Help, super fast let down, baby not coping & neither am I!

[liath]

Ds just over 6 weeks, exclusively BF. Has been a bit of a struggle off and on but over the last week has been worse - ds continually coming off the boob, coughing & spluttering - milk spraying everywhere. Am having to relatch him som many times each feed and not every latch is perfect so my nipples are getting sore again.

I've tried feeding reclined but got blocked ducts, will hand express when I feel the let down but now he's getting distressed feeding.

Am off to sterilise nipple shields . Any advice or reassurance would be great. How long is this likely to last?

I really sympathise with you - it's so distressing!! Only thing that helped me was feeding ds lying down on one side. If you've tried that, I don't really know what else to suggest other than to call the NCT breastfeeding line or La Leche and get some expert advice. With any luck, someone who is a bf expert will be along soon anyway...

I had this with both of mine

what I found best was to express BEFORE the feed, only a bit, so that the let down went into the bottle

then when I fed dd1 or dd2, the milk seemed to be a steady flow

and I put a breast pad on the side they were not feeding on, and kind of milked it whilst they were on the other iyswim

can't remembmer how long it lasted, hopefully others will be on soon to advise

I do remember the look of shock on their faces as if to say fgs what are you doing to me as they gagged away

Thanks, have tried expressing especially if the boobs are full and it helped a bit but he continues to pull off on clamp down on the nipple throughout the feed. I'm worried he's forgetting how to feed properly and everything seems to be regressing - can't even get him latched on properly most of the time .

I had this. It lasts until 3 months, then stops because I think the baby is developed enough by then to regulate how he swallows. The positive side to a fast and strong let-down is that your baby will be easier to satisfy in later months.
I went to see a lactation consultant and this is what she recommended, and what I did.
Put the baby on the breast. When you feel your let-down, take him off the breast (hell probably scream), hand express the first part of the milk until it stops spraying everywhere (it took me about 15-20 seconds). THen put him back on the breast. The milk will come out more calmly. The advice I had was to feed her for a minute or two on one side, until her sucking slowed down, then change to the other side to finish the feed. This really worked, and at 8 months, shes still more or less exclusively breastfed and is very chubby. My breastfeeds have never taken longer than 5-8 minutes. I`ve never fed for 30 minutes or anything like that.

Some books reccomend taking him off the breast when you feel the let down, then keeping him on the same side to finish the whole feed. This would mean that breast would have less pressure in it.
I never did this, I just swapped her to the other side when her sucking slowed down. But first I expressed the first bit of milk (sorry, I hope this is making sense)

Your baby has probably got used to the fast let-down and has adapted his head position and sucking action. Mine had a very weak and nervous sucking action because she was scared about the let-down, and held her head too far back. THis meant she was also swallowing air and this caused digestive problems too. After me expressing the first part of the milk, in about 2 weeks, she was sucking strongly and properly again and not swallowing air anymore.

You could try feeding from one side for a few feeds at a time. Had this w DS and it does improveas they get bigger.

Thanks. Sakura, I think he has changed his sucking action as it's sore & he is gulping air.

Would shields be a disaster?

Good to hear that they learn to cope with it eventually.

WHen you latch him on, have you seen any pictures in a breastfeeding book? The babys upper lip is curled in so you canT see it.
And his lower lip is turned outwards. I used to stick my finger in my baby`s mouth and pull her lower lip well down so it curled outwards, and made sure her mouth was well open. When her mouth was wide-open, then I used to let her latch on.

I don't think shields are recommended tbh

you need tiktoc, I am sure she will be around soon

I don't think he is forgetting how to feed, try not to worry

HV has a drop in BF group today so think I might pop along later.

Will put shields on hold. He probably won't like them anyway, seems to have a major aversion to all things silicone - only the boob will do.

I wouldnt try shields, personally. But I dont know if others have had success with them.
My lactation consultant put her finger in DDs mouth and felt the way she sucked. That was how she knew her way of sucking had altered. I almost forgot. Babies <span class="italic">need</span> to suck- that is why dummies have been invented. When the let-down is really fast and strong like ours is, the babys desire to suck isnt satisfied because they only have a few minutes on the breast and then theyre full up. So when you finish the feed (as I say, mine was about 2 minutes on one side, then 5 minutes or so on the other) hell still want to suck. So I used to let her suck my index finger until she fell asleep. This meant she satisfied her desire to suck, but wasnt gulping air.
You could even use a dummy, but perhaps not if you are worried about the latch.
I don`t know if the 2 minute/5 minute thing is appropriate for you and your baby. He might need longer than that in your case. It was what worked for me though.

here is what kellymom has to say about dealing with it. forceful letdown

i have seen the 'adjusting your supply' approach recommended here on mn before.

I agree with oliveoil. Its extremely unlikely that hes forgetting how to feed. Hes just trying to adapt himself to your breasts (clever little thing).

good link kiskidee

but do not put pics of cute little babies feeding on here please I am not having any more oh no siree

heh, heh oo.

i told dh yesterday that i wanted a puppy.
he said no. so i said, it's either a puppy or a baby, then. he said 'baby'.

i had this problem too. It became less of a problem at around 10 weeks. She copes now and prefers the boob that it's worse on

Hey there just wanted to say I had this and DD2 was just like the baby described in Kellymom - we were both practically drowning in milk and used to soak the pillows, sofa, everything. I used the method suggested here i.e nursing on one side for about 8 hours and expressing from the other only enough for comfort, and it helped. I also used to hand express a bit before a feed just to get the let down and then let it spray into a muslin. She did used to get upset while waiting for the feed but it seemed to help. Different holds helped too, football/underarm worked quite well. I could never do reclining either. I reckon it took a few weeks to sort it. Hang in there! Might be worth getting a lactation consultant to have a look at the latch as well if your nipples are getting sore. Good luck!!

Sorry just saw your other message about him clamping down, perhaps he is doing this in an attempt to try and slow the flow of milk down. Hopefully the tips in kellymom will help with that and then when the flow is more regulated he will not need to do this clamping down thing anymore.

Thanks so much, everyone. Have tried some of these tips and fingers crossed it has been more manageable over the last 24 hours. Nips less sore too, hooray!

Hi, not read all the other posts, but sure you've got some good advice. I had the same problem and posted here as littlemonkiesmum. I got some good advice, and in the responses there are a couple of links to other posts about the same thing.
I found one sided feeding worked well for me.

One thing I would say is that it will get better. Your baby will get used to it. Hard to imagine I know.

You need TikTok!