Hurts to express

[dannii]

Hi just wanted to know, if anyone else finds it painful at all to express?
ive never heard anyone else mentioning this. i just dread when i comes to trying to express milk, so i try not to do it very often.

I have an electric breastpump.. it has a dial where u can increase and decrease the suction and a release button (to break the suction, which i use frequently!) as the suction hurts! ive tried turning it to low but doesnt express then.. i make sure its not on too high and i make sure i have it in the right position but it still hurts!
sometimes it hurts so bad i have to stop!!
Has anyone else had any dramas when expressing?

[poshBecks]

I have heard of elec pump hurting!! Though i use the avent manual pump & it doesn't hurt at all :o

[dannii]

oh ok, maybe its just the electric pump then.

is it harder to use the manual pump? i tried using an old style pump with my first bub and it was hell hence why i bought electric this time. i have seen they changed the manual type pumps so maybe worth trying.

[Chickadee]

Danni, I'm not sure why it's hurting when you express. I started with an Avent manual pump and the cup for your breast has a silicone insert that cushions your breast and is much more comfortable than the electric one I used. I think the electric one was Medina, can't remember now and can't be bothered going to get it. The electric one didn't hurt exactly, but it wasn't as comfortable.

I switched to the electric when I went to full time expressing 5 to 6 times a day, because my hands & wrists were getting too tired with the manual one. But if you're only expressing once or twice a day I think the manual ones are great. You can often pick them up second hand, just sterilise everything and it will be fine.

If you're not getting much let down then I think any breast pump is going to hurt. Try massaging the breast and nipple or basically start by hand expressing if you can until you can get a let down and see if that helps. Thinking about your bub helps, you can try looking at a picture. Or (this may sound weird) I used to just close my eyes and mentally picture bub at my breast rather than the machine. Sometimes it works.

[O&GMUM]

I had such huge problems expressin too, Ive given up now. The only thing that worked for me was having one of the babies on one side and expressing on the other. As they got older I couldnt do it as they where trying to kick the pump and really distracted by the noise, but even having them there that close to the nipple seemed to trigger it off. Strange creatures arent we!!

[kimmy]

Yeah i used an electric pump to & it hurt too at the beginning but then it got better & way easier.

[dannii]

i must be a freak as it hurts me! :rolleyes:
the suction hurts like hell. and sometimes causes sharp like pains in my breast. i absolutely dread having to express.
i think i might get a manual, sounds like i will have abit more control over that. Can only try i guess.
thanks everyone

[Bewitched]

Hi Dannii :)

You are not a freak sweetie! We all have different levels of pain tolerance. Sometimes when i express (i use an Avent manual pump and it's pretty good) i get sharp pains too, like little pins being stuck into the nipple - ouch!
Other days it's so comfortable i don't mind doing it at all.

I would suggest definitely getting rid of the electric one, put yourself more in charge with a manual pump. Also, i found having a shower before expressing helped control the pain a bit. The warm water, along with massaging the sides and top of the breast softened up the 'hard full boob' so it expressed a little more easily.

[BubbleBelly]

I started off using a manual pump but have to express 10 mins each boob after every feed to increase my milk supply sooooo pumping 8-9 times a day became very tiring. The first time i used the electric pump i almost shot through the roof! then i realised i started off with the suction on max :rolleyes: silly me... I have gotten use to it now but if you don't have to express all the time a manual pump may be more comfortable.