Producing too much breast milk

[YellowBalloon]

My DD2 is 10 days old. For the first three days we were in hospital and she fed constantly. She was a big baby at birth, 9lbs3oz, so i put her huge appetite down to her size. She is feeding well now my milk has come in and gaining weight rapidly, 9lbs12oz at 10 days old.

The problem is, and i hate to moan, i am now producing too much milk. Consesquently i am in constant pain. My boobs are huge, much bigger than when i BF DD1, and constantly ache. DD2 is sleeping well, she can sleep 5 hours in the night but though she is sleeping i am awake as my breasts hurt so much. I am expressing off approx 200 ml from each breast a couple of times a day and still they are aching and too full. I cannot dream feed, she isn't intereted.

My midwife doesn't see it as a problem, but if i am not getting any sleep from sore breasts then i just can't cope in the day. Plus now my back is really hurting from constant feeding and pumping.

How can i reduce my milk production? I am scared to do anything which reduces it too much as i want enough milk to feed DD2, but right now i feel i am producing enough to feed triplets. The pain is getting unbearable, please help.

it will reduce down naturally I think. i would hand express just enough to make yourself comfortable if you need to between feeds. but otherwise just let her feed on demand and your supply should naturally settle down.

you could save what you express off and freeze in case you need it in the future!

Congratulations on the birth of your baby and brilliant the feeding is going so well.

It will settle down in time, maybe as soon as a few days. The more you express, the more you produce of course. So don't express until the breast is empty, just enough to feel comfortable again. Freeze the surplus to feed to your DD.

I believe that sage tea is a folk remedy for reducing milk production but I don't know if it suppresses it entirely.

If you keep having loads, you could investigate donating it to your nearest milk bank if there is one (not a given).

Honestly though, it will settle down very soon. Hang in there! Have you tried the old cabbage leaves in the bra trick? (savoy works best)

Contact your hospital's Maternity unit to see if they take breastmilk donations for the premature babies. Even if you only do it for a few weeks it'll really benefit them, you express into special sterile bags and store them in your freezer, the staff collect them in bulk to take to hospital.
That should take the pressure off your norks for now, your supply will settle down over the next few weeks. Supporting your breasts and restricting their movement will help with the discomfort.
HTH

I have quite a supply in the freezer now, but i think you are right in that i need to stop pump expressing as it is perhaps encouraging milk production. Hopefully it will naturally settle down in a few days.

We live abroad so the local hospital does not collect milk, shame, what i pump in the night often goes down the sink.

Ooo, cabbage leaves, never tried it but i will now. Thank you everybody.

I was exactly the same as you - would wake DS at night to relieve myself! Now that DS is 10 weeks I'm still overproducing but it's much much better especially in the evenings and at night. It started to get better at around 5 weeks. I didn't take any remedies all I did was:

• feed on one boob only at each feed (block nursing)
• reduce my sugar intake
• never pump! It makes it worse

I would have loved to donate bm but just could not risk upping my supply! Hope things get better for you soon

Agree with expressing until you're comfortable and not empty. Your body will regulate itself to your baby's demand so you'll only produce enough soon. Keep the milk in the freezer (I think they last a few months) and use it for weaning, i.e. With baby rice, baby cereal, fruit purée, vegetable puree etc.