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Confused about engorgement?

ShermanyShermany member
in Breastfeeding

Hi all,

 I've been reading The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding, which has answered a lot of my questions, but I'm still pretty confused about engorgement and what to do/not do during this time.  My LO is generally satisfied with one boob per feeding, and the skipped boob then feels pretty full and a little painful.  I've been just living with it till the next feeding, and then giving him that over-full boob.  But should I be pumping that side instead?  Would that lead to oversupply?  

I waffle between worrying about oversupply and undersupply with my milk.  I don't want to be dealing with crazy engorgement and the problems that it can lead to, but of course I want to have enough for LO!  Right now they both feel pretty full, pretty much all the time except right after a feeding.  He is 9 days old (as of three minutes ago!), and EBF. TIA!

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Re: Confused about engorgement?

  • tokenhosertokenhoser member

    Assuming you have a healthy baby that is feeding well (making lots of diapers and gaining weight), just feed the baby. Feed as often as the baby wants, and feed one or both boobs as the baby wants (let baby finish one side and pull off on his/her own rather than changing at a certain time).

    If you feed the baby, your milk supply will meet the baby's need. I wouldn't pump until after the 3 week growth spurt - just leave things to equalize for the first month.

    What's you're seeing is really normal. No problems in sight.

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  • linzeek44linzeek44 member
    Yep, you don't want to pump the other side this early on and risk oversupply. Hiwevere, if your engorged breast is really painful, you can hand express just a little bit of milk until your breast is comfortable again. 

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  • SarelnadSarelnad member
    imagetokenhoser:

    Assuming you have a healthy baby that is feeding well (making lots of diapers and gaining weight), just feed the baby. Feed as often as the baby wants, and feed one or both boobs as the baby wants (let baby finish one side and pull off on his/her own rather than changing at a certain time).

    If you feed the baby, your milk supply will meet the baby's need. I wouldn't pump until after the 3 week growth spurt - just leave things to equalize for the first month.

    What's you're seeing is really normal. No problems in sight.

    this is great advice. You do NOT want to pump this early and have an oversupply. I had a bad problem with oversupply and it was miserable. I wish someone had warned me! 

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  • Into+the+KittyInto+the+Kitty member
    When I was first establishing my supply, if I was engorged to the point of pain, sometimes a warm shower would help encourage a let down to relieve some of the discomfort without having to hand express (which I have never been very good at).
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