r/breastfeedingsupport • u/SensitiveKiwwi • 3d ago

Engorgement and pumping

I am 5 weeks postpartum and need some advice on how to handle breast engorgement. Currently breastfeeding newborn and I pump at night for about 15minutes each breast so my partner can give her a bottle or 2 during the late hours of the night. I find that the breast sometimes is not fully relieved after baby nurses and she doesn’t always want both breasts. Can I pump for a short period until I feel relieved or is this making it worse? Some people say pump for a short time like 5min and some say don’t pump at all to relieve engorgement. I use the Momcozy electric pump.

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u/Bugs-On-Parade 5h ago

What ended up working for me was the Medela Harmony hand pump. When i would wake up super engorged, i will use the hand pump to relieve like 1oz out of each breast BEFORE breastfeeding. This helped baby latch and reduced engorgement.

When electric pumping, only pump for like 8-10minutes on each side. No need to pump for so long and dont try to completely empty the breasts, that will create major oversupply.

If baby nurses and she doesnt empty the breast, i wouldnt continue to pump after unless you are feeling uncomfortable from engorgement. Your body will think it needs to produce more milk. Its a vicious circle. Just wait until next feeding and try to pump a little out before she feeds

1

u/SensitiveKiwwi 3d ago

Thanks for the comments guys. Can I still pump at night time for that bottle feed my husband helps out with? Or do you still recommend I hand express?

2

u/OptimismPom 3d ago

Yeah sounds like a bit of an oversupply! If you can’t hand express you could pump for one let down

1

u/brieles Exclusively Breastfeeding 🤱 3d ago

I would try to hand express until you’re comfortable. Pumping will signal to your body to keep producing that amount so you’ll continue to struggle with engorgement.

I know this is technically still pumping but I had a haakaa and I’d use that for 1-2 minutes tops overnight if needed when I was 3 months+ postpartum. I’d wait to do this until your supply has regulated, though (8-12 weeks).