STILL struggling with overactive letdown

[BigBoPeep]

:( been doing 12hr blocks for almost a fortnight now. At first it worked really well, but it seems my supply has just adjusted, and let down is still far too strong so we're back to square one - I milk off LOADS before putting her on a fresh boob, yet still we get gulping, choking, swallowing air and spraying milk all over her face, even hours after starting a new boob (I do 8 til 8 and I'm still spraying now) - let down is also v. painful! Every nappy is dirty, with explosive wet poo, yesterday she was posseting after every feed which is unusual for her, and we had 4hrs of solid screaing in the evening, with her writhing around in pain. Flatulence round the clock too!

The only advice left to me now seems to be to put her on, then take her off and 'catch the worst' (thought i'd hand expressed 'the worst out tbh'). This is hard because she is a little pig and actually squeals if I take her off! It's also extremely difficult to hold a squirming indignant child in one hand and try to catch milk in the other. I can just about manage at home, but not out-and-about. Luckily none of this has put her off because she's such a guzzler, but it's making everything stressful because first she cries because she's hungry, then she cries because she's uncomfortable, then as soon as she's right again she's back crying for more (currently squirming&crying on my shoulder sucking my face!)

She's 5wks old - is this ever going to settle out? Any other tips? I'm going to the doctors soon but frightened to take what some crazy doctor will say as gospel - trust the LLL way more.....

and we just projectiled again, so we really are back to square one.

how is this even bloody possible? i needed twins.

would it be a stupid idea to just use one boob all the time and dry the other off?

Hi BBP - congrats on the arrival of your LO and for perservering with the BF - I promise it does settle down! I also used to spray everywhere!!

I had this with DS (also a guzzler), and the only thing that worked was to keep trying to find a position that slowed down the milk and sort of make it run uphill!

I used to sort of lean back into the sofa and then have him on a pillow on my lap. I also had a really good chair that sort of tilted backwards (not a posh BF chair, just a sort of low swivel office chair). After a few days of your DD getting a decent feed it should settle down a bit.

Can you get someone - HV BF experty person - to come and have a look at you feeding? And also, are you eating anything that might be making its way into your milk that DD is reacting to? Things like too much fruit can cause probs, or spicy food etc. I had to cut out cauliflower weirdly, or DS would trumpet like a sargeant major!

Hope that helps, and let me know how you get on! xx

diet could be it - i do eat plenty of fruit and had some slightly spicy things the last few days, but im not a spice fiend so nothing hardcore!

she's had a great latch right from the start and i can pretty much feed any way i like - lying down, lying back, her straddling my leg. she does let plenty dribble out - there's just sooooo much! i'm so sick of everything being covered in milk!!!

On phone so can't type much - my sympathies, I had this with both. Feeding lying down really helps - the extra can just dribble out of their mouths (put a towel down!)DC2 would only feed this way, also a pain when out and about, but made use of local bf rooms and changing tables...

Other thing that helps apart from what you're doing is time, as they get bigger they get more able to cope with fast flow.

Hope it settles down for you

Cross posts about lying down. I have to say I always sprayed, always leaked, always had to wear pads...but it got much more manageable as time went on. Still had to replace our very milky mattress though :(

thanks for the replies :)

This may be of interest to you. It's best to do this under the supervision of a BFC/IBCLC as if you don't have an oversupply it could lead to a massive undersupply though it sounds like you have all the hallmarks of a super-supply I haven't seen you so can't say one way or another.

Also the block could be extended further than 12 hours - I have heard of 24hours (i.e. feeding off one side for a day and then swapping to the other for the next day) in extreme cases.

Hope you find something that works for you.

Yes, Bobbiesox is spot on - the flow does slow! I used to only have to lean over and it would pour forth. :0

So, yes, surround yourselves with muslins, and relax. Have you got a BF support group you could pop along to? Mine was called Milk, and they are generally listed on the internet or in the front of your little red book.

How often is DD feeding, btw?

i like the idea of a 24hr block. I've had no blocked ducts or mastitis so far, so think I could handle it?

Her feeding is very variable - during the day I don't even keep track of timings, sometimes she'll sleep 3/4hrs in a sling or carseat, mostly it's about 90mins/2hrs bteween feeds, but she can want a couple of feeds very close together. During the evenings she does like to feed for a loooong time/cluster feed - the block feeding has helped with that because until we switch to a fresh boob, she can suck the old one as long as she likes and not get too much foremilk. Once we get the evenings over with she'll feed like clockwork at 11pm, 2am, 5am and 7/8am

she's put on about 1lb/wk since birth too!

I don't know about block feeding so can't comment! Perhaps someone else can advise.

Maybe she's she's just a frequent feeder? And 3 hours between feeds sounds pretty normal to me.

Sorry, that's all the advice I can offer! But good luck! xx

If you are going for longer blocks then try building up slowly until you find a time that works for you - it might be 14 hours or 17 hours - who knows!

It sounds like she is feeding really normal (interval wise) so there doesn't seem to be any worries on that front.

Is there any bfing groups near you that you can go to for support?

I always found www.kellymom.com a great resource when bf.

The information is all fully researched, and a lot more reliable than any of the dr, hv or mw I spoke to.

The symptoms you describe, suggest reflux to me.It might be a one off or it might become more pesistant.

Keep a food diary, it might just be something that you have eaten. And record each bout like the one you have described above. (or it might just be down to her feeding) I had to avoid cabbage, cauli and broccoli with ds1.

and i just remembered that they have a little growth spurt at around 6 weeks - so it could just be down to that.

Think the reason it isn't working is because you are expressing off so much milk. The more you express off, the more milk you make. My LC got quite shirty with me about this because I, like you, was expressing off a shitload fair amount before I started on a new boob because I felt like all my LO would be getting was the foremilk which would make the problem worse, not better. At this point I stopped expressing any milk and just kept telling myself that it was a temporary measure. Within days there was a difference. The block feeding just won't work if you are telling your body to make milk it doesn't need. I was expressing off about 60ml before feeding so essentially I was telling my body to make more than half again of what was actually needed. I know how awful it is but it does get better. I kept saying "I breastfed yesterday, I'm breastfeeding today and I will try to breastfeed tomorrow". Literally just one day at a time. I truly hope things get better soon, you are doing amazingly by persevering for this long.

I only give The Superboob (lefty) a bit of a massage when we switch and let it run out, don't really have to force it! Then no more expressing for the rest of the block. I'll try stopping it but...there really is loads of foremilk!

I think I will also try extending the right side's block and shortening the left's, to tell it to chill out!!

12hr blocks are not working for me either, but in a different way. Baby is not gassy or uncomfortable now but I am engorged and baby cannot cope with the flow and refuses to feed if I don't express off before I start the new block. Don't know how to get round this? Have you tried using colief if your baby is still gassy?

i just replied to your other post!

i havent tried any products to date because i wanted to try everything else first, but it is fast approaching the point where i will...

You need to try and nip it in the bud early as my baby coped during the 1st months but started to refuse to nurse from month 3! Just want someone to tell me how I reduce supply but still make it that my baby an cope. She WILL not feed on a full boob! If I shorten the blocks, she is gassy and uncomfortable and boob is still full so I have to still express!

Love the fact you call it the superboob, I called my left one a weapon of mass lactation (smile). If you aren't really expressing much at all then it does sound like the blocks need increasing. Good luck!

maybe a week of the blocks isnt enough hunter? They do say give it a fortnight, which is for one agree with because all was well with me til the last couple of days! the hurty boobs is at least proof you are transmitting the 'no more milk please' message? Mine don't even hurt that much, I guess I just leak the spare out - loose nipples or something?

weapon of mass lactation - LOVE that! lol!

Problem is, I have spent most of the last 6 months engorged and my supply still hasn't reduced! Difficult to blockfeed successfully when baby won't freed on a full boob! Just don't know what to do next!

oooooh sorry, thought i read you'd only been doing the 12hrs for a week

The technique I linked to earlier can help 'reset' milk production but it is a last resort type of technique rather than a 'first port of call' method of dealing with over supply. Worth talking through with someone knowledgeable about bfing if you have tried all the other 'tricks' to reduce supple, with a view to trying.

Hiya. Think you replied on my thread the other day about the same thing! So just dropping in to offer my support. X .I'm 4 days in to my block feeding and I have noticed a difference. I had an awful situation today tho, was out shopping in a dark ish blue top and accidently happened to brush past something and that was it- the flood gates opened! My top was saturated within mins. Had to run back to car with pram. V hideous indeed!