2 months, and I still letdown on both sides..

[biohaz444]

3 questions at the bottom - with a bit of background first -

I thought after a couple of weeks your body was supposed to figure out which side baby was nursing on and only letdown on that side?

I have a strong letdown, and have random letdown pretty often still.

Cole is gaining weight appropriately, has lots of wets and between 1-3 dirties a day usually..

What should I do? I'm staying home with him, so I don't need a HUGE freezer stash... I haven't been pumping often but get decent results when I do.

If I pump more frequently, will I (1) decrease the strength of the letdown, or (2) help my body to figure out how to letdown on one side at a time, or (3) decrease the random letdowns at all?

[LionessMom]

i have been bfing since april 07. second baby. i still get letdown on both sides. i just put my finger directly on the nipple that is not being used to keep it from leaking. works real well. i only hold it while i am having let down then iit rarely leaks after that. i pump sometimes to put some in the freezer but i never have occassion to use it so iidk what i will do with it. pumping will get the body to make more, supply and demand. you are demandinng more so your body will try to supply more. and you just might be like me and always let down like it was the first time.

[mariekitt24]

I didn't have much luck with pumping at all, I just had a cheap manual one so maybe that was the problem, but anyway I dont have enough experience with that to be of any help.. I would think though that the more you pump (and breastfeed) the more milk you produce, therefore not really helping lessen your letdowns. unless of course you had just finished pumping and were empty at the time.
all I know is, for at least the first year I always letdown on both sides. I guess I just figured that was normal. nursing pads were my best friend and a necessity for me wherever I went. if I was at home and feeling lazy, I'd just stuff a kleenex or a rag down there to soak it up instead while I nursed on the other side. I am only an A cup (B cup when breastfeeding) though so maybe my letdowns were not too strong to begin with. but just thought I'd chime in anyway.

[biohaz444]

Thanks Lioness!

I kind of figured it was just going to keep happening, hoping to hear a solution, but I figured there wasn't a great one..

Yeah, I kind of push in on the opposite side while he's feeding, it doesn't seem to help a lot, but some... I'll try being more directly on the nipple..

As far as what to do if you've got a lot, you can donate to a milk bank!

oh well, I'll just plan on continuing to go through nursing pads!

All worth it!

[petitchou]

I remember reading that it should level off around 3 months. Well 3 months came and went for both kiddos - ds1 nursed until 2 years old and ds2 is now 15 months - and I still letdown on both sides every time!

It doesn't letdown as much as it used too. I think around 5-6 months both my kids started taking both sides at each nursing and there was considerably less than. But I still feel it and it's still enough to leave a wet spot on my shirt sometimes

Pumping will tell your body to keep making more and increase your milk supply. If you want to decrease the letdown, I wouldn't do it.

[jessica_s]

I thought after a couple of weeks your body was supposed to figure out which side baby was nursing on and only letdown on that side?

Not necessarily, some folks are just more leaky. I think a pp said that a good way to stop it is to just put your arm or hand over your nipple when you either anticipate or feel a letdown coming. You can usually hold that for maybe 30 seconds and you'll be fine. If it's not working yet, it will, it might mean you've just got too much milk to be stopped right now! This works better as you go along, I wouldn't advise it in the beginning because if you've got an oversupply you want the milk to at least come out a little so you don't hurt.

If I pump more frequently, will I (1) decrease the strength of the letdown, or (2) help my body to figure out how to letdown on one side at a time, or (3) decrease the random letdowns at all?

None of the above. The only thing pumping more frequently is going to do is increase your supply and thus increase the chance for leaking because you are more full. The first time you do it, it *would* decrease letdown, but it sends a message to your body to make more milk and so after doing it for a couple of days you just make more and more.
It's probably going to be a time thing and as you go along it will get less and less bothersome. I wore nursing pads until about 10 months so I know!

[biohaz444]

thanks everyone! all makes sense, just wanted some assurances that I'm doing all I can, really...

Only reason I thought pumping might somehow help decrease the strength of the letdown is bc I've heard that feeding more frequently decreases the strength of the letdown at the feedings... but I know the supply and demand basically means that I'd just be making tons more...