Comfort sucking vs. Overproduction

[Kim B Lynn]

What do you ladies do to balance comfort sucking with supply issues?

We went out of town for the weekend and of course baby boy (3 weeks) needed extra nursing time because it was a strange place and there were lots of new people and mama was stressed. So now I'm dealing with overproduction and a super forceful let down reflex. I also worry that baby won't get enough hindmilk because I have so much foremilk. I also don't want to get engorged although it hasn't been a concern yet.

So what do you do to deal with over production? And how do you allow comfort sucking while minimizing potential issues?

[Kim B Lynn]

Also...I think he might be spitting up more and having more gas because he's over eating.

I'm not big on pacifiers, and I never wanted to use them regularly, but I'm thinking it's not generally a good idea to let baby comfort suck on my breast anymore

Am I wrong? Can we do this without pacifiers and without making mom and baby even more miserable?

[calgal1111]

The only time I allowed comfort sucking was if DD had not just eaten. Really early on I found she would just spit up everything if she had too much. As for paci's DD has a bad gag reflex so that NEVER worked. I don't think it will affect your milk too much if you limit it to a few times a day. Plus there are other ways of comforting your baby, like singing or rocking, etc.

Hope this helps!

[rizzosanders]

My little one made my supply CRAZY when she was that age, by doing a lot of comfort sucking. Now that she is older, (6 months) she is able to do different sucks, one that draws milk for nutritive sucking, and one that is gentler, for comfort sucking, and I no longer have an issue with over-supply. Good luck!

[alegna]

Block feeding. I would never deny a baby that young the breast.

-Angela

[buttercups.nest]

I am also curious to say what people have to say....

[dahlialia]

Could have been a mini growth spurt, too. 3 weeks is a common time for one. DD would be gassy and spit up at that age too, when she would nurse more often.

In a few weeks your body will likely not over respond so much to days when he nurses a lot. In the meantime, you could try block feeding to reduce the oversupply. One breast per feeding, if you had been offering both. Or if you hadn't, offer the same breast for the next feeding if it's within a couple of hours. That lets him get the hindmilk, and be able to comfort nurse a little more. And the other breast staying full for a while signals your body to make less milk. I found it was not too hard to get a feel for how much to block feed, so it didn't reduce the milk too much. Otherwise you'll just get another non-stop nursing day :

I put DD to the breast if she obviously wants the breast, and for other comfort we walk and rock and sing to her. It also got easier to figure out which she needed. It is possible to do it without pacifiers, yes.

My lo is 2 months, and still cannot comfort nurse due to flow, except for the very occasional time that she is so hungry she effectively empties the breast first. The inability to comfort nurse does change at some point too, at least it did with my elder dd, but I don't remember when.

[rivkah]

I wouldn't overthink it, personally. If baby wants to nurse, nurse the baby. I've dealt with oversupply, but it will usually work itself out fairly quickly. If you are very uncomfortable in the first few weeks, just hand express a little bit. As a PP said, your breasts won't always respond so quickly and vociferously.

[mamazee]

If oversupply becomes an issue, I'd block feed at this point. Although if you're not having engorgement problems, I don't think you're having oversupply. I'd just nurse as much as he wants.

I use pacifiers with my kids, but I've never introduced one as early as 3 weeks. I'd wait at least a week or two for that, if you want to introduce one. Your milk supply is still regulating and the supply could still crash quickly at this point.

Hang in there! You're at the hardest part, and things will just get easier from now on.

[YayJennie]

I introduced a pacifier around 6 weeks because of this. I know tons of moms are against them, but they've been a life saver for us. My son was drowning in my over supply and overactive let down, but still wanting to comfort suckle. Now he nurses, gets his fill unlatches and takes a pacifier to sleep, and my supply is FINALLY evening out. Not for everyone, but worked for us.

[natural4mybabies]

Block feeding worked for us Kept him on one side for a few feedings or sessions in a row and if the other side got too full, would pump just enough to relieve the pressure and as to not signal more demand. But also found out the hard way to also pump a little on the other side before giving him the breast to feed so that he did not get too much lactose. Otherwise he would end up with a very upset tummy and was not happy!

Both my kids absolutely refused pacifiers. DS (5 mos) for the first couple of months wanted to comfort nurse all. the. time. I personally think the breast was just as much meant for comforting as it is feeding, so rejection of the paci was not a huge deal...just gave him the boob

It meant I was on my butt most of the time durning maternity leave and contributed to 2 cases of mastitis and then thrush (prior to learning about block feeding), but hey...the boy wanted the boobie! I had severe undersupply issues with DD who is now 4, so although hard to deal with at first, oversupply wasn't a something that couldn't be dealt with and eventually evened out.

[zoeart]

Block feeding has been working great for this problem for me too... I started block feeding at around 3 weeks, he's now 7 weeks and no more choking on milk! We have just introduced a pacifier, because he wants to suck ALL the time - even when we try other comfort measures ( bouncing, wearing etc), and he often can only fall asleep while sucking - and we needed to save our fingers! I do try to let him stay on the boob as long as possible, when he's not getting sprayed with milk...

[Beauchamp]

Hmm...my LO is just over 4 mo old. I have never restricted the boob from her, and make every attempt to let her comfort nurse for as long as she wants. At rare times I have been somewhat painfully engorged when the day goes differently than usual, but my supply has always figured itself out.

I don't try to learn too much about the intricacies of BFing, or schedule too much, or track what breast at what feedings, etc. I just try to switch sides at each feeding, and at times I will double up on the left side so the right is ready for her at night. (For some reason the left seems to always have more milk, and the right has less and is her comfort nurse side for going to sleep.) She usually eats quite a bit and comfort nurses her way to a nap afterward during the day.

I may be doing something wrong, but I wouldn't know. I just nurse her whenever she needs it, and at this point her "want" (to me) is the same as her need.

We waited at least 4 weeks to introduce a paci, and she has never taken to it. (Despite my mom's recommendation to just hold it in her mouth. She prefers mama over paci. I figured I'd let her do what she needs and I'd deal with any repercussions that happened to my body. But it all kind of balanced itself out, without much manipulation on my part.

[StoriesInTheSoil]

I think in this case I would recommend block feeding.