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

yes I got a burning feeling and it made me take a deep breath, I got this up til I finished feeding her at 15 mths!
With Ds I also leaked until 9 mths, as my supply was so abundant, he was a mammoth feeder though

Really painful here too - I think until round about when ds started to drop feeds. He was a big baby so the "abundant supply" reason makes sense to me. I expressed last thing at night and got 2 whole Avent 8 oz bottles once.

As an aside - I had "pink" milk once. With hindsight I can see it was because my nipple was bleeding and not getting a chance to heal. However, my HV told me to cut down on the Ribena !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

bobsmum ... Lol at Ribena ...

Fisil .... poor poor you ... I understand your sadness - I gave up breastfeeding DS very early (for other reasons) and I am still heartbroken by it 4 years on ... which is why I come across almost obsessive about it now with DD as I am so determined for it to work.
Your story struck a chord with me in another way ... I understand how you must have felt when people said 'it always hurts' - how were you to know what the 'normal' level of pain should be?
Nothing to do with breastfeeding but this is why I can relate to your feelings - DS was a really sicky baby ... he started throwing up at 11 days old ... and he got steadily sickier. I was told repeatedly that it was normal ... My GP even said, "Babies are often sick Mrs Ghosty, it is called possetting" after I had described the projectile vomiting that DS was doing after every feed.
It turned out DS had something called Pyloric Stenosis and needed an operation to fix it ... but before the diagnosis I seriously thought I was going mad. Being a first time mum I didn't know what was a normal amount of 'posseting' ... it was an awful time for me ...
So I sympathise ... and send you hugs ...
Oh ... and I am glad that you and Mears have made up

I am reassured re. the letdown pain now, thanks to everyone else ... My pain is nothing like poor fisil's experience ... it comes about 2 minutes into the feed and lasts a minute and makes me grit my teeth so I look like this but not cry ...
The pressure on the 'non-feeding' boob works ... so thanks for that advice ...
Cheers
G xxx

Aw Ghosty, that sounds really grim. Yes, it can be very bewildering being a new mum and not really knowing when things are OK and when they are not. And I'm pretty positive that it will still be just as bewildering next time ...

Hi Ghosty - I haven't read the replies, so sorry if I double up. My let down reflex used to feel like someone was rubbing ground glass into my boobs. It was horrible, so my sympathies.

I get this - but only in 1 boob - although ds seems to feed well on both! I have to remember not to clutch him in a vice like grip when he latches on - I find myself biting my lip so hard and gripping onto him - poor little thing! Then when he's feeding from the other boob, the 'sore' one aches and aches - weird... I'm pretty sure he's latching on OK - he's very good at it - but it's bearable, although I do dread when it's that boob's turn (like next time !)

dot1 - i used to treat myself on occasion as one boob was far worse than the other andcarried on longer, by feeding from the right twice rathet than alwayus alternating. I pretended to myself that i had forgeotten which one i'd last fed from.

My ds is 4 months old and I still get painfull let-down from time to time when my boobs are full. Although it's not as painful as it was in the beginning, so it does eventually settle down a bit.

Dot - that bit you said about the "vice-like grip" sounds familiar - found myself doing that earlier today. Am hoping the pain I'm feeling just after dd clamps on will go away of its own accord - although suspect problem may be re incorrect latching in my case. Still learning - milk has only just come in.

Ususally if there's pain with bf then there's a problem - but your experience is an exception. The let down reflex can hurt - perhaps due to the stretching of the milk ducts as the milk goes through. If you have an abundant supply then the more the system has to accomodate. Some mothers don't feel a thing, others have a bit of discomfort & for some it can be painful. Usually the issue resolves itself in the first few months of feeding. It reminds me of how afterpains are perceived. I've generally read that they'll feel just like slight period pain - but with my dds (apart from with 1st dd)it was worse than labour pain - just awful. The dr offered paracetamol!! couldn't understand how bad pain was. Anyhow only lasted a few days & had to convince myself it was 'good' pain as everything was being squeezed back into shape!

Hope you have a pain-free bf experience soon. Best Wishes