[Resi]

I'm almost positive I have a forceful let-down when breastfeeding. You can read more about what it is here: http://www.kellymom.com/bf/supply/fast-letdown.html

Oliver is getting my milk way to fast when he starts nursing. He pulls off the breast to get some air because it starts coming out too fast. He only nurses for about 5-10 mins on one breast. He is getting too much foremilk and not enough hindmilk. That would explain why he nurses more often and maybe why he wakes up so often to eat at night. He has a lot of gas and he gets fussy a lot when awake. It seems like he is almost always trying to push out gas.

Has anyone else had to deal with this? I have read up on ways to help him with my fast flow. Basicly recline when I feed him, feed him on one breast until it's empty, pump a little before I feed him, or try to squeeze some milk out after he has started the flow.

I feel bad for him! Plus the fussiness gets really hard by the end of the night!

[misfitinmn]

I have overactive letdown, Resi. Mine WAS linked with oversupply and I was feeding only one breast per feeding. Ben has mostly learned to deal with the fast flow now, but at first it caused us a lot of problems. Reclining never worked for me and I didn't want to pump because I didn't want to keep making such a huge abundance of milk. What I did was feed him on the same breast for a block of time - like 3 hours. Anytime he wanted to eat during that 3 hour period, I fed him on the same breast, so he would be sure to get enough hindmilk. The other breast got uncomfortable after that time, but it took only a few days before it started getting better. I would also unlatch when I felt letdown happening and spray into a towel, then relatch him once it was done spraying. Now, I rarely get engorged (so my letdown isn't quite as fierce as it was when my boobs were FULL) and Ben rarely coughs and sputters during feedings, especially at night. He just has learned how to deal with it. I have to burp him really well and he's still pretty gassy, but now he at least is able to push it out without the drama that accompanied it during those first few weeks!!

If you have any other questions or anything, let me know! I struggled A LOT with this in the beginning, probably the first 8 weeks were the hardest.

[Resi]

I have overactive letdown, Resi. Mine WAS linked with oversupply and I was feeding only one breast per feeding. Ben has mostly learned to deal with the fast flow now, but at first it caused us a lot of problems. Reclining never worked for me and I didn't want to pump because I didn't want to keep making such a huge abundance of milk. What I did was feed him on the same breast for a block of time - like 3 hours. Anytime he wanted to eat during that 3 hour period, I fed him on the same breast, so he would be sure to get enough hindmilk. The other breast got uncomfortable after that time, but it took only a few days before it started getting better. I would also unlatch when I felt letdown happening and spray into a towel, then relatch him once it was done spraying. Now, I rarely get engorged (so my letdown isn't quite as fierce as it was when my boobs were FULL) and Ben rarely coughs and sputters during feedings, especially at night. He just has learned how to deal with it. I have to burp him really well and he's still pretty gassy, but now he at least is able to push it out without the drama that accompanied it during those first few weeks!!

If you have any other questions or anything, let me know! I struggled A LOT with this in the beginning, probably the first 8 weeks were the hardest.[/b]

I was hoping you would answer this. I thought you had the same problem that I'm having. I have been trying to spray into a towel after he has got the flow started. I can't feel when letdown happens but usually after he sucks a couple times I pull off and see it spraying. I'm already trying to just let him nurse off one breast until it feels empty. I have heard around 3 months it's better because there digestive tracks are more developed. I guess we will see what happens. Thanks for letting me know how you managed to get through it.

I'm also dealing with this Resi, but just on my right breast. He will often unlatch, swallow, re-latch, unlatch, swallow...etc. He will also choke about 50% of the time which breaks my heart. I do what Sara did, I feed him off of that breast more than once in a row (I'm also a one-boobie-at-a-time mommy) so that he can get the hind milk. However, when I'm at work, I pump that boob 1 less time than I do the left boob, to try and lower it's supply abundance.

We haven't found a real answer yet, but just wanted to let you know that it is happening to me too. Pumping it before I feed him seems like too much of a PITA...

[Resi]

I'm also dealing with this Resi, but just on my right breast. He will often unlatch, swallow, re-latch, unlatch, swallow...etc. He will also choke about 50% of the time which breaks my heart. I do what Sara did, I feed him off of that breast more than once in a row (I'm also a one-boobie-at-a-time mommy) so that he can get the hind milk. However, when I'm at work, I pump that boob 1 less time than I do the left boob, to try and lower it's supply abundance.

We haven't found a real answer yet, but just wanted to let you know that it is happening to me too. Pumping it before I feed him seems like too much of a PITA...[/b]

My right breast is the problem too. My left breast doesn't seem as bad. It's good to know I'm not alone in this. I agree that pumping before feeding him would be a PITA. Plus, it might make the milk production way worse in the long run.


Oh.. Something kind of funny that happened last night.. My milk started spraying when I was trying to latch Oliver on last night and it squirted right in his eyeball! Poor little baby! He didn't seem to notice.

[~*Bethy*~]

are you using both breasts when feeding? is the 5-10 minutes he eats on one breast, or both? I would feed off one breast one feeding, then use the other one the next feeding. When you say pumping is PITA, what does that mean? I don't see why you couldn't pump to get him the better milk, and also to slow down the flow...

~Beth

I'm no expert but thinking of my guide book lol Have you tried expressing a bit from the R BB first, so you are taking away some of the foremilk, then feeding him the hindmilk? Just a thought?

[Frozendesire]

If I remember and understand correctly, it's when you are pumping when your breast is empty (well your breast isn't ever empty but you know what I mean) that triggers it to produce MORE milk.

I would just express, hand or pump, the first bit and then latch him on after the fast let down. That way he gets more of the hindmilk.

[Resi]

I'm no expert but thinking of my guide book lol Have you tried expressing a bit from the R BB first, so you are taking away some of the foremilk, then feeding him the hindmilk? Just a thought?[/b]

That is what I'm going to try to do when I get my new breast pump this week. It will be kind of hard because when I start to see he is ready to eat I will not have much time to pump before he gets upset.

Does he have a set time in between feeds? Like 2 or 3 hours or so? If so, you could time it that way? I hope it helps you!

[misfitinmn]

I tried pumping once before feeding him, and it just took too long and by the time I got finished, he was REALLY upset. The problem was that HE could induce letdown better than my pump could. So I never bothered with the pump after that. Really, once your milk kind of regulates itself, it gets better, and as Oliver gets older, he will get better at handling it. I hate how the answer to everything is "more time", but that was the answer I was always given and he really did improve a LOT after 12 weeks!