Milk has come in... painful!

[MrsPoodle]

Any tips on relieving sore boobs? My milk has come in now, but I found bf too painful as I have really sensitive nipples and after just 3 feeds they were cracked and bleeding and it felt like she was mashing my nipple even though we were doing it correctly! I don't want to get mastitis or anything, but if I express then won't it encourage more milk to come?

 

[Kiwiberry]

Breast milk is actually really healing. One tip I have heard is to rub some milk on your nipples and use a hair dryer on warm and blow it on your nipples. You can also try lanolin. I tried it and the lanolin did not work for me but it might work for you.

Your post is really confusing to me though. You post in the formula section and I am not sure if you want to formula feed or breastfeed. If you want to breastfeed then expressing is a good thing, it will help relieve the pain in your boobs when they get full. You normally want your baby to regulate how much milk you produce but if you feel engorged, then it is ok to express. Once or twice a day even won't increase it by that much.

 

[MrsPoodle]

No sorry, my post wasn't clear, I don't want to breastfeed, I want to carry on ff her. I just want some relief!

 

[Kiwiberry]

I suggest the petroleum then! It works great for healing up sore, cracked, blistered nipples.

 

[Kitteh_Kat]

Don't express, it might encourage your body to keep making it if it thinks there is still a need for it. I just stuffed tight bras with re-freezable ice packs and ignored them for a week, and they were pretty much back to normal after that. Hope you can find some relief!

 

[mel28nicole]

I wore a sports bra that was two sizes too small. Strange, but it relieved the pain!

 

[wifey2013]

Ok, I had the same problem, and this genius old wives tale that one of my nurses shared with me saved me!!! First off - don't express!! Also, stay away from a hot shower, or any hot water running over your boobs - this will encourage let down and milk production.

Now, this is what I did, as a PP said - wear a very tight fitting sports bra, it does wonders... but what helped with engorgement and helped dry me up was cabbage leaves. What you do is get a cabbage and break off some of the leaves (about 6) and put them in the fridge or freezer. Then, cover your boobs with the cabbage (in the tight bra so they hold in place), and wait until they look "cooked". Leave them in place until they are wilted. It will help a ton. If you are still in pain, wait 20-30 minutes and do it again with fresh leaves. Something in the cabbage releases into your breasts and even helps dry you up.

I actually only had to do it once. And my breast engorgement went down. It's been over 2.5 weeks and I've had no pain since. My nipples still leaked a bit afterwards when i wasn't wearing the tight bra - so I suggest for the next week or two keep up with the tight bra.

 

[Tigerlily01]

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[Kiwiberry]

I used petroleum when I was in the hospital to heal my blistered nipples and it worked extremely well. Within a few hours they were healed and felt nice. Lanolin never worked for me either. Since you are not BFing then using something that is not "all natural" won't be that bad.

 

[wifey2013]

^^ Sounds crazy, but I did this too, as I was desperate for relief! The leaves are cold, but are much softer and will conform to your shape better than any ice pack. You will smell a bit cabbagey though, so might want to stick around home when doing this!

I'm sorry to say it does take a while for the discomfort and engorgement to go down, though (at least it did for me). I also used a product called MotherLove (I think?) which is olive oil based. I preferred it to Lanolin.

Yes! I forgot to mention - you will stink of cabbage!! LOL the smell drove me nuts. But hey, it worked!

 

[MrsPoodle]

Hehe I might try the cabbage thing! I've got crop top type bras, so will tighten them up. Thanks ladies x

 

[Kiwiberry]

I wonder if you can substitute with something that smells nicer? I would hate to put something that stinky on my boobs and wear it all day lol.

 

[wifey2013]

I wonder if you can substitute with something that smells nicer? I would hate to put something that stinky on my boobs and wear it all day lol.

It's not all day, just a few hours - if even - until it wilts. I just did it in the evenings when my DH and I sat down to watch a movie.

 

[noon_child]

It has to be savoy cabbage. Other cabbages don't have the right stuff in them. I'd also say that some of the pain of engorgement is hormonal swelling, not milk, which is why the tight sports bra probably works (as it will be similar to reverse pressure massage) but I'd be cautious about anything that digs to your breast tissue anywhere, so no under-wiring and not too small, as it could cause a blockage in your ducts.

Yes expressing LOTS will tell your breasts to produce milk, but extended engorgement does risk mastitis, so if I were you I would express a small amount to just take out the engorgement and slowly over two weeks reduce the amount that you express. If you think about the amount of feeding a breastfeeding Mum has to feed to keep her supply up then a few hot showers and a few quick expressing sessions is not going to give you a supply similar to a breastfeeding Mum! but it will take the risk of mastitis away.

There are drugs like sudafed psuedoephedrine and some antihistamines that aren't recommended in bf because they reduce milk, but obviously consult doctor/pharmacist before taking.

 

[apple_20]

I think there are some herbs that help dry up milk might be worth checking out I think mint is one.

 

[Genevevex]

Oh my goodness! I haven't breast fed my little girl at all, and suddenly TODAY my breasts are huge, hard, and hurt SO bad. All the doctors office told me to do was hot compresses?! This feeling and pain is ridiculous.

I guess I'm going to try some cabbage leafs tonight? Sounds weird. I don't have a pump or anything to express and I'm pretty leery about putting little girl to the breast at all... Here's hoping the cabbage leaf thing works? *crossing fingers*

 

[wifey2013]

Oh my goodness! I haven't breast fed my little girl at all, and suddenly TODAY my breasts are huge, hard, and hurt SO bad. All the doctors office told me to do was hot compresses?! This feeling and pain is ridiculous.

I guess I'm going to try some cabbage leafs tonight? Sounds weird. I don't have a pump or anything to express and I'm pretty leery about putting little girl to the breast at all... Here's hoping the cabbage leaf thing works? *crossing fingers*

Don't hot compress!! That can stimulate the production of more milk - that's not what you need!! If anything put cold ice packs and manually express just a bit to relieve the pain, and then do the cabbage thing. Just use cold to relieve swelling. Also, you can take some tylonol, it helped me too.