Having problems with oversupply - me & ds both miserable with bf-ing at the moment

[peggotty]

I think I have oversupply, certainly seem to tick most of the boxes that would suggest I do. Feeding my ds, who is 8 weeks, has become a nightmare - I tried block-feeding for a couple of days which initially seemed to help, but then ds seemed to be less satisfied on the same breast for any length of time so went back to usually offering both breasts at feeds. Had an awful day today where he just screamed and latched on and off constantly, never really taking a proper feed. It didn't help that all of this was in public, when I'm pretty tense about feeding anyway, and in front of my two friends who have similar aged babies who are ff. They both took their feeds and slept soundly the entire time. I was so tempted today just to give up bf-ing. I am so fed up of every feed being a fight. I phoned a helpline tonight and she suggested nipple shields to help with the forceful letdown - has anyone else tried this? She also seemed to think that it would settle down in a few weeks as he matured and is able to cope better with the fast flow of milk - has anyone else's baby had this problem which then DID resolve at 3 months or so (or at least get better?) PLease help, I don't think I can go on bf-ing if it is always like this

I had a massive oversupply problem - was convinced I didn't have enough and then suddenly, my cups runneth over .

DD was gagging and everything. However yes it did pass and the 8 weeks and howling thing may just be a big growth spurt. I found that if I actually expressed a little bit first, the pressure was reduced and DD didn't drown - worth a try.

I'm still feeding her now (she's 16 months and I'm 20 weeks pregnant) so yes you can get through this. Oh and your FF friends will tell you whatever but the whole sleeping thing is IMO random. They have to tell you something they are excelling at after all - you are the supermummy who is managing to feed your baby from your own boobs!

Hi whomovedmychocolate
Bizarrely enough, I can't get much out when I express (although I haven't tried for a couple of weeks) How much should I try and express? and the trouble is, it's not always practical to express i.e if out and about, or did you find that you could?

Oh peggotty, sorry you're having a hard time. It might be that this is a growth spurt anyhow and he does actually want to build up the supply now. I have had oversupply issues with my babies and solved it by single sided feeding (I guess what you're calling block feeding? Do you mean using same side for 3 hours or so?) I haven't tried nipple shields but I can assure you your supply will settle down soon and you will feel much better about feeding.

Ifound it very difficult as mine would gag and jerk away from the letdown some days, and then seem unsatisfied and hungry on other days. Some times I had to feed on one side, others he needed both. Gradually he fed from both sides almost everytime.

Are you able to say roughly how long he feeds for and whether you have any feeds where he seems satisfied?

((hugs))

it will get better i promise

my dd was like this, my let down was too fast for her, there are thing you can do and yes it will get better in time

you can feed leaning back/lying down, with baby on your chest as this slows the flow of the milk

you can express a little bit off first as this releives some of the pressure and the fast flowing milk (this is what helped me the best, although i appreciate it is not practical to do anywhere other than home)

i also found feeding from only 1 side and using the same side for a 4hr block (whether that meant 1 feed or 4) helped too.

which helpline did you call? there is the NCT breastfeeding helpline who have councillors who can come out and see you feed, there is also the la leche league who may have a group local to you that you can go along to, i found them very helpful.

also have a look at kellymom.com i found some good adivce on there

i remember how awful it was and i thought about giving up many times, BUT it did get better, your body calms down a bit and as baby gets bigger they can cope with it better. i think we were pretty much a-ok by about 10/12 weeks. dd is now 13 months and still feeding

you are doing a brilliant job, well done and stick with it it will get better if you want to CAT me feel welcome to

I am assuming you are hand expressing. It took me a while before I got much out either and even then it was only half an ounce but it still made a difference. Certainly I wouldn't be bothering if I was out and about.

Honestly this will change from day to day and get easier, if you can just hang in there for a fortnight I'm sure you'll find this problem just vanishes. Basically your boobs are on a supply and demand basis and your body will realise it's miscalculating demand very soon.

But you can try warm flannels on your boobs before you try and express if you are home -that worked for me sometimes.

I found I leaked constantly on the other side and nearly always had a 'wet headlamps' impression on my tshirts Looked just like mildew when it dried as well

But it does pass. Promise!

also when dd started to cough/gag i used to de-latch her and let the milk squirt into a muslin, once it stopped shooting out so fast i re-latched her and she could cope much better

I had this problem esp with DS2.
When you can just express a bit off before you feed, just enough to stem the flow a little.
Also feeding from one side per feed really worked for me, I started doing this after a few weeks and I noticed a big difference.
Feeding so your baby has to face upwards also helps, more detail on kellymom,
Some very useful info here
www.kellymom.com/bf/supply/fast-letdown.html
HTH
and it deos get much easier as your baby gets used to your milk supply/letdown.

Peggotty, I had similar problems - feeding ds would be fraught because he'd cough, splutter, cry and milk would spray all over the place. Made feeding while out just awful. I tried block feeding too, and found it helpful. But I think the biggest change was when he just got a bit older (I think it was at about 3 months) and could cope better with it. He is now 5 months, and is actually great as he feeds v. quickly. I was also advised I could try lying back while feeding so gravity slowed the flow, which did help though was a bit awkward! Think you can try "scissoring" - squeezing the areola with your fingers when feeding to slow the flow - www.llli.org/FAQ/oversupply.html gives more info. Feeding seems so easy now - easy to forget what a struggle it was the first couple of months, and how close to giving up I got, so it can get better. Good luck - it's fantastic you're feeding him despite all the difficulties.

THanks all for replying. Monkeybird he feeds for anywhere between 20-30mins and does seem satisfied if it is a 'calm' feed. His night feeds are always calm and he goes straight back to sleep afterwards. LIke your dc, my ds seems to need both breasts some days but others, like today I couldn't seems to do anything right and was just offering boobs left, right and centre with him hardly seeming to feed at all.

Beautifuldays, thanks for your words of encouragement, it's good to know that it will probably get better, and quite soon, hopefully. It was the national network of breastfeeding mothers (I think it's called) phoneline - the lady was lovely and also said well done to me. It's nice to hear encouragement - in some ways that's all I need because with my rational head on, I know that this is a just a temporary problem, it's just so upsetting at the time!