Oversupply and strong let-down

[RememberingMyPFEs]

My DD is a month old and when my milk came in started fussing at the breast, screaming, pushing away etc. At times she'd be showered in the face as she came off the latch. As the days went by I'd regularly have to express as my breast would get increasingly engorged and painful.

I discovered an article on the LLLI page that recommended block feeding - I'm now doing 3 hours/3 feeds (whichever is longer) on each side and she is ever so slightly less fussy except first feed of the day but she will regularly choke in the excess of milk and still gets a facial spray regularly (it's good for her skin through, right?)

My breasts are still very engorged - yesterday I caved in and expressed 5oz off one side in about 3 mins with a manual pump - it was a relief as I was very lumpy and sore beforehand but I worry I'm making the problem worse.

I know it's still early days but I'm drowning my daughter, we're both constantly drenched and I'm worried about getting blocked ducts - neither breast ever feels empty!
Oh, loads of wet and dirty nappies btw - 8-10 a day and superb weight gain so I guess she is getting some hind milk?!

Any ideas on how I can improve things or should I keep going with the 3 each side and be patient?

(Sorry for the looooong post)

Even writing this and so thinking about feeding has me spurting milk

I used to literally lye on the floor to feed DD2 , slumping back in a chair helped a bit too and leaning forward would make it much worse. I did block feeding too, it settled right down by about 3mths x

Had to at your second post. No advice sorry but have a look on kellymom at oversupply and fast letdown. Have you considered donating your milk too?

Rosie I have large breasts and so lying down with her on top doesn't work cos they're in my armpits and on my side smothers her I might try again now we're doing a little better.
JJJ I definitely want to donate but MW said I should get things regulated first. Glad I made you

Hi op, I was on exactly your position a few months ago.
My let down was so fast it was like a jet of milk shooting out of my boobs, myself and DD were constantly drenched. As a result of this my DD got colicky. The advice I was given was to block feed but also to try and hand express before I let DD feed and to let her feed when the flow started to slow. It always did slow eventually but I could get anywhere between 2-5oz easily with minimal effort, but after that DD fed much more happily.
As DD has gotten older (she is 6 months now) she seems to cope better with the fast let down and just gets on with it, occasionally she will pull off and get a milky shower!
So hopefully your baby will be able to cope with your flow but untill then carry on with the block feeding and maybe try to express before feeding? Hope that helps

Can understand why your mw said that but I think it takes a while to get accepted as you have to have a test. I'd contact your local milk bank and talk to them, here

Thanks Islay, I might try expressing a little first, especially the first feed off the 'new' side - I just don't want to stimulate the supply even more... The colicky symptoms are driving me crazy - I feel so bad for her

JJJ will check that out thanks

My DDs colicky symptoms seemed to ease when I started expressing off the first fast spurts of milk first. Good luck op

I had these problems too! DS got very upset at around 9/10 weeks and would scream if I tried to feed him unless we were lying down. He was also very gassy (just farting-apparently not uncomfortable). A lovely nct peer supporter taught me "biological nurturing" position so he could pull away if he needed to. For public feeding I bought lots of bibs with plastic backing and towling fronts (cheap multipacks from mothercare), I used to feed him straddling my knee and facing me, then if he pulled off I could spray into the bib till the let-down calmed. I tried block feeding but couldn't find a balance between oversupply and "empty" boobs...and back to oversupply...then "empty" again... I also used medela silicone cups to catch the sprays of milk and pour it into bottles. I had to wear breast pads every day for 11m, lasinoh are the BEST(still feeding at 13m), so it may not settle down I'm afraid, but as baby gets older they can cope much better with it. I donated for 6 months and found it very rewarding.

I remember spraying the room with milk I was like a machine gun! As the babies get bigger and have more milk it gets better