Full boobs and a not-so-hungry baby. Advice?

[October2013]

Hey, girls. I have a milk supply question.

My milk just came in today (yay!) My boobs are quite large and sore, and unfortunately my LO isn't too interested in feeding for more than 5-15 minutes every 1-2 hours, so she's not really 'draining' them for me.

My question is... Will my milk go bad if she doesn't feed enough? I think I've heard somewhere that if you don't pump/ empty your boobs often enough, you'll have issues with getting LO enough milk, and then I will fail to produce new milk. Anyone know if this is true? Should I buy a pump?

Thank you, girls.

 

[Rachel_C]

Your milk won't go bad

At first, your boobs go crazy making loads of milk because they don't know how much your baby needs. It works on a supply and demand basis, so after a few days (or maybe a bit longer when you're first getting started) of LO feeding for 10 minutes every 2 hours your boobs will get used to that and only make what's needed. If you express all you can, your boobs will learn to make more, so unless you're in a lot of pain it's best not to express more than a few drops to make yourself comfortable.

 

[October2013]

Your milk won't go bad

At first, your boobs go crazy making loads of milk because they don't know how much your baby needs. It works on a supply and demand basis, so after a few days (or maybe a bit longer when you're first getting started) of LO feeding for 10 minutes every 2 hours your boobs will get used to that and only make what's needed. If you express all you can, your boobs will learn to make more, so unless you're in a lot of pain it's best not to express more than a few drops to make yourself comfortable.

Thank you! My mind feels much more settled now.

 

[FoxMommy]

Second what pp said! You're doing great, just hand express as little as you can to be comfortable.

 

[meli1981]

Thats impossible hun! Youre doing great! I agree with pp if youre still full afterwards, just hand express some out. I wouldnt pump this early as it could cause oversupply issues