Help wanted with oversupply/fast letdown issues

[Effiethemonster]

So dd has been fussing about while feeding for a while now, it's got to the point where it's hit and miss whether she'll feed on the left side at all (constant pulling on and off until she just gets distressed). I think it's fast letdown or oversupply- milk squirts out when I squeeze that boob and when i do get her to to feed on the left (she'll feed on that side at night) milk tends to leak out of the side of her mouth.
I'd kind of accepted this and was happy to feed mostly on the right but she's even choking on that side sometimes aswell, this gets her really upset and she'll often stop feeding and I'll have to wait a bit before offering again otherwise she'll just scream at my boobs.
She also stopped feeding to sleep a long while ago and she rarely uses my boobs for comfort which irrationally upsets me a bit!
So had anyone successfully remedied their over supply/fast letdown issues?
Also I'd like her to take a bottle but obviously I'd have to express a feed that would potentially go down the drain so I'm wondering if I should not attempt this?

Thanks in advance!!

[Effiethemonster]

Oh she's 3.5 months

[jessplussomeonenew]

I had a bit of oversupply I think about 3-4 months in, got very frustrating! A few things that helped - lying back while feeding so gravity reduces the flow, triggering letdown and catching the squirty bit on a muslin/in a sterile container before latching the baby. If that's not working, some cautious block nursing (see www.llli.org/faq/oversupply.html) might help - I did a little bit of that and it did seem to moderate the supply a lot.

On expressing, it's heartbreaking when milk goes down the drain but if you have a good supply and prepare very small doses (1-2oz) at first, it shouldn't be too much. Getting the temperature just right proved to be crucial for persuading DS to take a bottle - if you can borrow a few different types of bottles it's good to be able to experiment and find out if one is better than the other. If you letdown on the opposite breast while feeding, you could try using the breast shells that have a little pocket to catch the milk, and try using that for your initial attempts.

[Effiethemonster]

Ooo I have those nipple shells! I totally forgot about them I'll start using them again. Thanks i'll think about the block feeding...although I struggle to get her to take the left breast during the day at all.
Interesting that that page says things often resolve on their own, I wonder if that's true.
Did things resolve for you? I just want feeds to be a nice experience again!

[stargirl1701]

Yes, mine resolved eventually at 7 months. I did consider sudafed at one point but we got there in the end. Total PITA though.

Bloody breastfeeding is such an evolutionary failure. Baby-boob. It shouldn't be any harder than that.

Good luck, OP.

[pastmyduedate0208]

Don't squeeze your boob. Just let baby latch on.
You can express a few ml beforehand with a pump, then breastfeed if you are engorged.

[Junosmum]

I found hand expressing the Boob baby wasn't feeding on (whilst DS is on the other breast) can get me up to 3oz really easily so do that sometimes, as I have over supply issues. DS will take a bottle of expressed but won't be comforted by it iyswim so will often fuss until he gets Boob.

I nurse lying back which helps a little but not much.

[Effiethemonster]

So this morning I let her latch on the left then instead of trying to get her to latch back on when she pulled off I squirted into a Muslim until it was dribbling instead, it didn't seem to squirt for long, and then she latched on for a proper feed! Yay for my poor ignored left boob!

I'll see how this goes throughout the day.

Gosh squirting and dribbling, bfing is glamorous isn't it.

[Effiethemonster]

Oh god MUSLIN. Not Muslim. For gods sake.

[tiktok]

At least you didn't 'throw a Muslim over your shoulder' which is often recommended on Mumsnet :) :) :)

[Effiethemonster]

Ha bloody autocorrect!

Oooh tiktok so do you think what I'm doing is ok? Do you find these things resolve themselves usually?

[TheOddity]

I could have written your post. I have had limited success with lying down to feed as long as I do it right from the start. Sometimes I let my older one have a feed to take the pressure off or the muslin trick. No great success though so onto block feeding now.

[tiktok]

Effie these things do resolve, yes; what you're doing is fine; might be good to speak to one of the helplines. It could be you end up feeding on one side only (leaving the other breast unused for always) - sometimes people do this. But talk it over first.

[CheersBigEars1]

I had oversupply and fast let down particularly on one side which finally resolved around a month age (he's six and a half months now). He still pulls off at the let down but feeds really well now and it's nice and quick which is an added bonus. I found the rugby hold was the best and sometimes had to express a wee bit before he could get a good latch and feed properly. I was totally lopsided for ages and as the months went by just couldn't believe it would ever resolve but it did finally. Hang in there OP one day at a time!