Is it normal for the 'let down reflex' to hurt?

[Ghosty]

Hello all ...
10 weeks on and still blissfully fully breastfeeding my DD, I just had a question ...
After about 2 minutes of DD latching on I feel the let down reflex in both breasts.
The sensation can be really quite painful and I wondered if this was normal? It hurts too when I get the 'let down' when I am not feeding her ... say, when she is nearly due a feed or when I am watching her asleep ...
I know that some people have problems with making enough milk but I have gallons of the stuff and it can, in its own way, be a problem.
Both breasts literally gush ... poor DD often chokes on the one she is sucking on and the other one soaks through the breastpad to my bra and clothes ... I thought that by 10 weeks this would have settled down or is that a myth?
So ... a) is it normal to feel pain (no problems with the nipples or anything and DD is latched on well) and b) will the 'gushing' eventually settle down?
TIA ...
G xxx

ooooh yes. My dh used to laugh and look out for the toe-curling. Only lasted for a few seconds, but boy did it hurt at that point. Didn't last throughout b/feeding either. Usually stopped after 2-3 months.

I felt the let down reflex for about 4 months, and still feel it at the next feed if ds misses a feed. I would describe mine as very unpleasant ache rather than a pain.

It took a good 3 or 4 months before I stopped soaking through and could retire the breastpads. I had a very strong letdown and choked ds but he just learnt to let it dribble down onto my legs!

My wonderful midwife once said "you are breastfeeding beautifully and one day you will even be able to do it without your knees shooting into the air and your eyes crossing." I can't remember when that was, but it was longer than I thought it would be.

Can't believe your dd is 10 weeks old already.

You can deal with the gushing by pressing the heel of your hand firmly against the nipple on the side you're not feeding on when you feel the let-down reflex come. You may need to hold it there for a while, pressing quite firmly.

I used to bite on something for the first few seconds, one side was far worse and it was excruciating. Had it with ds before so knew what it was. It only lasted a couple of months.

Go to your GP and get him/her to check it anyway. I asked several people a very similar question to yours and was told that it is totally normal. In my case I was putting up with far far far too much pain because I had been told it was normal, so I thought I should grin and bear it. In the end the decision went "well, this is much more painful than giving birth, therefore it's just not worth the hassle." If I had sought medical advice earlier before it reached that stage I would have realised that I had thrush, mastitis etc. and that it was not normal.

my pain was only for a few seconds, once let down occured it was over. As fisil said anything more than that get it checked out especially after 10 weeks.

Thanks for the replies all ...
fisil ... sorry that your pain was so bad and that there were other problems ...
My pain is bad but not so that I am crying or anything ... I have to bite my lip when it comes though and it lasts about a minute or so ...
Woe betide poor DD if she pulls off during it - she gets squirted in the eye/ear/all over her head then .
Hercules ... would you say that 10 weeks is too long then? Should it not be hurting anymore?
I will ask my plunket nurse about it when I next see her (NZ equivalent to HV) ...

No I wouldnt, mine lasted at a couple of months each time. I spoke to 2 bfc who said it was the let down reflex. Somepeople never feel it, others do. Once it stopped hurting I have never felt letdown at all.

Mine always hurt when the milk let down but I rarely feel it now. ( ds is 7 months now)
It made me laugh when you said you got your let down when watching your baby sleep etc. we used to joke that my let down was controlled by an old lady who was a bit confused and forgetful because I would let down at the oddest times . I would walk into tesco and woops there would be a massive gush and my top would be soaking !! We could imagine this lady saying oh yes we're in the supermarket we must need milk!

( this was funny at the time!!! )

Pain on letdown depends on personal sensitivity IMO. I was always aware of letdown by having 'pins and needles' sensation for all the months I fed. You get used to it. The upside is that when you feel it when you are not feeding you can press against your breat with the heel of your hand. That stops the gushing. Aren't you doing well Ghosty

Well done on still being there Ghosty! Just to add to it, DD is 5 mths and I still get painful pins and needles letdown but its not as bad as it was at the beginning, and I also get letdown out of both at the same time. Thats OK, so long as the breast pad hasn't slipped!

My let-down was agonising for 10 days - 20 or 30 seconds of tooth-gnashing, heel-drumming anguish... (not pins and needles) and then one day it was painless and that was that.

I agree with mears, it's partly to do with individual sensitivity. I sometimes have similar pains around my eyes when I want/need to cry but can't, which is the same kind of nervous mechanism. But the pain of mastitis was totally different for me.

Do ask the Plunket person. You might be too stoical for your own good. I made a mild complaint to the midwife on Day 3 about the pain from my (very small) tear. Her response was 'well you should think yourself lucky you didn't need any stitches, because they really do hurt'. She didn't examine me.

Two days later, when I couldn't stand up, it was all too obvious that I had a perineal abscess. That took a lot of getting over, which I could have been spared if I'd made more fuss.

So the message is - make a fuss! You are a person of more than ordinary resilience, Ghosty. Don't be shy about saying when it hurts. And congratulations on having breast-fed for 10 weeks. You are far more likely to make it to 24 than not, as I'm sure you know, or longer if you want. All the best.

Do get it checked out at the GPs as I've got a really strong let-down, even when I look at a photo or someone elses baby.

I developed thrush on my boobs from the baby (she had oral thrush), we both had to be treated. Me with cream and her with drops.

Best of luck

I had similar experience early on in bfeeding and in the weaning process just lately. Re the soaking the breastpads, I found it more comfortable to use the breast shells, especially when bfeeding from the first boob. You can just tip out the shell rather than have soggy breastpads and shirt. IME it is a whole different level of pain to having thrush, which we have also had.

Dunno if it's normal, but I still have excruciatingly painful let-down and DD is 2 months. Did check it out with the GP when DD was about 3 weeks, and he said it wasn't thrush. It is so painful for me, it feels like my boobs could ooze blood stead of milk, most times...

sorry, guess this doesn't help..

I likened it to the way your mouth fills up agonizingly when you're really hungry and you've taken your first bite of food.

Oooh, yes, I got it, plus massive gushing. Mine has now retreated and I don't gush, but my cherub is now a whopping nine and a half months.

You are doing sooooooo well, Ghosty

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I'm sorry, but I feel I just have to write this. I know you didn't mean it mears, but I am a bit hurt by your assertion that it is personal sensitivity. I know you meant it in a medical rather than a personal or emotional way, but even now I still find that kind of comment hard to deal with. I was praised by my midwife and dp throughout my labour for how well I dealt with the pain. Even in stage two (much to my surprise) I wasn't shouting or screaming, I managed the pain calmly and with no problem. So I figure that I am a person who can generally handle pain.

However, the pain of breastfeeding was so intense that I was crying throughout the feeding, afterwards for some time because of the lingering pain and for up to an hour before feeding in anticipation of the pain (and as the pain built up). I also could not hold my gorgeous newborn son because of the pain, I couldn't shower, walk fast or turn over in bed. And I was beginning to hate him because of the pain he inflicted on me. I don't understand this now, but I also never thought to mention (and noone ever asked) that my breast milk was pink and lumpy - I assumed all breaskmilk was as I'd never seen any before! I now know that it wasn't just ordinary breastfeeding, but sick boobies that was causing the pain.

But I had so many people say to me things like "it always hurts" and "it depends on your sensitivity to pain" that I put up with it. I wish someone had said (as dp eventually did) that nothing could be worth that kind of agony. If I had received the simple advice, "if it hurts, see your gp and describe the pain" I would maybe have been able to breastfeed my son. Or if rather than these platitudes someone had asked a specific question, like "describe the pain" or "can I see some of your expressed milk"?. Who knows.

I'm not meaning to have a go, because I think I understand the sentiment of what you are saying (and for the record, breast is absolutely the best, which is why I get so upset about the fact that I couldn't). I'm just saying that women need as much support as possible, and anything that might be interpreted by a woman who is desperate to breast feed as "shut up and put up with the pain" could be counter productive. I know that that is not what you said, but it's how a hormonally imbalanced and desperate new mum might interpret it (as I did)!

Sorry this is so long. Still sad at having failed at breastfeeding!

and I'm sorry to have hijacked your thread ghosty - thanks for your kind words!

Sorry to upset you Fisil - I was responding specifically to the feeling of letdown of milk where there is no ongoing breastfeeding problem. I know that Ghosty does not have any other breastfeeding problems from her previous posts. The 'pain'from letdown should be self limiting and I do think some women have more sensitivity awareness to it than others, therefore it can carry on for a long time. As soon as the milk has let down, the sensation subsides.

The pain you have talked about was not in association with letdown only, but ongoing other problems.

What you said is absolutely true - women should never have their pain dismissed. What you describe is pain due to probable poor attachment, nipple damage and perhaps infection. There was a problem going on with you that the undelying cause was not sorted. Pain therefore stayed present throughout the whole feed which is not 'normal'.

Hope I've managed to explain what I meant in relation to let down with no other problem factors.
So sorry to have caused you upset Fisil - not intended at all. I can totally appreciate how upset you have felt not to be able to breastfeed - I didn't realise my post came across as dismissive. Apologies.

When I nearly almost broke my arm at age 10, the doctors said they had to make the break complete. I chose the quicker option and had the doctor complete the break (leaned hard on my arm) without any painkillers (I really hate needles). Listening to the loud crack made my poor dad turn green.
At age 17 I sliced my arm open (badly enough I could have picked through layers of muscle, tendon and fat if I had been so inclined) I took one look, declared "That doesn't hurt" and it didn't. I used to cycle a lot, ski, play skater hockey and spent a lot of time being thrown to the ground, have developed a susceptibility to whiplash, many bruises and incidents of roadrash -- never phased me. From these types of things I conclude that I have a pain threshold... but breastfeeding hurt! Although I didn't have thrush or anything, just very strong letdown. And childbirth hurt beyond words! I think it's not just sensitivity, but different types of pain can really affect you in different ways, and it doesn't necessarily mean there's anything wrong.

Thanks for posting that mears. You are now reinstated as my favourite midwife!

And no, your post wasn't dismissive, I am just still hurting from being unable to breastfeed, and don't want anyone else to hurt like I did!

I think if I hadn't followed Ghosty's progress so closely my answer would have been different. I would have asked more questions to make sure that there wasn't another problem.It was like responding directly to her. She does say that although it is really sore it lasts about a minute. That sounds like letdown. Yes it can be sore but shouldn't last very long unlike an ongoing feeding problem which might need treating.
Glad we are pals again

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