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I would pump for ~5 minutes. Baby can always get more milk out

I wouldn't pump, that just makes the problem worse because it's telling your body you need that milk. If you're trying to build a freezer stash though, that'd be a good time to do that :). If not, your body will adjust eventually. Yay for sttn!!!

@Foodnerd81: hand express some into a towel?

Yay for sttn!! I had engorgement at first and then my body adjusted. The few nights where she has woken up in the middle of the night, I've still had enough to feed her.

@Foodnerd81: I pumped anyime she sttn for the first couple months and kept it for my frozen stash. I did have an oversupply and that's probably why, but I didnt mind since I WOH full time and needed the extra!

my baby slept those hours for about 3 months (2 - 5 months) and i pumped almost every morning and built a huge stash! now he wakes once during the night and so i don't wake up full like that anymore but i need to replenish my stash so i am hoping he starts STTN soon.

but if you don't want to pump, you can suffer for a few days and your body will adjust.

oh and i think in all those morning of pumping did i ever get the sense that baby was still hungry when he woke so i gave a bit more in a bottle. Although i also typically pumped right after he had his morning nursing session so it was never usually an issue.

yay for STTN!

I also did not pump once he was consistently sleeping through because i didn't want to get up to pump... it took a few nights but it leveled out.

Honestly if you're not going back to work I would say let your body self regulate. If you were going back to work it could be a good way to build a freezer stash but if you don't need it I would get the extra sleep!

I'm not sure if anyone said it, but I would just hand express into the sink until I got a little relief. Much easier than pumping and dealing with all of that

I hear ya! The irony of it all you finally get the opportunity to STTN but can't because you're so full and uncomfortable. When it happened to me I just hand expressed a little and worked through it until my supply adjusted

When LO first started sleeping longer stretches at night, I would pump the side she didn't feed on. But that made me have and oversupply and it exacerbated the situation and I HAD to pump otherwise it would be so uncomfortable or when I would feed LO,she would get frustrated because it was coming out too fast. Lately, I've been just massaging my breasts in the morning and expressing some either into the nursing pad (when I'm super lazy) or a towel/burp cloth that I keep by the bed. Since I stopped pumping as much, I'm less engorged but still have full breasts in the morning (esp the side she didn't feed on the previous feeding.)

I used to just pump for a couple minutes - just enough to relieve the engorgement. But eventually your boobs get used to it! Xander now goes 8-9 hours between eating (at 6.5 months), and my boobs don't hurt in the morning anymore!