Fast letdown and a baby who gulps down the milk it is sooooo fast!

[Fizzylemonade]

This is actually for a friend who doesn't have access to a computer but funnily enough this happened to me too. My midwife only said "gosh if you were bottle feeding I would advise you to go to a slower teat" err yes thanks that doesn't help.

I have helped my friend with a better position for latching which means she is now not feeding for so long as her daughter is getting the milk faster and at a nice pace on one breast. But on the other side her letdown is so fast that her baby is gulping the milk down. When she comes off to burp her breast is still squirting milk like a fountain!

Her daughter is 4 weeks exactly. She successfully BF her first child for 12 months.

Any advice on how to slow the milk down would be helpful.

Many thanks

she can feed less often from the fast letdown breast. if it starts to become too full, she can express off a little for comfort. after feeding say 2 or 3 feeds from the other boob, try the 'fast' one again.

it is called block feeding.

if you go to www.kellymom.com and search the site for 'fast letdown' a good page you can print off for her should come up.

Thanks, the other breast is the one she had problems latching on so there seems to be less milk in that one if that makes sense.

That link is fab, and her baby does make that clicking noise to try to stem the flow. Loved the lying down feeding suggestion although with her being only 4 weeks old it may be difficult. The rugby hold might be the best for her.

I have sent her DH the link so he can print it off at work tomorrow.

Thank you.

I had this problem and DD2 had colic -- block feeding really seemed to help. Kellymom is a brilliant resource. Good luck to your friend. It's also good to know that her baby will start find it easier to cope with as she gets older and more able to control the flow.

I posted about this very same problem just a few days ago (see further down the thread list, 30 May!). The advice from their and Kellymom, in particular reclining to feed and not changing sides too often, has resolved the problem within three days!

it is fine to start to feed lying down with a newborn. they are actually instinctively aware of how to crawl to the breast if simply placed on their front, lying on their mother's chest.

look at this video. the second half is quite impressive.

bfing lying down

picture led info about baby led attachment.

I used to place a cloth under the breast that wasn't feeding, then the stimulation from feeding on the other side, coupled with the breast being 'freed' from the bra, would let down the milk on that side too. Quite a lot of milk would come out, and this seemed to ease the superquick letdown as I was never really full. Really helped DS2 as he had reflux, and would throw up if he got too much too quickly.

I bf lying down from the start after a c/s with DS1. No problems.

I'll let her know about the lying down, I mean what mother wouldn't want to lie down to feed???

Thank you for all your help, she was feeling a bit down as her dd1 fed easily and so she never really had any issues.