]

a pump?

 

[stik]

For me, using a pump at this early stage just led to over-supply. Right when my milk comes in, there's always way too much, and then it adjusts. Hand-expressing a little every now and then lets off the pressure for me and imo it doesn't result in as much of an over-supply as pumping.

 

[kalamos23]

I totally know where you are coming from! You need to block feed - nurse only on one side a feeding and for a certain time period any time she is hungry, feed on that side. So for a 4 hour blockfeed, if you nurse on the left side at 12 and she is hungry at 2 and 3, nurse on the left side. Then if she is hungry at 4, nurse on the right side.

What I would do that helped to take care of the engorgement (my DD couldn't even latch on, it was like latching onto a brick wall!), I'd stimulate a letdown (which is pretty easy in those early days) or you might be able to just lean over the sink and have milk come out. Then I would lean over a sink and hand express (basically gently squeeze the whole breast - my nips were tender!) until I was comfortable on both sides.

Between the blockfeeding and the expressing, this helped get it down to manageable portions. If the 4 hour blocks don't work, you can go up to 5 and then 6 hour blocks. The first 3 weeks were a blur of milky shirts for me though, so it might take a while.