for mamas with a forceful letdown/oversupply *a few more questions...

[CherryBombMama]

ds2 is 5 days old. i EPed with ds1, and i already knew i had a super forceful letdown from seeing it come out with the pump.

i still have that crazy fast letdown with this new baby he chokes, milk is pouring everywhere, he constantly latches on and off, etc...

ive read kellymom about nursing positions, and we actually naturally gravitated towards nursing in an upright position and nursing laying down before i even read it, so that ive got down.

i dont understand the "adjusting your supply to better match babys needs" part. how does nursing only on one side at a time do that? i do not understand block feedings. i understand how its done, but WHY? how does it work?

and how do you NIP? ive already done it a few times, and i find it so hard. in between catching the milk, the awkward upright position (its not awkward feeling, just kind of awkward to nurse discreetly (sp?)) and baby constantly coughing

[no5no5]

Okay, well, when your breast produces milk, it is actually "hindmilk," which is a very creamy high-fat milk. As it is stored in your breast, it gradually changes to "foremilk," which is much higher in lactose and also higher in FIL (a whey protein). When the FIL builds up in your breast, it sends a signal to reduce milk production.

As for NIP, I usually only nursed on the less-full side in public, and I kept nursing pads handy (i.e., in my hand). Nobody wants to see breastmilk spray clear across the room. Do you have overactive letdown even when you do block feeding and you're on your second or third feeding from the same breast?

[WindyCityMom]

I had a massive overactive letdown! I would soak prefold dipes stuck in my shirt like CRAZY!

After awhile your supply should level out- mine is finally somewhat okay at 8 months

[CherryBombMama]

Originally Posted by no5no5

Okay, well, when your breast produces milk, it is actually "hindmilk," which is a very creamy high-fat milk. As it is stored in your breast, it gradually changes to "foremilk," which is much higher in lactose and also higher in FIL (a whey protein). When the FIL builds up in your breast, it sends a signal to reduce milk production.

As for NIP, I usually only nursed on the less-full side in public, and I kept nursing pads handy (i.e., in my hand). Nobody wants to see breastmilk spray clear across the room. Do you have overactive letdown even when you do block feeding and you're on your second or third feeding from the same breast?

i havent done block feeding, just wondering how it worked. so far i either let my milk spray off into a prefold or let baby drown in it

i EPed for 10 1/2 months with ds1 and my letdown was crazy strong every single time.

[CherryBombMama]

Originally Posted by WindyCityMom

I had a massive overactive letdown! I would soak prefold dipes stuck in my shirt like CRAZY!

After awhile your supply should level out- mine is finally somewhat okay at 8 months

and how did your LO handle it?

[no5no5]

Originally Posted by CherryBombMama

i havent done block feeding, just wondering how it worked. so far i either let my milk spray off into a prefold or let baby drown in it

i EPed for 10 1/2 months with ds1 and my letdown was crazy strong every single time.

Oh, okay. Well, if you think you have oversupply in addition to overactive letdown, you should give block feeding a try. If your breast is less full when you are nursing, it shouldn't spray with as much force, and that's much easier to deal with, especially in public.

[suddenlyamama]

HI, I haven't exactly figured out how to do the whole pull her off, and squirt it out thing when it comes to fast letdown. However, we are six weeks old today and either my milk has slowed or dd has gotten better at handling it. We are doing okay. She is a gassy, fussy little thing, but she loves her milk.
Have you tried drinking some Peppermint tea, maybe in the evening before the night, or whenever baby doesn't eat as much? It doesn't make a huge difference in oversupply, but definietely helped.
Good luck to you guys.
Looking forward to see what others have to say about this.

Oh oops, forgot to say that block feeding definitely helped for a while, but now she is too hungry.

[no5no5]

Originally Posted by suddenlyamama

Oh oops, forgot to say that block feeding definitely helped for a while, but now she is too hungry.

Do you mean that she is finishing all the milk in one breast and is still hungry? If that is the case, you don't have overproduction, and you should definitely NOT be doing block feeding.

[sacridote]

Just a note to say that I have been doing block feeding for a couple of weeks, and it's helped with oversupply and fore/hind milk imbalance, but done NOTHING for a forceful letdown. I still spray at every letdown during a feeding... I know because DS (8 wks) pops on and off multiple times and I can see it.

(BTW - we tried all the positions and none of them worked for us...)

[PatioGardener]

Originally Posted by sacridote

Just a note to say that I have been doing block feeding for a couple of weeks, and it's helped with oversupply and fore/hind milk imbalance, but done NOTHING for a forceful letdown. I still spray at every letdown during a feeding... I know because DS (8 wks) pops on and off multiple times and I can see it.

(BTW - we tried all the positions and none of them worked for us...)

it took me 3 months of 10 h blocks to get my let down under control - so hang in there, there is hope!

nak

[CherryBombMama]

Hhmm so would it be dangerous to block feed 5 days into BFing? im sure my supply isnt established yet, but i honestly have so much milk that comes out through the whole feeding, not just at let down, even though thats incredibly forceful.

this last feeding was really rough, he actually cried at my breast because he was drowning so badly

thanks you guys

and what about offering only one boob per feeding? is that a mini version of block feeding?

[no5no5]

Originally Posted by CherryBombMama

and what about offering only one boob per feeding? is that a mini version of block feeding?

Is your baby finishing one breast and still wanting more? I would not offer the second breast unless the first is finished. You really want to make sure the baby gets enough hindmilk.

But on the other hand, yes, of course block feeding will reduce your supply and that is dangerous if you're not sure you have enough. Have you read this yet?

[ewe+lamb]

For the block nursing start of with nursing on just the one side for 2 feeds, if you don't notice a change do 3 and so on until you notice a difference, if the breast which you are not nursing on starts to feel full and uncomfortable then express off a little milk into a towel or whatever you have to hand, but just enough to relieve you rather than pumping to increase a supply - it is a fine balance. If you have been giving both breasts at each feeding then just start slowly and see how you get on.

To take baby off the breast take your little finger and put into the corner of baby's mouth, to the gums and pry the gums open a little to ease off the suction so that you can take your breast out of the mouth without doing any damage to the breast.

I don't want to 'fire' anyone up but just to clarify on the block nursing/fore milk/hind milk thing - the milk that is produced in your breast is the same milk produced all the time, we do not produce foremilk and then produce hindmilk, what actually happens is that the milk in the breast separates when we are not nursing so that the cream rises and moves back up the breast and the heavier liquidy milk moves down, so it is the same milk produced all the time but just separates in the breast, if your baby is suffering from gas pain lower down in the intestine then, its the creamy milk 'hind' milk that your baby is needing to equal out the liquidy milk 'fore' milk that they take in - lots of late in the day/night nursing can really help with this and in the morning when baby has been nursing less at night you'll notice that there is more liquidy milk - so, the block nursing concentrates on pulling that creamy milk down to the baby, so that baby is not topping up on the liquidy milk all the time - its this that when ingested constantly creates the gas pain and can give the baby green frothy explosive stools, which certainly could be the case here. I hope that i have managed to explain the 'why' of block nursing that you asked and not confused the issue any more -

Good luck keep posting to let us know how you are getting on.

[Anna Phor]

I have a pretty fast let-down, especially if my breasts are full. I usually pop baby off and squeeze a little so that the first spurts of milk go onto a washcloth or tissue and don't spurt right into baby's mouth. With a little practice, you'll figure out exactly where to apply pressure. At almost 10 months, this usually only happens first thing in the morning if he's had a particularly sleepy night, and he's used to it, too (he pops off himself).

It's a little trickier to do in public (ha!). I used to squeeze down, into the crook of my elbow. That way you don't squirt across the room. Also for beginner NIP; do you have a new mom's group or LLL meeting you can go to a few times to practice? Find a safe space where it doesn't matter that much if you squirt a bit, and practice some strategies!

Congratulations!!!

[CherryBombMama]

Originally Posted by no5no5

Is your baby finishing one breast and still wanting more? I would not offer the second breast unless the first is finished. You really want to make sure the baby gets enough hindmilk.


But on the other hand, yes, of course block feeding will reduce your supply and that is dangerous if you're not sure you have enough. Have you read this yet?

no, he doesnt need the other boob. thanks for the link, i read it and it seems like i am doing one of the "wrong" things - offering the other boob before the first one is finished.

Originally Posted by ewe+lamb

For the block nursing start of with nursing on just the one side for 2 feeds, if you don't notice a change do 3 and so on until you notice a difference, if the breast which you are not nursing on starts to feel full and uncomfortable then express off a little milk into a towel or whatever you have to hand, but just enough to relieve you rather than pumping to increase a supply - it is a fine balance. If you have been giving both breasts at each feeding then just start slowly and see how you get on.

To take baby off the breast take your little finger and put into the corner of baby's mouth, to the gums and pry the gums open a little to ease off the suction so that you can take your breast out of the mouth without doing any damage to the breast.

I don't want to 'fire' anyone up but just to clarify on the block nursing/fore milk/hind milk thing - the milk that is produced in your breast is the same milk produced all the time, we do not produce foremilk and then produce hindmilk, what actually happens is that the milk in the breast separates when we are not nursing so that the cream rises and moves back up the breast and the heavier liquidy milk moves down, so it is the same milk produced all the time but just separates in the breast, if your baby is suffering from gas pain lower down in the intestine then, its the creamy milk 'hind' milk that your baby is needing to equal out the liquidy milk 'fore' milk that they take in - lots of late in the day/night nursing can really help with this and in the morning when baby has been nursing less at night you'll notice that there is more liquidy milk - so, the block nursing concentrates on pulling that creamy milk down to the baby, so that baby is not topping up on the liquidy milk all the time - its this that when ingested constantly creates the gas pain and can give the baby green frothy explosive stools, which certainly could be the case here. I hope that i have managed to explain the 'why' of block nursing that you asked and not confused the issue any more -

Good luck keep posting to let us know how you are getting on.

very helpful! thanks ds does have the green explosive poops, so i am going to offer only one boob until it is empty.

Originally Posted by Anna Phor

I have a pretty fast let-down, especially if my breasts are full. I usually pop baby off and squeeze a little so that the first spurts of milk go onto a washcloth or tissue and don't spurt right into baby's mouth. With a little practice, you'll figure out exactly where to apply pressure. At almost 10 months, this usually only happens first thing in the morning if he's had a particularly sleepy night, and he's used to it, too (he pops off himself).

It's a little trickier to do in public (ha!). I used to squeeze down, into the crook of my elbow. That way you don't squirt across the room. Also for beginner NIP; do you have a new mom's group or LLL meeting you can go to a few times to practice? Find a safe space where it doesn't matter that much if you squirt a bit, and practice some strategies!

Congratulations!!!

i NIP today and it was so stressful .. going to look into the LLL