I have a heavy/fast letdown. I don't know whether it officially qualifies as "overactive" but there's a lot of milk and it comes fast, and it's hard for my babies to handle--especially in the early weeks (DS is 12do right now). They choke and gag and gulp a lot of air as they try to keep up with the flow.
With my last DS, I was able to get a lot of suggestions at a LLL meeting for things I could do (nursing positions, techniques, etc) that could help my baby cope and also help my supply ease up a bit. I remember some of them but it's been 3 years and I'm kinda floundering again, so I was hoping maybe we could have a thread for us mucho-milk-producing mamas to share tips about what has worked for us.
The two big things I remember are these:
To get the supply to back off, try block feeding (feed from one breast for 4ish hours, regardless of how many nursings that is, then only from the other breast for the next 4ish hours...)
To help the LO cope with the fast letdown, use gravity in reverse--try laying back and laying LO on top of the breast (so the milk has to fight gravity) or at the very least get LO into a more upright "seated" sort of position in your lap so that the milk comes straight across, rather than laying them under the breast where gravity increases the flow.
I've also found it helpful to detach him every minute or so so that he can catch his breath (I listen to his gulping and when it gets really fast I give him a break).
With my last DS, I was able to get a lot of suggestions at a LLL meeting for things I could do (nursing positions, techniques, etc) that could help my baby cope and also help my supply ease up a bit. I remember some of them but it's been 3 years and I'm kinda floundering again, so I was hoping maybe we could have a thread for us mucho-milk-producing mamas to share tips about what has worked for us.
The two big things I remember are these:
To get the supply to back off, try block feeding (feed from one breast for 4ish hours, regardless of how many nursings that is, then only from the other breast for the next 4ish hours...)
To help the LO cope with the fast letdown, use gravity in reverse--try laying back and laying LO on top of the breast (so the milk has to fight gravity) or at the very least get LO into a more upright "seated" sort of position in your lap so that the milk comes straight across, rather than laying them under the breast where gravity increases the flow.
I've also found it helpful to detach him every minute or so so that he can catch his breath (I listen to his gulping and when it gets really fast I give him a break).
I thought it was much funnier than he did. 
