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Category: Postpartum

Asked by Cattsmeow

Q: Breastfeeding with latch issues and pumping output

My daughter is 5 days old and had a stage 3 lip tie, so we are having major latch issues. She has a shallow latch to begin with (she even has trouble with a bottle) and can't get on good enough to create enough suction to stimulate the milk output. My milk came in night before last and I am very engorged. My breasts are rock hard and very painful. I could not get her to latch, so I turned to my pump again, however I am hardly getting any relief. I am expressing less than 1/4 of an ounce everytime I pump and I am pumping every 2 to 3 hours. I have tried hot showers to stimulate and loosen my breasts with minimal results, and also tried warm compresses and massage while pumping. I offer my daughter the breast before we give her a bottle (per my LC's instructions), and we have skin to skin after each diaper change and as much as we can during the day. I have even tried skin to skin while pumping with no results. Is there anything else we can do?

This question was asked Nov. 22, 2015 2:30pm
Category: Postpartum

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Answered by PaperHeart - Nov. 24, 2015 10:42pm
Was her lip tie corrected? Take heart in knowing that it does take awhile for moms and babies to learn to nurse. My DS was tongue tied, which resulted in him taking much longer to get the hang of things even after his tongue was clipped. As was said by others, your body will take some time to respond well to a pump. That's completely normal. And even without factors like a lip tie, the several days following your milk coming in will be uncomfortable and even painful with engorgement. My dd was a perfect nurser, but that was still a trying time for me and I was incredibly concerned that I was getting clogs. I would continue to focus on helping your baby learn to latch. You can try pumping prior to nursing until you're at the point of letdown so that the baby is getting immediate gratification, plus it'll soften the breast, making it easier to latch. Newborns will typically nurse every 1-2 hours, fyi. I would try to nurse at least every 2 hours and avoid the pump if you can for now.

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Answered by lala_0412 - Nov. 23, 2015 5:52pm
I suggest letting baby cry for a bit. It signals your brain that your baby is hungry and you will have a let down. Your milk will come out on it's own. Try nursing while this is happening. It will come out spraying so pump on the other side if you can while nursing. Have someone help you. Also do a lot of massaging and squeezing of your breast while you are in the shower. Another thing to try in the shower is taking your hand and from under your armpit slide down the breast. It should help loosen some of those clogged ducts.

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Answered by mnor0406 - Nov. 22, 2015 8:40pm
I had trouble pumping and getting my daughter to latch too. We ended up supplementing with formula for the first 2 weeks. Sometimes I just had to sit their with the pump and baby next to me and wait for a spontaneous let down. As soon as I started leaking I plopped the baby on (if she was awake) or shoved the pump on quick lol. Before I trained my boobs to respond to the pump I sometimes fed on one side and pumped on the other (my hubby helped me get the pump in position). Another thing that helped was waiting til my daughter was crying before pumping. The sound of her crying signaled my milk to let down. Experiment with different positions too. Early on I liked laying down on my back slightly propped with baby laying on top of me or laying on my side with baby laying on her side in front of me. I think both these positions helped me relax which helped the milk letdown.

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Answered by Cattsmeow - Nov. 22, 2015 7:32pm
Kitten, I didn't think of that. My husband is boob obsessed as well, so I'll have to bring it up to him.

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Answered by First_time_pregnant - Nov. 22, 2015 6:02pm
Take a big bowl of hot water. Dip ur hard breast in hot water for 5 to 10 mins. Tell ur hubby to press the breast from side ways , upside n down side. Ur old stock milk will try to pour out. Try to empty it fully.
Change the bowl water. Water has to b hot.

Try to follow this. It will work. For my sis it worked.


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Answered by Kitten90 - Nov. 22, 2015 5:35pm
This might sound a bit strange and forgive me if this is crossing a line to ask/suggest... but does your SO have any interest in your breastmilk, and/or would you be okay with letting him nurse? I know it sounds weird but my SO has always been very boob-obsessed lol, so when my milk came in he wanted to try. I found that when I got engorged for the first time he was the only thing with powerful enough suction to really get my boobs emptied. I think I may have had partially clogged ducts or something because after that the engorgement wasn't as bad and I could get them to empty fairly easily again.


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