Please Help

[bradcher]

My milk is in but I can't pump it out on a hospital medela pump. my twins are too little to nurse it out. I had a long hot shower but my breast are rock hard. the pump can barely move my nipples. i've pumped for over an hour but nothing is coming out. how do i get this milk to flow?

[MamaKT127]

Congrats to you on your twins!! Are you able to manually express milk and bring on a letdown that way?

[twinmomstl]

Look at pics of your babies and think about them a lot. Manual expression works wonders but you have to do it right. Place your thumbs and pointers together so they make a large diamond shape. Center the diamond over your breast and push back toward your ribs then milk forward. You don't ever want to be squeezing the areola. It's hard to describe just massage downward from the tops and sides of your breast in the direction you want the milk to flow. Use warm packs before you start and ice packs when you finish. If you are still getting nothing, start with cold packs (to decrease the inflammation that is probably blocking the ducts) and start the process over. Its odd that the pump is doing nothing, if you are still getting nothing tomorrow I would call a lactation consultant.

[Romanad]

Along with what was already said, sometimes hearing a baby cry would make me leak early on. I had problems with clogs early on too. I would ice and then take a hot shower, do a kind of kneading thing all over my breast, then make a Dr. Spock hand (live long and prosper) and place my nipple in the V and apply pressure to the breast. Not too much. It didn't hurt, it actually relieved some of the pressure. Then I would try to manually express and pump for 20 min. I know it sounds strange but someone told me it would help and it did! Does your hospital have lactation consultants? They would talk to me for free over the phone. Worth a shot! Congrats on the babies!

[bradcher]

Thank you! Hand expression worked! I also realized I had a bad connection with my pump tubbing (reason it wouldn't pull my nipple). We're all good now and have milk! Thank you!!!!

[aept]

Yay! I was going to suggest the "pressure" trick as well. It helps reduce the hardness to make pumping or nursing/ latching easier. Congratulations on your twins and best wishes for happy bf'ing!

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[CEVmommy]

Also, this technique might help you:
http://newborns.stanford.edu/Breastf...roduction.html

[cacasey1981]

Originally Posted by CEVmommy Also, this technique might help you: http://newborns.stanford.edu/Breastf...roduction.html

There are a lot of videos on that site that can help out - check it out