Baby sleeping through night, but still have to get up to express...

My 12 week old baby is sleeping through the night from 7pm to 7am. She started to sleep through at around 8 weeks and I got a very bad case of mastitis because I didn't wake up to feed her. It took 2 weeks to get rid of it and I was in a lot of pain. I started waking her to feed so I wouldn't get mastitis again but this last week I've let her sleep through and I'm getting up through the night to express. How do I get my breasts used to not feeding through the night. I'm finding it hard to get back to sleep after getting up to express and she is not sleeping a lot through the day so I don't ever get a chance to sleep more during the day to catch up on sleep. I don't want to get mastitis again. How do I drop the night expressing? Seems crazy that my baby is getting a good night sleep, but I'm not. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

It does seem crazy, and very unfair doesn't it!! Most of us go into motherhood thinking that we will be able to express a feed for our partners to give to the baby in the night so we can sleep through - but the reality is very different!

Joosie, usually supply starts to settle down at around about the 12 week mark, so in time you should find that you can get through the night (probably just in time for your little one to start waking in the night again as she approaches some big developmental milestones!!). In the meantime the best thing to do is to just express enough for comfort. Don't fully empty your breasts when you express, otherwise this keep sending the message to make more milk. Milk supply works on supply and demand, so the more you empty your breasts the more milk you make. Expressing for comfort is fine, necessary in fact at this stage, but a big express can make it take longer for things to settle down to your DD's demands.

It sounds like you are doing a great job hun.

It doesn't seem fair does it! My DS2 wakes for feeds at night now, but when he was about 1or2 months old he was sleeping for nearly 8 hours and I did have to get up to express. My breasts would hurt too much to sleep anyway.
I would make sure my pump was sterilised and ready beside the bed. I would wake (just once), express in bed half lying down still, then put my slippers on, walk to the fridge and put the whole pump and bottle in, and go back to bed. I would just express enough to get comfortable.
It's normal, even if it doesn't seem like much fun!
Jo

Hi Joosie,

Not sure why your mastitis took so long to clear up (poor thing - must have been awful), but if you get lumps again that you can't get out, many physiotherapists can treat you with ultrasound to help them get moving. Worked well for me - was in hospital with mastitis, then when I got out still had lumps which cleared up after 3 physio sessions.

HTH