My nipples are damaged from expressing milk and my supply is drying up fast!

Question

Please help me, My husband took my 6 month old away for the weekend and i planned on expressing milk and storing it to keep up my supply however after 24 hours my nipples were so damaged from the pump that i could barely continue. Now my little one is back home and I can hardly stand her feeding its so painful. I have had no letdowns today and i'm too sore to even hand express a little. It feels like there is no milk there at all. Can that be the case after only 48 hours? Should i wait until they have healed before trying to boost my supply? I"m so worried because we were doing so well and she has just started on solids. thanks.

Answer 1

Hand express, it is way easier on the nipple.  Just make a c-shape with you hand and put your thumb on the top of your boob and your fingers on the bottom, then roll them down your breast until you hit the areola.  After 2 or 3 tries you should have a bunch of milk coming out. I can easily get 5 oz in 20 min this way and it doesn't hurt at all.  To get your nipples healing faster get some Lasinol cream!

Answer 2

After 48 hours you should still have milk it takes weeks for the milk to fully evaporate. I dont think you were placing you breast in the pump properly, it should not hurt. If the nipple is not in the right place in the pump it will hurt. You should wait until you nipples are a little before you feed again, in the event they get infected you dont want to give it to your baby.