Help! Issues with feeding getting me down.

[coic21]

Hi there,

Sorry if this is in the wrong place.

I have a four-month-old daughter who has been exclusively breastfed since she was born. She has always latched on really well but the only problem is I have an oversupply of milk. I began leaking early on in my pregnancy and now I soak through breast pads daily, even though I've been breastfeeding for 16 weeks now. Every time I feed my baby, she chokes and splutters multiples times, and always throws up two or three times after each feed. When she's on the breast, she screams and writhes around, coming off every couple of seconds and I have to catch the spray of my milk in a muslin to avoid embarrassment and spraying her in the face. I have had 4 whole months of this now and I'm getting really fed up with the commotion each time I feed, so I tried feeding my baby with a bottle of breast milk in the hope I could give up breastfeeding and she could eventually just have formula but she won't take the bottle! I've tried different teats, dad and nanny giving it to her, warming it up, not warming it up, everything! She wriggles and wrestles away from it and if she gets any milk in her mouth she chokes and spits it out.

Do you have any suggestions as to how I can get her to take a bottle?!

I went to a breastfeeding support session before Christmas and they told me I should think of myself as 'a pig in a field, lying on your side with your piglet suckling as and when she chooses' - very encouraging for a woman who is struggling with breastfeeding!

Sorry to hear you're struggling. My son was similar with the bottle but I kept going and eventually it was fine. Have you had her checked for tongue tie? That can make it very uncomfortable for them to take a bottle.
Also when you first put the bottle into her mouth, point the teet up onto the roof of her mouth and rub it for a couple of seconds before feeding. This should make her feel happier.
Keep going mumma, you've got this. Xx

I am pumping and breastfeeding and for the pumped milk we are using Elhee bottles. They are very round in shape and we’ve had no resistance to them from baby, who did refuse a bottle at the hospital but when we came home he took an Elhee bottle from dad no problem. I bought some of the smallest teats too and they were fine for newborn. Good luck xoxo

Thanks both for your replies. She definitely doesn't have tongue tie and she took the bottle when she was 3 weeks old but I stopped giving it to her (stupidly) and now she won't have it! I will persevere and pray she will eventually!

I only breastfed for the first 4 months but remember the feeling of constantly soaking through pads and having to wear a bra to bed....it does get better!

For breastfeeding, I used to let the first bit out into a muslin and then attach baby once it had calmed down. Might be worth a try x

My Dd is 7 now so it was a while ago, but I switched to bottle feeding at 5m old and it was a real struggle to get her to take a bottle. My mum used to come out of work every day to try to give her a bottle for me, because i had been told she'd take it for someone else. I tried about 6 types of bottle. In the end I think it was a case of persistence paying off as she eventually took her first bottle from me when my mum was delayed.

I had some fast let down issues, can't remember the details but YOU can control the flow of milk by squeezing your boob to compress the milk ducts and reduce how much comes out. I seem to remember some useful info on La Leche League. Totally worked for me, and enabled dd to enjoy her feeds again.

Reclined feeding can help with a fast let down as your milk has to work against gravity.

Aww as someone in a similar position with the bottle refusal I feel for you...tried tommee tippee closer to nature, cheapy tall ones with the small teats, and MAM easy start anti colic all to no avail after I did similar to you and had a break giving her one (she took bottles okay the first few weeks when I was giving them regularly) the only one she has taken recently is the NUK first choice plus one.I've heard minbie/ minijumi or Nanobebe are good but can't afford to try those ones out!
Good luck and I think gradual gentle persistence is key here

@JustWonderingIfYou

Reclined feeding can help with a fast let down as your milk has to work against gravity.

I second this comment too, good advice

Have you tried speaking to La Leche League and/or the National Breastfeeding Helpline? Both are normally very helpful.

You could try block feeding to reduce your supply. There's good info on it here. It really helped me.

Think of yourself as a pig in a field?

Will I bollocks. Christ... 

@coic21 OP, get a haakaa. Then 5. Stick one on your boob before you feed and get the let down out. If you're good at reading baby's hunger cues then you can catch all the let down before she starts crying with hunger and when she latches on the flow will be slower for her.

If like me you're shite at catching hunger cues in time then baby will just have to have a wee grump for two minutes while you pop the haakaa on. They'll be happier doing that than choking on your fast let down.

My haakaa tips:

• Buy one and see how you go. I guarantee you'll want more handy. I do well with 3.

• I keep one in the changing bag and have used it on engorged boobs when out and about before (bring a screw top container to pour it into or just fling it down a drain)

• have clean haakaas lined up on the bedside cabinet each night for night feeds. I've a freezer full of breast milk from the let down I get at night alone. Empty one breast a little ready to feed, then pop another haakaa on the other breast while baby is feeding on the nice slow flow breast to catch even more

• you release a lot of let down milk. So do I. It sprays everywhere. As the haakaa fills it looses suction. Give it another gentle squeeze and it'll re-suction to keep getting more out. Give your boobs a wee massage to keep more coming out if need be. Like me you'll probably find all you need to do is sucker that thing on and your boobs will go mental ok their own though!

Enjoy all the nice frozen milk you can stash from the haakaas and, most of all, enjoy seeing your baby settle comfortably into a nice slow-paced feed