How to Reduce Breastfeeding Letdown Pain

Although it is a natural process, breastfeeding is something that can cause a lot of complications for mothers that are new to it. One of the common complaints is pain while breastfeeding. Fortunately, there are ways to reduce the pain and even completely eliminate it. Read on to discover a few ways to express breast milk without pain.

What Is Letdown?

The letdown is a process where the mother expresses milk to her baby. When the baby begins to feed, the letdown can cause pain and discomfort due to the engorgement of milk in the breasts. Some of the letdown pains may be a feeling of numb arms, a tingling sensation and cramps.

Fortunately, letdown pain is something that can be reduced and it usually becomes less of a problem after your body gets used to the process. There are a few things you can do to reduce the pain such as:

Ways to Reduce Letdown Pain

1. Alternate between breasts. One of the simplest ways to reduce pain is to alternate between breasts when nursing. This allows you to recover and to prevent one breast from becoming oversensitive and tender particularly as you will need to nurse your baby at least 3 times per day.

2. Make sure you are healthy. The quality of breast milk is correlated to the healthiness of the mother. Furthermore, you may feel more letdown pain if you are stressed or suffering from an illness such as an infection. When breastfeeding, you should always to try do it in a calm and tranquil environment and if you are suffering from an illness it is best to consult a doctor before breastfeeding as some medications can affect breast milk.

3. Use a breast pump. As an added measure to express more breast milk and to improve convenience, you may want to use a breast pump to express milk if nursing your baby is too painful. This will also allow you to store the milk for when you unavailable or traveling. Most modern breast pumps have in-built features such as massaging breast flanges to reduce pain and encourage effortless milk expression. To find the best breast pump for your needs, it is recommended that you read some reviews and compare prices to ensure that you make the right choice.

Breastfeeding is has a learning curve and although some mothers may experience pain in the beginning, this usually passes after some adjustments. In the end, you will be glad that you chose to breast feed your child due to the various health benefit sit can bring and it is also a practice that is recommended by many health professionals and other mothers.