You mentioned that you have a six and a half-week-old who seems to be eating really well, is growing, is happy, has enough wet and poopy diapers to show that she's getting enough to eat, and is gaining weight. All those are great reassuring signs. You expressed some concern over having an overproduction of milk and having problems with engorgement. If you're having issues with overproduction those are definitely easier to deal with than issues of underproduction because that affects how well your baby is doing. If you're having issues with engorgement here are a few things you can try. You did mention that she has a little bit of fussiness with feedings; you're worried about overproduction because of that. It might be because your milk is letting down so rapidly that she is doing everything she can to keep up with it. She might just be drinking it all because it's there, and yes having issues with being too full. You can try manually expressing or pumping a little bit of milk before you actually latch her on and nurse her. This may make the letdown a little less forceful and she will be able to control more of what she eats. It can also reduce gassiness because she may not suck in as much air as she is trying to keep up with the letdown. You also wanted to know how to mix pumping in to things, you're going back to work and work a few hours at a time. It's ideal if you can pump whenever your baby would be feeding while you're away. For example, if you nursed your baby every three to four hours and you're only going to begin a few hours then nurse your baby right before you leave and you can nurse them right when you come home. Say you're going to gone for longer stretches of time, perhaps five or six hours. Try to pump when your baby would be feeding at home. That's ideal if you can keep the same schedule. If you're having issues with engorgement and it's painful you can try using a hot compress or getting in the shower before you nurse your baby, and also try changing positions because sometimes you can get a little clogged duct if your baby is sucking most from one certain position. You can try sitting them up while they nurse, laying them down, and also trying to the football hold, and that will help them empty all areas of the breast equally. If you are having issues with engorgement you have to remember that the reason behind it is because you're getting full. If your baby isn't ready to eat then the best thing to do would be pump a little bit off or manually express a little bit before you're able to nurse your baby. Strangely enough cabbage leaves have been proven to reduce pain from engorgement. So you just go buy either red or green cabbage leaves, although red is more likely to stain your clothes, just pull off a whole leaf, clean it, and stick it in your bra, and make it so it's making direct contact with your breast. This will help reduce pain from engorgement. Don't do it for long periods of time, meaning for days and days on end because it can reduce your supply. If you're just doing it here and there you'll probably get the affect you want, having it reduce the pain without reducing your supply. Also if you notice that you start to get a hot tender spot on one side or the other use a hot compress or jump in the shower before you feed your baby and that will help unclog that duct as your baby sucks the milk out. I hope that these basic tips and tricks help. If you ever notice that you're developing a fever or you have a hot tender lump on one side or the other which is probably a clogged duct that has turned into mastitis, you need to call your doctor and get treatment. If you have any other questions for me feel free to ask them on our Facebook page and recommend us to your friends and family too.
