Fast let down affecting feeding

[HanBanan89]

Hi I'm new to mums net and a first time mummy to a 2 week old. We are bf and since my milk came through DD has struggled with latching on especially to my left boob. The milk literally pour out of it and we get through a whole muslin per feed, she also coughs and splutters and pulls off alot. She also has these massive spews when feeding from that side. The HV says I have a fast let down and I have to express off some milk till the flow slows then allow DD to feed.
Has anyone else had this problem? How did you deal with it?

I would have advised exactly what your HV said. I used to get through a couple of muslins per feed in the early weeks with my two. I could spray the room with my milk!

You either latch her on to get milk flowing then take her off and allow initial gush of milk to soak muslin, then put her back on again.

Or before a feed is due you could hand express off a litlle.

Your baby will be able to drink greater mouthfulls of milk at a faster rate as she grows. So this will be a dissappearing problem.

Hey thanks for the speedy reply!
I have been expressing some off by hand and bottling it so that dad can do a feed, it's all a bit strange and new just now so hope it gets bit easier. When was your LO able to cope with the flow?
I have been using the rugby ball hold for feeding is there one that is better when feeding of the fast side?

I'm not sure about positions really. I just did traditional crossover one.

It'll all have settled down by 8 weeks or so.

I tried block feeding ([http://www.lalecheleague.org/nb/nbjanfeb07p26.html]) with DD3 with this problem but that was for oversupply in both breasts. With DD1 and 2 I managed by feeding with the gushy breast when they were definitely going to drop off to avoid vomiting which worked well but they got very fat! They get used to it and DD2 in fact preferred my 'best' boob from a couple of months old.

www.lalecheleague.org/nb/nbjanfeb07p26.html

Sorry, basically involves feeding from one breast for a few hours rather than swapping at each feed. Found it worked quite quickly to moderate supply.

There are some suggestions for managing a fast let down on Kellymom. If you're not sure whether you have an oversupply as well, you could perhaps call one of the helplines to talk about it?

I have this problem too. You can also make sure you are leaning back a little while feeding (easy to do this in bed or with pillows/cushions on the sofa) as it can slow down the flow.

I was going to say what DeathMetalMum said - leaning back really helped me and my dd and eventually the problem went away. You can also feed lying right on your back, apparently, although it's not recommended for long term use as that position can lead to blocked ducts. I never did that - I just found leaning back quite a bit helped.

I also did/do the feed from only one side per feed thing.

Congratulations on your baby :)