fast let down?

[anaszabo]

Hi,

My daughter Sofia is 8 week old. She was borne very small(2.48kg) at full term (39w). She received formula for the first 2-3 days in the hospital until my milk came in, then only breast milk. In the first 4 weeks we would let her breastfeed until she dozed off and refused the breast then we gave her my breast milk by bottle which she took. She gained 1.1kg. At this point because she was bigger and it was quite difficult to breastfeed then express and give by bottle I tried to feed her just by breast. At that point I realized that I am choking her during feedings. But not at the beginning of the feed but during the feed, when she gets to the milk that is made on the spot. She first drinks the milk that has accumulated in the breast then after I feel the tingle in my breasts she starts to fuss, she chokes, gets angry, latches off then on for several times, every time more aggressively. We tried new positions (tummy-on-tummy) and it worked better for a while. I think we had a growth spurt at 6/7weeks. For a while she was sleepier and would feed for ~1h on and off. But for a couple of days now she feeds very little (5/8/10/15 minutes). The first day I insisted and she resisted and got angry. Yesterday I let her be with how much she wanted to eat, but at the 4 o'clock feed she fed aggressively until she got choked and got angry and wouldn't breastfeed anymore but then still showed signs hunger (moving head to the side, tongue out, hand to the mouth) so I gave her the bottle and drank 70ml more than she just got tired and started crying which lasted for ~1-1.5h on and off. This evening-crying happens every day for ~a month or so and I first attributed it to gas or colic and then to being tired or overstimulated and kept trying everyday to fix these things by burping her more, massaging her belly, byciclying her legs, less stimulation around her but based on yesterday I think she gets tired from just feeding. The last 2 nights I managed to give her the dream feed by breast - and she did not choke just show discomfort. Nor she would always choke at the 4AM feed. Should I reintroduce the system we had in the first 4 weeks to give her by breast then by bottle just to keep her calm? I am worried I am ruining her nervous system by getting her constantly mad every time I feed her.

[Swannie]

We went through that too, so I now how stressful it can be.  We had the colic too....  Hang in there!

I tried many things to tame my fast let-down.  I would sometimes hand-express before a feed so that the flow would be slower once she latched on.  That did help.  Or if I was too tired in the night to do that first then I would latch her on and then pull her off and watch the milk shoot clear across the room for awhile before putting her back on.  (I was so tired back then I didn't care about the mess.) I also reclined as far back in the chair as possible and that helped tremendously because we had gravity on our side!

Eventually she got bigger and could handle the flow. She is six months old now and has no problem with the flow.  Our issue now is that she gets distracted, pops off and then my milk gets all over her face, head, the furniture....

I really recommend reclining while nursing.

Good luck!

[Fiver]

Swannie's given you some great advice already, but there are some more hints and tips in this FAQ - Oversupply and Overactive (Forceful) Let-Down

[Anna2312]

Hello
I wanted to take the time to reply as my daughter Lucie and i had the same ponlem of overactive let down which meant she choked, came off the breast, cried and most times refused to go back on the breast. I contacted a lactation consultant privately to help me at home. Here is what we did:
1. Express until you get to the tingling let down sensation and for 1 minute or two later
2. Lie back as far as you can in the ' biological nurturing position' as you can. This makes gravity work for you.
This improved things and she is no longer scared to breastfeed. You just need 2 or 3 good feeds and she will be more relaxed.
Lucie is 8 weeks at the end of this week and she can already cope better with the flow as she grows. Dont give up, it does get better.
I know its stressful but hang in there.
Let me know how i can help more.

[Hendix]

Hi, we had exactly same. Choking most feeds (was sometimes very scary as she would sop breathing and face go red). We contacted lactation consultant and changed position which helped (straddle one leg facing me, move her head to feed off opposite breast resting her head on that opposite arm). It def helped but we still had chokes.  We still do at 7 months but not nearly as often. Baby does adjust but I read that milk adjusts also however mine can still spray out as let down occurs.
Caused us a lot of problems as lo won't take bottle and is weaning very slow.. However always gained weight well.
We also had wind problems which I though was my aggressive flow (still think it affects) but since discovered  are milk protein intolerant.
My lactation consultant advised not to express off the initial milk but I found sometimes that was only solution. Perhaps not ideal if baby not getting much foremilk but better than choking then refusing more.
In hindsight I wish I'd pursued bottle expressing. As much as I adore breastfeeding and closeness with my angel I think bottle would have saved a great deal of wind and discomfort.
Hope this helps
X

[jmwahlberg]

Hi,

Had the same issue. LO would just scream during feeds... for weeks. I saw a lactation consultant, she recommended sitting him upright on your lap, facing your breast, legs straddled or swaddled depending on your kiddo. It helped to lean back too, but mostly, he was used to choking during feeds so he hated eating. After a few days of feeding him in this position, he could handle the flow better without drowning. By 10 weeks he started to enjoy feeds Good luck and don't give up!

[jmwahlberg]

Oh, also you can try feeding LO in a front facing carrier? Mine LOVED that! I used the ERGO but you can use any adjustable front facing one. Just lower the straps down and they can latch on.