Overactive Letdown / Oversupply

[Lenni]

Hi there,

Does anyone have experience how to manage overactive letdown / oversupply? I have this issue with my left breast, which produces more milk than the right and has a vey fast letdown. The breast becomes engorged very quickly and my little girl (two weeks) finds it hard to feed and is swallowing a lot of air, which causes discomfort. I have been told pumping will make things worse but also want to introduce a bottle... Does anyone have advise on how to manage this? Thanks in advance!!!

[*Ali*]

Welcome to BW 

Have you read our FAQ Oversupply and Overactive (Forceful) Let-Down

How old is your baby?

[Lenni]

Hi Ali,

Thanks for the link, i hadn't seen this, a lot of very useful information there. She is 10 days old 

[*Ali*]

Congratulation! Ok,  so she's still getting used to it and your supply is settling. I had similar and my breasts were so engorged that my DD could t latch on as the areola was too wide. I found hand expressing just enough to soften the breast so she could get her mouth around really helped.

Try some of the tips in the FAQ and do feel free to come back if you need more help.

[Lenni]

Hi Ali,

Thanks, it's reassuring to know that it might settle by itself. Did you also express milk with a pump? I would love to introduce a bottle per day but am afraid that pumping might increase the supply even further...? I also had issues with mastitis in the past so need to be careful with letting the breast get too engorged and pumping might help...?
Thansk so much for all the advice!

[*Ali*]

I used to pump a full bottle every evening to give at BT the following evening with my DD. As long as you feed all the milk you pump to your LO and pump at the same-ish time every day your supply should settle down to the amount demanded. I probably wouldn't start until you get the engorgement under control.

I only used my hand to soften my breasts as that was quicker and less hassle that getting the pump out for such a small amount. I only had to do that for a week or two. I also found making sure the breast was dry from milk helped my DD latch on more easily. If she came off and it was wet I wiped with a clean muslin.