DDCers -- Oversupply/Overactive Letdown Anyone?

[Baby_Cakes]

Is anyone else dealing with oversupply/overactive letdown?  I tried block feeding last night, and then decided this am when I woke up with one rock hard bewb to just pump "a little off the top" to ease the pain.  2 min of pumping, I got 4.5 oz from the ONE SIDE.  I don't think that's going to help the situation!!  Ack!  Anyone have advice?  

Part of me is afraid to do this block feeding, or try cold compresses, etc.  Can I end up with too little milk?  

Finn chokes, sputters, and spits up with basically every let down.  He's fussy all the time he's awake unless he's nursing.  The past two days he would only nap on me, not even in the swing where he usually sleeps for 3-4 hours during the day.  But he's gaining weight fine, poops are normal.  He's doing great, it's just the frustration of having the worlds fussiest baby and feeling so bad for him when he is basically choking and gasping for air every time he nurses.  I feel like it's traumatizing to him!!

Halp?

[Beckily]

I have nothing helpful to say! ;) Except that that's apparently how I nursed to start and I'm fine! Really. I was force weened at 3 and was barely eating food by then, so my love of the boob was not diminished by mom trying to drown me in the beginning :)

[earth-mama]

One side has a much stronger let down than the other side. If it is even remotely full then Jonas sputter and complains until it has been nurses down a bit. Sometimes the also happens with the other side too. Mostly we work through it and then he likes to hang our there for a good long while. I do sometimes let DD do a boob drain when the get really full.

As he gets bigger and better at swallowing he seems to have less trouble, so I figure that it will work itself out.

[greencarnation]

Me!  We do only one side per feeding, but I still have more than I need and spray very hard.  He normally comes off when it does that, and we both get soaked.  The other side also leaks like crazy the whole time I feed him.

I did pump once a day when my milk first came in, but I've been trying not to.

He does very well with it and is gaining weight and everything, but I would like to not be soaked in my own milk for once.

[Italiamom]

Carrie, have you tried pumping first? Like, pump to just past let down, and then let him feed? That could help.

I've been block feeding just so that DD doesn't only get foremilk. It usually takes her 2 sessions to properly drain one side. But I fed DS that same way until 3 months probably, and he didn't eat from both breasts until well past 6 months. She slurps and sputters terribly on let down, but at least she tries. DS would pop off and just hold his mouth sort of open while making half assed suckling motions, like I was a human drinking fountain.

You could also try letting Finn nurse to let down, pulling him off for a minute, and then resuming when the feeling has subsided. I wouldn't be concerned about diminishing your supply too much. It sounds like yours is a body that is pretty darn responsive to nursing

[Tear78]

I've been block feeding, too. It seems like mornings (after somewhat longer chunks of time without nursing, like 3-5 hours), I have rock-hard boobs and she can't even fully drain one of them. It takes several feedings to feel like they're both somewhat empty. Then mid-afternoon I feel like I have nothing left. If I can get a nap in, that helps replenish.

This evening, after a nap, I had a rock-hard boob again. She nursed for a while, then burped, then nursed again. Well, the poor thing lost her latch mid-suck and milk sprayed EVERYWHERE! Before I could react, she reconnected and got another half-suck in before losing it again. Another MONSTER spray. It was all over her face, all over me. OMG...poor thing! I felt bad for laughing in retrospect. But also: is the milk really coming out that forcefully in her mouth? Holy cow! How does she swallow it?

[HawaiianBlesing]

This is me too and we ended up with green poops toward the end of the day.  I tried block feeding and did end up with one hard boob in the am but self expressed just a little before I would let him feed on it.  It's getting a little better and I still have more milk than I know what to do with even with the block feeding so I don't think your supply would be diminished that much.  I also would like to stop drenching my shirts and soaking the both of us.  I'm attributing some of it to inexperience but not all of it.
 

Originally Posted by greencarnation 

Me!  We do only one side per feeding, but I still have more than I need and spray very hard.  He normally comes off when it does that, and we both get soaked.  The other side also leaks like crazy the whole time I feed him.

[Carlyle]

Originally Posted by Italiamom 
DS would pop off and just hold his mouth sort of open while making half assed suckling motions, like I was a human drinking fountain.

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!  That is a HILARIOUS image!  I imagine that it's much more hilarious from my point of view though, not yours.  It sounds really messy!

[karalynnskies]

I'm sorry Finn is so fussy Carrie. I am not dealing with over supply but I also have serious overactive letdown, its worse on my left side. Usually he pops off when my milk lets down and it is just spraying everywhere. I am pretty sure at this point my whole house is covered in breast milk. I never knew this could be so messy. lol Once it calms down a little bit we resume nursing and he seems to do fine. He does occasionally cry and fuss on the left side. This is always frustrating to me cause I don't know what to do so I couldn't imagine how it would be if he was constantly fussy. Usually if we can get past the fire hose spray were alright.

I am just hoping as he gets bigger he can handle the extreme letdown better.

[Baby_Cakes]

Ditto to the water fountain and ditto to all the mess!!  We are pretty much always soaked. 

He actually handles things well during "the event"  and can pop off and cough, sputter, etc and pretty much get back on the bewb right away.  It's the burping, spitting up, and fussiness that are lasting effects.  Sigh.  I do pump BEFORE just to get a little off -- maybe I can do it just till let down?  I do it to make the bewb softer so he can latch on easy...but maybe less is more at this point.  Thanks for the suggestions and commiseration, ladies!

I remember going thru this with DD but it feels like forever ago.  I know in time we figured it out without doing anything special, and she nursed for just over 2 years, so we can get thru this.  It's just in the moment I'm feeling panicky, tired, and spazzy.  

[Lynann]

Carrie I had a really bad case of oversupply & overactive letdown last time. In my research to avoid the problems I had with DS I found this really interesting article on retraining your body to get the right amount of milk. It might be worth looking at to see if it might help you.

Becky, if you are still getting green poops you might like this article too. Green poops can be a sign that the baby is getting too much foremilk and not enough hindmilk.

[kylaskye]

nak

Okay, this is a bit OT, but I kinda want to ask a question. I haven't felt a letdown yet. At least not that I know of. Could this be because of my time pumping b.c of when he was too worn out to nurse from the jaundice? I know I'm getting enough milk for him now, but should I be worried?

[Baby_Cakes]

Thanks for that article, Lyn.  Once I have more than a few min I'm going to read it.  

Skye - some women don't feel letdown at all.  Not something you did or didn't do.  For me it's just a warm tingle, but I can tell it's happening from how Finn reacts when he's on the bewb.  Also, right about when it's time for his next meal, if he's sleeping or something, my bewbs do the weird tingle and sure enough when I check the clock, it's been about 2 hours.  But it's not a big deal if you don't feel it.  It doesn't mean anything about your milk production.

I think I also need to avoid all alcohol until we get this figured out.  I had 1/2 a glass of reisling with dinner and for his 11 pm nursing, it seemed like he puked up EVERYTHING.  He wasn't too happy with that.  Funny, wine seems to bother him, but the other day I put a splash of tequila in my lemonade and we had no issues.  Ha!  

[kylaskye]

Originally Posted by Baby_Cakes 

Skye - some women don't feel letdown at all.  Not something you did or didn't do.  For me it's just a warm tingle, but I can tell it's happening from how Finn reacts when he's on the bewb.  Also, right about when it's time for his next meal, if he's sleeping or something, my bewbs do the weird tingle and sure enough when I check the clock, it's been about 2 hours.  But it's not a big deal if you don't feel it.  It doesn't mean anything about your milk production.

I totally understand the whole tingly feeling when it's time to eat. It's actually been waking me up for the past day when I was sleeping. Thanks for the explanation, I'll see if I can notice it next time he needs to eat. 

[mama2soren]

We're totally struggling over here with this, too.  Lots of choking during letdown  and milk absolutely everywhere.  I was nervous about block feeding so early, but I made the decision to give it a try.  It hasn't been a miracle cure, but it's helped, and my supply hasn't gone down too low at all.  I found that side-lying in bed is a much better position for us.  Juniper rarely chokes this way.  Other people have luck with a semi-reclined position with babe placed upright on your belly, straddling your legs.  The cradle hold seems to be the most choke-inducing position for us.

[Inali]

i have similar problems too. Not so much with the choking and sputtering from letdown but definitely getting painfully full breasts the soak true bed at night and the both of us while nursing :-( I usually pump after I feed her either rt before bed or in the morning when I get up and it's unbearable to wait Any longer. Today I had to pump 4 oz from my rt and 5 oz from my left before I fed her! Sooo much milk! it'll come in handy when I have to back to work I guess...

Question: what is block feeding?

[kylaskye]

Originally Posted by Inali 

i have similar problems too. Not so much with the choking and sputtering from letdown but definitely getting painfully full breasts the soak true bed at night and the both of us while nursing :-( I usually pump after I feed her either rt before bed or in the morning when I get up and it's unbearable to wait Any longer. Today I had to pump 4 oz from my rt and 5 oz from my left before I fed her! Sooo much milk! it'll come in handy when I have to back to work I guess...

Question: what is block feeding?

Feeding only from one side for a set period of time. It takes some tweaking but it helps when the babe isn't getting enough hindmilk or with engorgement. I don't know where people usually start at, but I think they increase the time by 30 minutes or an hour if after a few days there isn't an improvement. Don't quote me on that, though.

[mama2soren]

Originally Posted by Inali 

i have similar problems too. Not so much with the choking and sputtering from letdown but definitely getting painfully full breasts the soak true bed at night and the both of us while nursing :-( I usually pump after I feed her either rt before bed or in the morning when I get up and it's unbearable to wait Any longer. Today I had to pump 4 oz from my rt and 5 oz from my left before I fed her! Sooo much milk! it'll come in handy when I have to back to work I guess...

Question: what is block feeding?

I know it can be painful to be over-full, but pumping after feeding will only exacerbate the problem.  The amount of milk your body makes is based on supply-and-demand.  If you're telling your body you need the extra 4-5 ounces after feeding, it will continue to make that much.  Can you wean yourself off of the pump?

I love KellyMom.com for breastfeeding info.  Here's a link about oversupply that explains block feeding: http://kellymom.com/bf/supply/fast-letdown.html

[Baby_Cakes]

Still dealing with spitup mostly here.  It's a mess though, and I'm so tired of him barfing after every nursing!!

I only use one side at night and it does cut back on the puking throughout the night.  And then in the morning I try to hand express just a tad off the engorged side so he can latch on and get his fill.  He of course sputters/chokes/pukes on the first feeding but then throughout the morning it's a bit better.  I switch again around noon or sooner if I have to b/c my breast is too full.  

I hope in a month or so this is a thing of the past, but I suppose there are far worse things than just having lots of laundry, right?