struggling with oversupply - really stressed out please help!

[pinkyp]

Hi I've posted b4 about this but thinks are getting worse and I'm having real problems with my oversupply.
Currently I try to block feed my baby (if he wants a feed in 2hrs he goes back to same breast). I stupidly started expressing on a morning (between 10-11) and get around 5oz-6oz out. I decided to cut the expressing out but do it gradually as I tried to cut it out once before cold turkey and got mastitus. Anyway my baby has now started sleeping 12-6 so when he wakes my breasts are really full and lumpy. He'll then take the right side 6-8 (as and when) then next time he wants a feed he goes to the left. But this morning it got to 9am and my left breast was so full as it hadn't been fed from since 11pm the night before I had to express earlier than normal. I stopped at 3.5oz instead of the usual 5-6 so my breast felt comfy. My next time my baby wanted a feed I put him on this side to empty it. In the meantime my right breast has got really full and lumoy but my baby won't want a feed for another 2hrs. I don't know what to do, I keep offering it to my baby but he's not bothered. I'm tempted to express again but I'm guessing it'll make my oversupply worse but I'm scared to death of getting mastitus! Does my breast need to b lumpy in order to cut down? Won't it cause mastitus? Really stressed out please help :-( I just want to feed my baby on demand and nothing else. Were 9 weeks btw.

I have only ever expressed so I do know all about supply - but not about how it would impact your bf if you expressed your excess.
I know that supply def goes down if not used - with my expressing I got into a routine. Always expressed 3 hourly to keep up supply. And then dropped a pumping sesh as I wanted to decrease.
Could you express once a day when the problem is at its peak? It will level out with your baby, honest. Could you massage the lumpy bits and hand express what you get? I know this made me feel better - for example if I was out and didn't have a pump or baby to hand!

Couldn't you express and then freeze the excess for times when you might want/need to be away?
I find that if I am engorged then just taking the edge off with an ounce or 2 is fine - stops me feeling too full (sometimes I swear my back teeth are swimming - it's such an odd feeling!)

My milk levelled out at 3 months - around the same time my period came back.

HTH! (sorry I know this might be rubbish advice. Hope problem gets better soon)

Do you have a milk bank near you? You can donate milk for special care babies

"...But this morning it got to 9am and my left breast was so full as it hadn't been fed from since 11pm the night before I had to express earlier than normal. I stopped at 3.5oz instead of the usual 5-6 so my breast felt comfy. My next time my baby wanted a feed I put him on this side to empty it. In the meantime my right breast has got really full and lumpy..."

I'd say that you can express from the second side to comfort like you did with the first side. It may take a bit longer to get your supply to drop.

hope that makes sense.

Well i took your advice and expressed again and got 1.5oz so add that to this mornings i got 5oz out like usual. Spent all morning stressed out and i've only just got dressed

I cant donate to a milk bank as i dont meet the criteria (i've checked) and i do store a bit in the freezer and have now got about 70oz stored 'just incase' but have never had to use it.
I've just had a thought,do you think its not working out because i've picked the wrong time to drop expressing? My baby has just started sleeping 6hours solid this week so that might be why i'm feeling 'fuller' on a morning (as he use to just do 4hrs).

I'm wondering wether to leave it for now as it is then try and drop it again in a week or 2?

One more question - if i did use a bit of my frozen milk for a feed would i need to express later as obv my boobs would be full?

Sounds a bit bizarre but might work - when you have fed/expressed, try putting really cold face cloth on breast afterwards. This is supposed to shut down milk-producing cells, but won't do it too much.

Also, not practical but if poss will help, try no to touch your breasts when not feeding as any touch stimulates them. Also, try not to run breasts under shower as heat stimulates.

i think trying to express a bit less each time might help too.

Good luck x

I was in a similar situation at about 9 weeks.

I tried block nursing (with twins!), so I'd feed both twins from one side for 3 hours, then switch sides. During the first cycle, my left boob reached unfathomable proportions (and was so tender, I struggled to touch it to start manual expression) and I stopped.

Having reached this unprecedented fullness, I expressed the whole lot off the boob (couldn't stop once I started as the relief was like a drug ). Got 10oz off that one side in about 5 mins.

I don't know whether the process of getting rediculously engorged and then expressing to nothing sorted out my oversupply, or whether the timing was just a coincidence and it would have calmed down anyway, but I've had much more controlled boobs since then.

I think what I'm trying to say is that I did what I had to to get through each feed and so each day. It did all calm down in the end (was definately all ok by about 10 weeks, though don't remember exactly how long it took) and though I'm having smaller problems now that the babies are sleeping longer at night, we're generally feeding on demand and not having issues. I do get engorged as soon as I go near a pump though, so I only pump if I have a reason to or I get very full and the babies show no sign of waking.

Sorry for the long ramble. I'd recommend trying all the suggestions people have given - they'll either help or they'll keep your mind occupied while time works its magic

Good luck!

Thank you! this morning my ds slept 8 hours! i woke at 7 with one very painful breast, the other wasnt as bad i manage to wait til 8.15 when ds woke and i fed him on the full side (it was rock solid) and got 4oz of the otherside expressing (i could of got more but it felt squishy and ok) I keep putting him back to the same side all morning and i'm gonna swap to the expresed side when he wants his next feed ( 2hr block feed)