Engorge and painful in the morning (Breastfeeding )

B

Biggie

Registered User
My baby is 5 mth old and have been breastfed 80%. Some mornings (or middle of the night) I experience bad engorgement and painful breast. Baby has a bottle around 7pm, then I usually pump at around 9pm. baby would wake up around 12-1am when I would give him usually just one side (coz he fall asleep after one side). I bf him again usually around 6 am.
Some days, like today, my breast gets so full at night that it really hurts. I don't want to wake up in the middle of the night to pump, then I will have no sleep. It might have to do with my sleeping position(on the side). Any tips to help on this?
Posted via Mobile Device
 
When you get too full, and definitely when it starts to get painful, express some of the milk off. Don’t take a full feed off but rather just enough to feel comfortable again.

I usually suggest hand expressing instead of pumping in this situation. Hand expressing is a chore and so you are more likely to stop as soon as you are comfortable. Whereas with a pump it is easy to take too much milk off and continue to make the situation worse.

It does take longer to reduce your supply than to build it up but expect to start seeing results within a week.

Best wishes,
SARAH
 
If I reduce the supply at night would my daytime supply be affected too? I only have this problem in the middle of the night ( I have more milk after I catch some sleep) or early morning. I don't think my baby really need the night feed anymore anyway.
Posted via Mobile Device
 
If your baby is managing to do without night feeds then it is likely your body will be able to do without feeds too. But if your baby wakes up in the night to feed your body usually needs to as well.

The stage your milk supply is at now is one of replacement. So whatever the baby takes out by drinking or you take out by pumping is replaced. So if you take more out you replace more and if you take less out you replace less.

So if you don?t take any milk out in the night but feed a lot during the day you will make less milk in the night and more during the day.

Usually by five months everything works well and you will have no problems (other than over fullness when you first start). If you find that your baby is unhappy and unsettled you may have to rethink but if the baby is happy then all is fine.

Best wishes,
SARAH

Sarah Hung IBCLC
www.lotuslactation.com
 
I have a question for Sarah...about hand expression of milk--it seems I'm unable to really express milk this way--no matter what I try milk just doesn't come out. So, I always use my pump instead. What could be the problem?
 
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