New mom with oversupply/engorgement question

farmrose · March 2014

Hello-I'm a FTM, had my beautiful baby girl last Friday and she is a champion nurser. My milk came in Sunday evening/Monday and I'm making a ton. I pumped about 2-3 oz in a short amount of time (8-10 minutes) to relieve the engorgement and still wasn't completely "empty". My poor baby just can't keep up and my breasts are very full and hard. There is a lot of conflicting advice out there to pump/don't pump, etc. Is this just the initial milk supply and things will even out based on her "demand"? I feel like pumping too much is going to overestimulate and cause more production-is that true? I've been doing "block feeds" to make sure she gets the hind milk, but the other breast gets really full/hard if she ends up going a little, longer than usual. I have an appt with LC on Monday just wondering what to do in the mean time to keep comfortable. Just don't want to get blocked ducts or mastitis as I don't feel like, my breasts are really ever fully emptied. Any advice for a new mama? Thanks in advance.

Valancyy · March 2014

I'm thinking that you're just going through the engorgement phase. It's usually worse for FTM's. I had it really bad with my first, but hardly anything with my 2nd.

I would not pump at all, unless you feel you REALLY need to. It will just increase the demand even more and you'll make more milk (like you mentioned).

I am thinking it should go away on its own soon. Just keep nursing and everything should regulate. (At least, that's how it worked for me, just going off my own experience). I was so engorged that even my armpits were sore. I never developed clogged ducts or anything. (That happened months later, when baby started STTN).

tahloulah10 · March 2014

I was very engorged once my milk came in. When it was painful, I took hot showers, hand expressed for comfort, used compressions while nursing, and used cold packs after each feeding to reduce inflammation. The first few days were the worst.

I didn't have my pump at the time, and I'm actually very glad I didn't because I think I would've been very tempted to use it a lot. After a week or so I discovered I had quite an oversupply and pumping can make that worse, like you said. If you are really in a lot of pain, pump until let down and let the milk drip into a burp cloth. That should relieve some of the discomfort. Good luck!

ETA: I echo what the poster above me said. Just keep nursing as much as baby wants and the supply and demand should regulate!

mommatotwo2 · March 2014

Sounds like the Engorgement that happens when your milk first comes in. It's crazy at first, I was also sore into my armpits and I would leak what looked like a gallon of milk onto my shirt constantly, it was extremely aggravating. I didn't touch the pump until at least 3-4 weeks postpartum. I just went bra less (it hurt less that way) and nursed the baby completely on demand, all day, all night switching sides each feeding and it started to even out over the next few days and weeks. I went on to have a very average supply after that, maybe even a little on the low side once I returned to work and began pumping regularly. To answer your question, pumping several ounces at once regularly is going to increase milk production and possibly lead to oversupply.Taking a warm shower and hand expressing a little to relieve discomfort should help. Kellymom has a great article about engorgement. https://kellymom.com/bf/concerns/mother/engorgement/

farmrose · March 2014

Thanks for all the info and suggestions. I wasn't sure if it was just the initial supply or what. Good news is LO has already surpassed her birth weight! One nice bonus no worrying about weight checks.

Lhageme85 · March 2014

You are doing a great job Mama! I will second what PP's have said, but when I had the initial engorgement I used hand expression when baby had a hard time latching on full/hard breasts but tried to avoid pumping if possible. Hot showers were helpful as well as cool packs after feeding. Hang in there, it will get better!!

And congrats on the weight gain, it's such a relief to know baby is thriving!

mcgeeva · March 2014

MosyMama said:
I'm sure others who may have more experience with oversupply will weigh in, but for engorgement I used warm compresses before pumping, did breast compressions while pumping, and used cool compresses afterward to calm things down. Motrin also helped the inflammation.

Re: oversupply, I think you're OK to pump enough to relieve discomfort until your supply regulates.

I just did this last week and by day four my engorgement left, so did the red spots and hard knots and finally only producing what I necessary with no more pumping. Hurts like hell but does go away. Good luck

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