letdown reflex

[turtle23]

My LO is 6 weeks and for the past week or so my letdown has gone from tingly to "OH F**K THAT HURTS." Is this normal? It seems to be coming out much faster as well, he is gulping it now and getting very windy as a result. Have tried infacol, gripe water, and just endless burping. Do I need to express/use nipple shields or is this going to chill out? Never knew BF would be so complicated.

Has he been feeding a lot more? Growth spurts often happen at around this time (there is no set time so it could have been already or could be on its way!).
When babies have a growth spurt as they feed much more you produce a lot more so when it slows back down to baby feeding normally your breasts can be very full (if DS has a GS and feeds every 2hours for example, your body makes a feed ready for every two hours, if he then goes back to 3 hourly feds, your body ahs been ready for an hour iyswim), I know when my breasts are fuller letdown hurts much more.
I wouldn't worry about expressing (just makes more milk!) or nipple shields(afaik they won't affect the let-down) it should just calm down by itself.

Are there any other pains/problems?
Are there are pains elsewhere on/in the breast or at times other than the beginning of the feed it?

good point...i think this heat doesn't help as he keeps having the odd little suck for a drink inbetween. Yes, it is probably just a GS. Doesn't make it any less comfortable though..
No, is fine all the rest of the time. Except if anyone's baby cries for milk!!
Thanks VS!

Any thoughts on the wind issue? His little eyes seem to bulge out of his head when he's gulping but he's too greedy to take a break! Feel so sorry for the little man.

bump.....! I am suffering from exactly the same turtle!!

Sorry turtle, I have no idea about the wind thing, If it's because of your milk supply changing then I'd imagine it will stop when your supply sorts itself out.

Hi Turtle My LO is exactly the same and has been for a few weeks now - feeds for only a few minutes, but we then spend the next 20 mins trying to wind him...after which he might take a bit more. We've tried infacol, gripe water, colosinth crystals with no effect and doctor has now prescribed chamomilla (sp?) powders to try and help with the wind and general unsettledness. Seems to be helping with the evening colic a little but he's still a windbag. The only time he's not is during the night when he's so sleepy that he takes his time..My next stop is a cranial osteopath which I've heard can help. If you find a magic cure then let me know!

bump

Still no luck?
Sometimes food allergies can cause bf babies to be unsettled and extremely windy, does it seem to happen more if you eat anything particular?
I think (but am not sure) that the most common allergy that affects bf babies is cows milk products, how about trying cutting it out for a couple of days and seeing if it does any different?
Might be nothing to do with it, but it can't hurt can it?

if milk flow is too fast (i have that too sometimes) then leaning back slightly came sometimes help so milk in't gushing straight down.

hope it stops hurting you - it shouldn't do.

good luck

isn't

sorry - haven't had an ali g moment, just typing while bfeeding!

Anybody else see the wright stuff this morning? Lady on there said that there are women who get an electric shock feeling with let-down...that would be me. Guess I'm stuck with it!

hiu turtle, i have been loking into this as my baby is very very windy and has a lot of pain in his tum which doesn't appear to be helped even after he has passed wind or burped. I too have painful and over active let down, I found this on kellymom

here

since reading this I have stopped feeding from both sides (i started doing this initially to keep breasts drained as i had mastitis) since I have stopped this (in the past 24hrs) i have started to see small improvement with his wind, as he is getting lots of hindmilk to now balance all the lactose he was receiving in my foremilk. Also wth regards to fast let down and the theory it means baby gets lots of lactose quickly, I have also started to used Colief (from boots) with every other feed to help ds digest the amount of lactose he is receiving too quickly. this is the 1st time i have breast fed, and i am no expert, but these two things combined have really started to make a difference with my ds xx

hope this all makes sense, I have had to type really quickly as in a rush xx

Thanks papaya. Will give the drops a go!

Turtle just to agree with papaya, I too had a very painful let down which eventually stopped being sore at round about 2 months IIRC (DS now 7.5 months) - what worked for me was to just do one-sided feeding which seemed to help with DS's colicky symptoms

Sorry for the short post DS just woken up

HTH

Also meant to say - I have started to take DS off my boob when my milk starts to spray, to stop him gulping, and then put him back on after its stopped. My ds is 8 weeks, cant believe there is so much to learn with b'feeding!

I too used to have SUPER painful letdowns. Interestingly, I also have very painful periods and strong orgasms . I think they are all related - some chemical which controls contractions?
Does your baby have greenish poo? That is another sign of a strong let-down - they get a lot of foremilk and not a lot of hind. For a while I would start with a breast pump, and wait till the let-down receded, and then begin to feed ds. I noticed an improvement in his nappies almost immediately. But in the long-term, as they get bigger, they can handle it, and it actually works out quite well because then they don't get frustrated at the slow flow - especially when they get all interested in the word around them and the length of a feed drops down to about 5 mins max.

No, his poo is always(as my husband describes it) mustard custard, but it is more mucousy at the moment. I think I am super sensitive to all hormones. I knew I was pregnant 5 days before my period was due, I get very strong periods (and orgasms )too. Interestingly, today he has stopped the gulpy/chokey thing. He is feeding for a lot shorter time today too. Hmm.

interesting as i am the same with my periods and orgasms, my ds also has mucousy poo turtle? his nappies are leaking all the time at the moment.

My DS isn't pooing hugely often, maybe once a day. He must be getting a fair amount of milk though as he's constantly sodden.

Papaya- Am thinking the wind thing may in fact be silent reflux. He is now drooling and coughing as well, poor little thing. Have a look hereand see whether you see your LO's symptoms there too.

thats interesting turtle, as he does suffer from quite a few of those ailments listed, argh, its so difficult to know what to do. ds hasnt been for a poo for 2 days now! if its not one thing its another. my dd didnt have any of this!

I am in the middle of a battle (see here ) and getting most upset.

i mean about the reflux thing