Letdown reflex stopped working

[BettyBinx]

Hi everyone, sad times.

I’ve had a big shift in the way my boobs work at 5mpp. I used to have an over supply and really fast flow. As my boobs have adjusted to supply and demand mode, my lo won’t wait for my let down. Sometimes it just doesn't come at all, even when pumping.

I think it took a while before but because I had an over supply, she got some milk in the meantime to keep her interested.

I’ve been pumping lots and giving her expressed milk in a bottle when she gets too frustrated. I’m in a bit of a no mans land at the moment. Sadly, I’m not sure if our breastfeeding relationship is going to make it 😥

Really interested to hear of anyone who’s experienced similar and made their way through this?

Anyone who had to give up breastfeeding because of slow / non existent let down?

Or anyone who had slow let down who managed to speed it up?

Any help / advice / solidarity appreciated 🙏🏼

My let down more or less vanished too. Have you tried breast compressions?

If you are offering a bottle, could she just be showing a preference for that?

I'd give one of the BFing Helplines a call OP. They can talk you through how you are feeling and help you to come up with a solution.

I used a warm washcloth on my chest...a heat pad would work too.
The heat helps relax you so the let down can occur.

Try not to panic that what happens when you pump is 'evidence' as it's often very very different to what happens when you are feeding.

Definitely make sure you are warm, comfortable and relaxed as possible before you start feeding.

From memory, let down is mainly hormone triggered?? So really look at your baby and try enjoy the feeding experience to generate as much happy hormone as possible.

The risk of adding in formula / bottles is that either your supply will fade off too much or baby will get lazy with the bottle and start preferring that. Make sure you are using the slowest flow teat so it's not too easy!

I'd say just be patient - back to basics and back to bed with your baby. Lots of skin to skin, feeding on demand and make sure you are eating well. You also need to drink gallons of water. Cancel all plans for a few days and just focus on you and baby to get back on track. It's absolutely worth it at this stage. Good luck.