Breast Engorgement

My milk came in a little over 24 hours ago and my boobs are beyond swollen. I can only go about an hour without pumping and I'm pulling 3-4 ounces an hour and I still can't get it all. I pump 30 minutes on, 30 minutes off all day and night and they never soften. I've been hand expressing while I pump, heating pad, tried pumping after laying in a really hot bath, nothing is helping the swelling or the hardness. It's great I'm making so much, but I can't keep this up waking up every 30 minutes in pain. Any advice?

are you only pumping? how old is baby?
having 24 hrs that you are alllll lumpy potato boobs is pretty normal. I think I had like 3 days.

Quoting justanothamotha:" are you only pumping? how old is baby? having 24 hrs that you are alllll lumpy potato boobs is pretty normal. I think I had like 3 days."

I am strictly pumping right now because baby is in NICU and isn't able to nurse   We've been using a liitle stuffed tiger to imitate skin to skin. I keep it in my shirt for a few hours, the he gets it for a few hours, then I take it for a few hours, etc. He's 3 days old.

Hate to say it because with the situation at hand pumping as much as possible is necessary however the more you pump the more your body is telling you to produce. I know it's painful at first but maybe cut down to 30 mins on, 1 hr off and slowly cut back more. Until you're only pumping every 2 hours or so and then 4 at night if possible.

Quoting Reise's Mommy:" I am strictly pumping right now because baby is in NICU and isn't able to nurse   We've been using ... [snip!] ... I keep it in my shirt for a few hours, the he gets it for a few hours, then I take it for a few hours, etc. He's 3 days old."

So are you taking anything for pain? Ibuprofen can help with pain from engorgement & is safe while nursing. Use ice not heat to help with pain & try not to pump every hour if you can help it. You really need to try to do every 2 if possible. The thing is, the more you pump the more you make...but frequency matters more than duration. So if you aren't trying to increase supply presently - you are better off doing 15-20 mins every 2 hrs than 10 mins every hour - as pumping every hour is what you do to increase supply & right now you don't necessarily want that. I get it though - it can hurt. I wasn't kidding when I said potatoes - I looked like I had potatoes packed under my skin & pumped 6 oz easily between feeds with #2 - like right after he finished a feed.   I also set myself up to keep my oversupply going - so that is why I tell you to TRY to remove only the minimum, except when on the 2 hr. After he stopped feeding so often at night, i was still having to wake to pump, because I started doing it...So for instance, if it's only been an hour, see if you can just express a SMALL amount, versus doing a full pumping - particularly at night. For sure - pumping every 2hrs is good & important for maintaining supply - but if you are getting 3-4 oz every hour - then you can be setting up to make this engorgement last longer than it needs to.

Waaaaah   I knew the more I pumped the more I was going to make but it's so painful if I don't I can't stand it. I was doing every 2 hours until recently and about 8 hours ago they started with the lumpy and the shiny. I was only using heat as an attempt to get the milk way up in my armpits to come down and to get them to soften. It worked for a while, but not so much now. I can't sleep longer than an hour without waking up hurting. With DS1 this lasted about 3 days, I think I was just hoping there was something I could do to help it pass or to deal with the pain. I'm on percocets and 800mg Motrin and it's still pretty bad. I'm not really taking the percocets as often as prescribed, though. I'll try the ice and see if that helps. They feel like they're gonna pop   I'm normally a really small B, sometimes an A and right now I'm popping out of a DD. My stretch marks on them from the first time I BF'd are all popping out and itchy. Sigh. Thanks for the advice, ladies. I'll try to just express a little in between pumps and use the ice.

Honestly if you want to keep your milk up KEEP pumping!!! You will slow down once you regulate. & yes the more you pump the more you produce but honestly the milk from the first two weeks has things in it that help when baby is sick so make sure to store some in the freezer!!

I had the same problem. i had to pump or else i would get so engorged to the point were i would get clogged. the only thing that helped was a hot shower and express it in the shower and then once i came out i would bend over, let them hang and have my SO hnd express.   it was odd but the graviity helped alot and he was able to work out a clogg better than i could

cold cabbage leaves on your breast helps take down swelling. how i dont know but my midwife told me that and it worked!