When will it end?! THE LEAKING

[texasfarmom]

I'm sure the answer is: It's different for everyone. But can you all give me some idea or share your experiences?

I have sooo much milk. It is VERY frustrating. I am constantly leaking, even right after a feeding. While I feed on one side the other side gushes, sometimes through a pad, bra, and down my shirt. You can imagine how embarrassing that was in public yesterday! If I get up to change a diaper in the middle of the night, I drip all the way to the nursery and back. I wake up nightly in a puddle of milk, and have been changing clothes several times in a 24 hour period. When will my body adjust and stop gushing milk everywhere? I want it to stop!

[AFWife]

If you have an oversupply it can take a couple of months. I had to wear nursing pads for 3+ months after DS was born or I'd wake up soaked.

AND THEN when he was 7 months or so the leaking started again out of the blue...so always be prepared!

Sometimes I would stuff a prefold in my bra (I bought a nursing sports bra so I could just stuff it across the whole thing) It worked really well.

[MsVyky]

I stopped leaking around 3 or so months as well, when my supply regulated itself. That's when the engorgement stopped happening as well.

[Ruthla]

I stopped leaking about 4 months with all 3 of mine. I used to use cloth diapers in my bra (or tank top) at night to absorb all the leaks, but I found that nursing pads were adequate for daytime. I didn't "need" nursing pads after 4m, but I wore them for about another month anyway for extra protection, and always wore them for work, even when I hadn't leaked in months.

[ellairiesmom]

as a reference point, i have over supply & overactive letdown & dd2 is 5.5 mos & i still leak a little. i also spray all over the place w/ every feeding & now that dd2 likes to pull off & look around more than ever, i've had some embarrassing moments in public recently

[justKate]

Not good news here.

I had oversupply and overactive letdown for the first 12 months. I had to wear nursing pads at all times for the first year, and would often soak and have to change them a couple of times during the day. The leaking finally stopped when I stopped pumping ~12 months and started giving DD non-mama-milk.

Don't let that scare you though. I think if I had been able to pump less/earlier, it might not have been so bad for so long.

ETA: still BFing @ 17 months and I never leak anymore. So there is another side of the rainbow. It's not better, but different in good ways!

[indie]

I had oversupply and overactive letdown and I think the leaking lasted around a year. I wore cloth diapers in my bra at home day and night (embarrassingly enough I went for a walk a couple times forgetting to remove it). I kept a big pile of diapers beside my bed to change out every time I woke up and still often found myself soaked in the morning. I changed my shirts multiple times per day. I sometimes think I was meant to be the village wet nurse and was born in the wrong era.

[Addie]

I mostly stopped leaking around 7 months. I can sleep without a bra finally, but I need a cloth diaper nearby for the first morning feeding, because I still leak from the other side. I wake up having leaked sometimes too, but not nearly as much as I used to.

[Pepper44]

With DD1 I soaked everything in milk constantly for the first few months. It was so miserable! There were drips of milk everywhere, piles of milk soaked towels that I laid on at night, diapers and wipes so wet with milk you could wring them out, wet t-shirts. No regular breast pads could contain my leaking milk. Thank God for carriers--I could wear DD in a carrier and no one could see my sopping wet chest or the prefolds stuffed in my bra.

My leaking slowed down little by little. By 6 months it was bearable, by 12 months it was pretty much under control, and DD still hasn't weaned at almost age 4...before I got pregnant again I wasn't leaking at all and could sleep without a bra.

With my second DD I spray milk and leak some, but it's not nearly as insane as it was with DD1. If you plan to have another baby just know it might not be as bad next time!

[hildare]

I still leak at almost 9 months, but nothing like what's happening with you now (which is how it worked for us at that point).. now, it only leaks when i have letdown and i don't pump right away or feed the baby, or from the other side while feeding - that i can control now somewhat, by pressing gently. My body thinks that if milk comes out of one boob, it needs to come out of both.
It does get much better, though. I can use cloth and wool nursing pads now, or go without them altogether, but during the times you describe, only the stupid disposable ones worked well enough to contain. It's a blessing to get to wear the wool ones now, i sure do love them.

[ericaness]

i have an oversupply and overactive letdown too. still leaking. although in between feedings the leaking is much less (well, as long as we dont go more than 2 or so hours b/t feeds). while i am feeding DS, it is like a fountain coming out of the other side. i go through so many nursing pads. i hate using the disposable ones, they are so itchy, so i have been through a lot of trial and error with cloth nursing pads, sometimes doubling up on them. at night it's pretty bad, and i still wake up soaked pretty frequently. and the spraying if he unlatches during letdown. what a mess. i get so self conscious nursing around other people because of this. i always have a prefold at the ready. and usually change clothes a couple times a day.

[SubliminalDarkness]

Mine didn't stop until 9 months, and I had chronic low supply. It really varies.

[Asiago]

My breasts leaked a lot until about 4 months. They still leak occasionally at 8.5 months.

[bella99]

I stopped leaking randomly around 3.5 months, I stopped leaking during letdown at 5 months or so.

When I was at the stage you are, I decided to try the cotton reusable nursing pads, and I went to the mall with my husband and daughter. I leaked through the pads, my bra, and the sweater I was wearing. It was loads of fun. The Lansinoh disposable pads were the only things that didn't irritate my skin or leak.

[Turquesa]

If it's any consolation, I gushed with my first baby and have had no problems with my second.

Could you coordinate nursing on one side and pumping on the other? You may as well get something out of it...

[ps4624]

Took me until about 15 months to stop wearing nursing pads, and some days I still embarrass myself in public

[maptome]

Stopped wearing nursing pads at 8 months, but I still leak a little on the opposite side as DD (12 months) is nursing. I was a gusher.

[blizzard_babe]

I posted this at 13.5 months. I was only leaking on letdown at that point, but still leaking. It continued for several months afterward. I think that I just had really overzealous go-get-'em breasts .

[texasfarmom]

Thanks for the replies. I guess I will just have to get used to it. For now, lots of shirts to wash, lots of prefolds on hand, and many frustrating feedings. I am trying to avoid pumping. I don't want my body to think I need even more milk than I have already. My loving DH bought some of the Avent milk catchers for me. While a great idea, in practice they don't work for me. My nipple barely reaches past the opening, and I'm dripping way too much and the cup overflows.

[dakotablue]

It took 9 months before the pressing in to stop letdown worked for me.

I will say though I would take a bottle and catch much of the let down and freeze to add to my supply stock. In the beginning I was catching about 2oz