Exclusively pumping
I have a 12 day old and have exclusively pumped since birth due to latch issues, ive already had mastitis once and feel like im constantly battling blocked ducts. I pump for 10 mins on each boob every 3-4hours and find that one always feels more engorged after.. i dont want to spend more time pumping and have enough supply but dont want to protect my boobs. Its making me so depressed because im constantly worried about my boobs that im contemplating weaning off completely
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When your pumping are you using any source of warmth? Could you try applying warm compress as you pump to help relax your boob and push through any tricky bits to try and prevent the blockage?
You may need to increase your pumping just by say 5 mins if your feeling full still x
Try double-pumping for 20 minutes instead - means both boobs get double the time? Well done mama for maintaining the 3-4 hours, it's so hard! X
I exclusively pumped with #1 and found I needed to hand express in the shower to get the hard lumps out (I also had enough supply) then around 2 months mark (can't remember exactly) I stopped being engorged unless I went ages without pumping (found this out by forgetting pumps on a day out and had to buy a haaka and try and BF 😅) and the lumps never came back.
I'm combi BF and pumping this time (pumping so hubby can be involved) and I'm a lot less "lumpy" and figure baby is better at draining boobs than a machine!
I'd also use heat, heat expands blood vessels so in combination with pumping/massaging/hand expressing can help avoid mastitis.
Good luck! Exclusively pumping is the hardest path imo, i ended up pumping longer and less frequently (30 mins as a double pump every 6 hours) which made life a little more bearable!
I was doing something similar due to sleepy baby not feeding. Only just started taking breast this week on day 15. I was 3hrly pumping to make sure my milk supply was optimised to get to 1litre a day goal by day 14 and needed 30mins on pump to get that. It was exhausting but I was fortunate to have a lactation consultant support me and give me constant advice.
I think you need to be pumping for 20 minutes each side to resolve
Yeah, think you need to pump just an extra bit longer. I pump 15/20 mins each time I pump
Manual pump always helped when I had blocked ducts and prevented mastitis. Use heat before/during pump. Ice after for 20mins and ibuprofen if things are getting really sore.
Other things - are you using the right flange size? If you only want to do 10 min pumps, try doing 1 or two 30 mins pumps to fully empty, definitely for first pump of the day and maybe before you go to bed
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