HELP!! EXTREME milk over production one week post partum

[Cupcakejamlover]

Hi, i have given birth to my first baby last saturday via induction as they were worried about baby’s size and growth. He ended up being born with a lung infection and was taken straight after birth to be put on antibiotics and oxygen support, and pressure for fluids in his lungs.
That caused me not being able to breast feed him for the first few days, which is why midwives recommended i pump and they tube feed him whilst he’s on the support.
I’m assuming i have been given wrong advice, they told me to pump for 20 minutes on each breast on the highest setting i’m able to tolerate. Since i knew i was being induced and was in the hospital for 2 days prior birth, midwives recommended that i start hand expressing cholostrum into a syringe, which will promote milk production, so i started doing that for 2 days prior birth and was able to collect a decent amount. I’m assuming doing this also contributed to me now having extremely engorged breasts with an extreme over supply of milk. (Don’t get me wrong I am extremely happy and blessed to be able to produce milk, knock on wood, but am just in a lot of pain and looking for some advice.

Baby is now back with me and we are trying to get him to breastfeed, so we latch him on to the breast for a good 30 min to an hour for him to feed, however he does not relieve my breasts at all. He is extremely slow and falls asleep every 2 minutes, being used to the food going straight down to the stomach, now he has to work for it which is exhausting for him given all the antibiotics he’s been on and he also has jaundice which is extremely tiring him out.

After latching him on for 30-60 minutes i always end up having to supplement with pumped breast milk because i dont see him eating well enough, always falling asleep etc. I then top him up with pumped breast milk.

The problem here is that i am having to latch him on and have him suck on the breast for a while, and then having to pump out the rest of the milk that is engorged, stimulating milk supply twice now...

I really want to breastfeed him and am worried if i only bottle feed at this point that he wont latch on the breast later on.

Long story short, i have an extreme over supply (pumping around 100ml each breast after feeding him)

I’m worried that continuously pumping will create more supply, however i’m in so much pain i just need to be relieved every 3 hours otherwise my breast becomes rock hard and is so painful!!!

Any experience as to how i can reduce engorgement, regulate my supply without having to sacrifice breastfeeding?

Also; if i end up reducing the amount of milk i pump will that aftect the supply in the future when he is able to feed more?

Thank you...

Very brief as I'm going to bed but has he been checked for tongue tie?

Yup, the more you pump the more milk you will make. Don't pump to empty, just pump to not rock hard and sore.

Do you have Savoy cabbage leaves in your bra? Soothing for engorged breasts. Also do rugby ball feeding position and massage forward any particularly sore areas as baby feed to prioritise emptying those ducts.

My standard breastfeeding advice is to look at kellymom.com which has excellent advice. My recollection is that engorgement is temporary as supply adjusts. If you can stop telling your breasts they are feeding triplets it should sort itself out over a couple of weeks. Breastfeeding is typically reasonably well established by 6 weeks.

@idontlikealdi He does have a tongue tie as well 😢

Ouch poor you.

So my suggestions

• before BF, hand express (not pump) just enough milk off to soften the breast so he can latch better. Very difficult to latch to an engorged breast

• Catch this hand expressed milk if you can, it may be enough for his top up which will avoid needing to pump too much

• while he is BF, keep him awake as best you can. Strip down to vest or even to nappy, tickle his feet, blow on his ear, kiss your teeth (the noise wakes them!) etc. This way he will feed longer

• Pump only enough for his next top up, you are not trying to empty the breast. If you leave the breast a little full, that sends a signal to make less milk next time. If you empty it fully, the signal is, make the same again please.

• Don’t worry about reducing supply too much - as long as you are producing what he needs now, your supply will be able to increase again as he needs more in future, that’s normal as babies grow

• Keep checking for any sign of lumps or blockage and massage them out at the first sign, even if this is painful. Try not to sleep pressing on your boobs if you can help it (difficult I know)

Good luck

Oh @Cupcakejamlover I suffered overproduction and you have my sympathy. I can't do better than to second @AvaCallanach's recommendations of Savoy cabbage leaves in yer bra (sounds stupid, but really is brilliant) and only pumping until relief. It will feel better a week from now, I promise.

Just pump enough to take the pressure off - literally 20-30ml- try one of those tommee tippee silicone hand pump ones rather than electrical pump - it will be uncomfortable for a day or so but your body should then adjust to the new requirements/ if you continue to breastfeed every : hours and then pump 100ml plus inbetween you are just going to make the oversupply worse x

I agree with what the others have said about only pumping enough to "take the edge off" and not to empty the breast as this will just stimulate more production. This won't affect future supply. They work on supply and demand so if he later starts feeding more they'll simply increase production.
I also had oversupply. Its really uncomfortable but at least you know your breasts are capable of producing a lot of milk so you don't need to worry about not having enough.