I am in tears. Please help.
Background: I am a SAH, FTM. I am so excited to BF, and my LO and I have had a great BFing relationship thus far. My LO is 19 days old and thriving; great poops, great peeing, and appropriate weight gain.
We are EBFing, so no pacis or bottles of any kind. I'm in this for the long haul, and am trying my best to establish a strong foundation for a positive long term nursing relationship. I was bf until I was 4 yr old, and I want the same for my daughter and me.
My problem is my supply. It is so over abundant that nursing is miserable for my LO. When she nurses, her mama milk (this is what we call breast milk - when I say, "are you ready for some mama milk," her face just lights up) sprays out like a jet and covers her entire face. She sputters and coughs and chokes when she nurses, and lately will only nurse for a couple of minutes before giving up and crying herself to sleep.
She is more tolerant of the excessive flow when she is hunger nursing. The problem mostly occurs when she is comfort nursing and doesn't want the fast pace of keeping up with the flow and a mouth overflowing as she falls asleep. Her cry is heart-wrenching; it is not a hunger cry, nor a wet diaper cry. It is a sad, upset cry that clearly indicates that she needs something that she is not getting. I am sobbing, thinking about it.
So, I have spoken to two lactation consultants, who both said that the solution is to pump. This confuses me, though. Won't pumping increase my milk supply? Also, won't pumping upset the foremilk/hindmilk balance for my LO? If I pump before feedings (which is what was recommended), my LO will get a poor balance, won't she? Also, I found this: http://www.wiessinger.baka.com/bfing...e/gulping.html, which was posted by a mama over in Life With a Babe. It sounds like pumping is not a good solution. I've basically tried what is suggested at that site, however. The only hint I haven't been able to follow is to nurse one side for up to 6 hours. At this point, my LO is initiating two 20 min feeding, plus about two minutes of comfort nursing here and there, opting to cry to sleep rather than choke on mama milk.
Please help! I am so scared of screwing up this beautiful relationship before it has even really begun.
Background: I am a SAH, FTM. I am so excited to BF, and my LO and I have had a great BFing relationship thus far. My LO is 19 days old and thriving; great poops, great peeing, and appropriate weight gain.
We are EBFing, so no pacis or bottles of any kind. I'm in this for the long haul, and am trying my best to establish a strong foundation for a positive long term nursing relationship. I was bf until I was 4 yr old, and I want the same for my daughter and me.
My problem is my supply. It is so over abundant that nursing is miserable for my LO. When she nurses, her mama milk (this is what we call breast milk - when I say, "are you ready for some mama milk," her face just lights up) sprays out like a jet and covers her entire face. She sputters and coughs and chokes when she nurses, and lately will only nurse for a couple of minutes before giving up and crying herself to sleep.
She is more tolerant of the excessive flow when she is hunger nursing. The problem mostly occurs when she is comfort nursing and doesn't want the fast pace of keeping up with the flow and a mouth overflowing as she falls asleep. Her cry is heart-wrenching; it is not a hunger cry, nor a wet diaper cry. It is a sad, upset cry that clearly indicates that she needs something that she is not getting. I am sobbing, thinking about it.
So, I have spoken to two lactation consultants, who both said that the solution is to pump. This confuses me, though. Won't pumping increase my milk supply? Also, won't pumping upset the foremilk/hindmilk balance for my LO? If I pump before feedings (which is what was recommended), my LO will get a poor balance, won't she? Also, I found this: http://www.wiessinger.baka.com/bfing...e/gulping.html, which was posted by a mama over in Life With a Babe. It sounds like pumping is not a good solution. I've basically tried what is suggested at that site, however. The only hint I haven't been able to follow is to nurse one side for up to 6 hours. At this point, my LO is initiating two 20 min feeding, plus about two minutes of comfort nursing here and there, opting to cry to sleep rather than choke on mama milk.
Please help! I am so scared of screwing up this beautiful relationship before it has even really begun.
) and let the milk just leak. It does get better. I wish I had more info but I wanted to send a 
