Baby sleeping longer & consequential engorgement problem

[eb1]

DS is starting to sleep anywhere from 8 to 10 hours without waking to BF. This change happened quickly (he was previously waking after 5-6 hours, and then again 3 hours later). I'm thrilled and hope he will keep this up so I can start getting better sleep myself, but now I'm having problems with breast fullness.

I know my body will adjust ultimately and make less milk during the night, but how long will this take???

In the meantime, I've had to get up and pump each night (about 1.5 ounces from each breast) to relieve the engorgement. That takes away the rock hardness, but my breasts are still quite full after that. Is this too much to pump? (Will this amount signal my body to keep producing so much milk all night?)

I have problems with recurrent mastitis and the engorgement is painful, so I don't think it's wise for me to skip pumping altogether.

[pritchettzoo]

That happened with me too--your body will adjust! Just don't forget the breast pads or you'll wake up in a mini lake like I did. :P

This article may help: http://www.kellymom.com/bf/concerns/...gorgement.html

And this one on recurrent mastitis:
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/concerns/...-mastitis.html

Good luck!

Anna

[COElizabeth]

That happened to me, too. I think you are doing the right thing by pumping to relieve discomfort. I would try to decrease the amount pumped gradually until you can go without it. I can't remember how long it took to get past that stage, but it wasn't too long.

Elizabeth, Mom to James, 9-20-02
EDD #2, 10-30-04

[eb1]

Thanks - I had checked the www.kellymom.com site before posting. I think the engorgement article is related to when you start BFing rather than when baby starts sleeping through the night. I couldn't find much in the article that connected to my situation. :(

Thanks anyway! I appreciate it!

[eb1]

Thanks. DS woke up a little earlier last night, and I was actually thrilled!

[psophia17]

When DS started sleeping through, I didn't really have engorgement problems, but I leaked like crazy with the slightest pressure for about a week - that'd be my guess as to how long you'll suffer for.

In the meantime, I was thinking about it and thought that it might help if you tried to have your baby nurse as much as possible before bedtime, massaging as I went worked for me, but whatever works for you, and then pump whatever is left so that you start off fairly dry. That might give you longer to sleep before you get engorged, which would help your body get used to the longer time period between feedings.

Pumping the excess might help your mastitis problem, too. I grew up on a dairy farm, and although it's not necessarily a "nice" comparison, cows' udders work about the same way as women's breasts, and that's what we'd do if a cow had mastitis - milk her dry so that any gunk in there has the chance to come out.

Good Luck!

-Petra
DS - Nathan, 12/29/03