Slooooow letdown. Advice?

[Comtessa]

I'm finding that my milk is letting down more and more slowly lately - especially at night. DD gets frustrated quickly, especially if she wakes up hungry, and nurses for a few seconds, then pops off screaming when she can't get anything. This on-and-off just makes it take longer to let down - I'm so frustrated and sad for her, because she's trying to get to her milk and it isn't coming. It always lets down eventually, but some nights it can take several minutes of anguish before any milk starts flowing.

To further complicate matters, it's worse on her non-preferred breast, but if I don't start on that side, she often refuses to nurse on that side at all. I don't want my milk supply on that side to dry up completely, so I want to keep encouraging her to nurse on that side. I don't want to upset the poor child either, though.

Has anyone had this problem? What should I do? Any tricks to help get the milk flowing faster?

[Caroline P]

I had this issue too, try to get a script for domperidone. It really works. If you are in the US it might be harder, but in Canada it is super easy. I used it for both my kids....really helped! I did try the herbs first but this stuff worked better...

[aksign]

I just discovered this trick by accident, and it sounds odd... but it does work... ds was just fiddling away with the other side nipple and the let down is really fast. Again, I know it sounds strange, but it's better than her getting so frustrated!

[merebella]

Could have written this post myself! But last week, I had to pump a lot ( a couple times a day) because dh and I were going to a wedding w/o lo. Since then, I've found I have better supply and a quicker letdown, evem at night. DS has enjoyed this and seems to be taking more. I only pumped for about 5 minutes each time, but it did the trick. I am not still pumping, but may again if I find it to be slow again.