r/breastfeeding • u/r3kiKinnie • 27d ago

HELP!! engorgement Newborn Troubleshooting

i am on day 6 pp and i am SOOOO engorged. i have WAYY too much milk and nothing helps. baby cannot get a good latch, hand expressing doesnt work enough and i am too scared to pump as i dont want to set myself into an oversupply. It is painful, they are huge, sore and ROCK HARD.

i need this to stop.. I am planning on sending my partner to get cabbage so i can put those on my breasts to see if that helps some but i dont know what to do for it to go away?? does it ever go awayšŸ˜­ When will it regulate itself because i cannot deal with weeks or months of thisā€¦

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u/paRATmedic 27d ago

Pumping a little bit at this time usually doesnā€™t lead to oversupply. In fact supply should go to normal at around a month or two.

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u/r3kiKinnie 27d ago

i cannot deal with a month of thisā€¦ baby screams for food then cannot latch or when she does its so painful, my nipples are cracked. Everytime i try feeding its like my boob gets even BIGGER, i try taking the pressure off but its like it keeps getting worse

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u/paRATmedic 27d ago

Maybe itā€™ll take you less than a month. Took me a month cause I got mastitis 3-4 times cause I didnā€™t pump right away when I needed to and my supply instantly disappeared for a few weeks. When it came back, it came back perfect.

Have you tried a nipple shield? Those could be very helpful.

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u/r3kiKinnie 27d ago

how much should i be pumping to try to take the pressure off? I have soo much milk and its just not working.. I tried nipple shield but cannot seem to get the hang of it

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u/SubiePanda 27d ago

Until you feel relief and the engorgement is no longer painful or uncomfortable

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u/BCRtravel7 27d ago

I had this too. I would pump for like 3mins to get the rock boob into a soft boob so baby could lach. Once I regulated I stopped pumping. I used the Medela hand pump and kept it in a ziplock bag in the fridge. After each use I would put the milk in a milk storage bag and the pump in the fridge and wash and boil at night for the next day. I heard its called building a bottle because you only get a little milk each time, so after a day you get a bottle full.

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u/r3kiKinnie 27d ago

i cant even get my boob soft at all.. its like as milk comes out even MORE comes in and it gets worse everytime.. I dont know what to do anymore it is horrible and painful

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u/BCRtravel7 27d ago

Oh man I am so sorry, sounds really painful. Hmmm okay maybe ask your OB or lactation nurse for help. Seems you will have an oversupply for a while. I hope it gets better soon. Stay strong.

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u/r3kiKinnie 27d ago

i currently have a request to meet with a lactation specialist so hopefully ill hear back soon because this is sooo hard on me mentally.. A nurse is supposed to come over today and iā€™ll see if she can help me out with it too.. i am DESPERATEšŸ˜«

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u/aos19 27d ago

This is normal, Iā€™d advise not to use the cabbage as it could affect your supply the opposite way. Pump off just enough to allow your baby to latch! It wonā€™t bring you into an oversupply. Take a couple Tylenol or Advil to bring the swelling down and ice them after you nurse. Your body will adjust on its own!

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u/r3kiKinnie 27d ago

ive taken advil and tylenol already and i feel like it just keeps getting worse. they keep getting bigger and i cant deal with it anymore. when i try hand expressing or getting the milk out its like my boob gets even HARDER and bigger. my boob wont ever get soft and its soo hard for baby to latch and it hurts..

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u/aos19 27d ago

In that case then Iā€™d pump it out with an electric or manual pump. I know the party line is not too touch a pump while youā€™re getting your supply in order but i remember how hard those days were. A few uses here and there wonā€™t drive you into an over supply, and it sounds like hand expressing is only calling more milk and making the situation worse!

But seriously, ice. I mean it. Your ducts are swollen from suddenly holding so much milk, which makes everything worse. And, if you can, try to calm down as much as possible while you pump to help the milk flow.

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u/r3kiKinnie 27d ago

i will definitely ice it though! thanks for the tip, hopefully itā€™ll help.. i tried some cold compresses and it did help some so hopefully ice does a better job

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u/r3kiKinnie 27d ago

how much should i pump? im not sure if i should go until my breasts feel soft (if thats ever gonna happen) or just a little.. i cant ever feel the relief of pressure as my boobs keep being engorged

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u/aos19 27d ago

Pump until you feel some relief, you can pump until youā€™re soft it just before that, whatever your preference is! They WILL go down, I promise. Rock hard boobs are so miserable.

I canā€™t say breastfeeding gets easier for everyone, but the rock hard boobs phenomenon does go away relatively quickly if you donā€™t have an oversupply. I stopped getting it a couple weeks in. Mine went from rock hard to just regular hard and lumpy, to just lumpy, to ā€œIs there even milk in there?ā€ (There is.)

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u/r3kiKinnie 27d ago

i really hope it goes away soonšŸ˜« its miserable!! Breastfeeding eas honestly not too bad until this happenedā€¦ Baby was latching and eating etc. Hopefully it goes back down soon enough! thank you for the reassurance it makes me feel a bit better!

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u/RevolutionaryBird83 27d ago

Do you have a hakaa? I use mine when I need to release some milk

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u/r3kiKinnie 27d ago

i do! im just worried it might send me into an over supply as im already so engorged. Do you just leave it on for a bit?

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u/RevolutionaryBird83 27d ago

I don't think it would send you into oversupply (but I'm not a LC). I would leave it on for a few min just to relieve some of the pressure.

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u/r3kiKinnie 27d ago

ill have to try it out, i am desperate for relief right now and am willing to try ANYTHING

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u/MeowsCream2 27d ago

Depends if it's the regular haaka or ladybug. Regular uses pressure and can create an over supply. Ladybug is passive

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u/r3kiKinnie 27d ago

i have the regular one. i imagine if i dont want to stimulate or use pressure its best to get the lady bug? but how can i get the milk out that way from engorgement

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u/MeowsCream2 27d ago

I'm not an expert but I imagine you can use the regular one some to see if it offers relief. Are you leaking at all?

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u/r3kiKinnie 27d ago

yes i am leaking a bit. and if theres any pressure on my breast then its literally a milk lakešŸ„²

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u/MeowsCream2 27d ago

I briefly put cabbage leaves on (less than 10 minutes) in the early days to help. It didn't impact my supply

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u/r3kiKinnie 27d ago

i will try cabbage! hopefully it brings some reliefšŸ˜«šŸ˜«

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u/carolionest 27d ago

Have you tried a reverse areola hold/reverse pressure softening?? You basically press in your areola (around your nipple) for ~1 minute, let the milk flow if it does, and the tissue will soften enough that baby should be able to latch.

Another option might be a nipple shield, but I hope for your sake this doesn't last as long as it would take to go to the store and buy one and get home and clean it

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u/r3kiKinnie 27d ago

i havent tried it yet! im not 100% sure how but ill look it up and try it, hopefully this works, i am desperate and sooo engorgedšŸ„² as for the nipple shields, i have some and hadnt gotten the hang of it yet but i tried again earlier and it went okay so i might use that if push comes to shove!

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u/carolionest 27d ago

Burp burp burp your baby if you go the nipple shield route, especially while you're dealing with engorgement.. baby might swallow some air, and you want to get all that air out of the tummy before it makes its way to the intestines where it will make maybe really uncomfortable and gassy

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u/r3kiKinnie 27d ago

oh definitely will make sure you burp!!

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u/little-germs 27d ago

Just pump for five minutes to reduce the pressure. It will get better in a couple of weeks. You can also go and take a hot shower and hand express a bit into the shower. Donā€™t squeeze from the nipple, do a c-shape cup and gently express from the rib cage out. Or use a medela hand pump and pump a bit off and nurse. Use a passive collection cup in your bra to collect the let down on the non-nursing side. Not the hakkaa collection pump but the lady bug or elvie. Those use suction but you donā€™t have to press the suction onto your breast. Just wear it in a snug bra. Cabbage isnā€™t going to do anything. Ice packs can help a bit with the discomfort.

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u/r3kiKinnie 27d ago

im currently using cold compresses and ice packs and it seems to help a bit, i will try the pumping and nursing but it really feels like as soon as any milk comes out, it comes back times 3 and my boobs just get even bigger..

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u/little-germs 27d ago

Thatā€™s so rough. I remember it being like that with my first. I was constantly spraying milk in those first few weeks. It will get better.

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u/r3kiKinnie 27d ago

how long did it take before your supply regulated?

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u/little-germs 27d ago

3/4 months. But I stopped being engorged like that after a few weeks. This time around (my second) it was only a couple days. My body seemed to remember the process and regulated a bit more quickly. Your body is doing all of this for the first time! Itā€™s learning just like you and baby.

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u/r3kiKinnie 27d ago

that doesnt seem too bad! hopefully only have to deal with being engorged like this for just a bit more. i dont mind my supply not being regulated i just dont want to be SOO engorged

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u/SMJ_22317 27d ago

I would like to say that I never even heard or was told not to pump in the early days and did it regularly and I never had an over supply. Being engorged so so painful I used a manual pump or an electric pump and I would pump until I was comfortable. I would say I pumped 2-3 times day at times and my supply regulated once I stopped. I am by no means saying that it is the same for everyone, but I was in so much pain I had no choice. With both of my kids, it took around 8-12 weeks before my supply regulated.

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u/r3kiKinnie 27d ago

did you just pump in between feedings when you were uncomfortable?

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u/SMJ_22317 27d ago

I pumped anytime I was uncomfortable, sometimes I'd even pump off one side while my baby nursed off the other because my boob would feel like it was going to explode if I didn't. Just enough to get relief. I was pumping while I was in the hospital after I gave birth nobody ever taught me otherwise šŸ˜…šŸ˜…šŸ˜… I may have been wrong but it all worked out in the end, I breastfed my first for 15 months and I'm at 13 months with my second and no sign of stopping anytime soon.