coping with an over active letdown, advice please!

[rachmacd]

Hi my son is just over 3 weeks old and up until the past couple of days has fed quite well on both breasts but he now struggles to feed on the left and starts gagging and choking at every feed . Our relaxing feeds are turning into a bit of a nightmare when its time for him to be on the left. Any advice on how to cope with too much milk coming out in one go would be appreciated. Have been advised to take him off as soon as letdown starts and catch the flow of milk on a cloth until it slows down( which still makes him upset but more with frustration!) but i seem to be one of the few women who does'nt experience a let down sensation so can only tell its happening when he starts to gag. Any advice please.

[stasztk]

He will be fine. As far as I know all breast fed babies go through this. Your breast is just trying to decide how much milk to produce. If it really bothers you when he gags then you can express some milk just before you feed him so that it doesn't gag him.

[LeahO]

Hi... just thought I'd respond since I'm struggling with this issue, too. My son is 4 weeks old, and is struggling with feeding.  It's sort of like trying to drink from a fire hose--poor baby!  I've been told to catch the spraying milk with a cloth as well. I was also told to try pumping off the excess before feeding... I'm doing that once in the morning and once at night. It's helping to manage the flow, but of course, I'm still producing tons of milk. I'm donating the extra milk to a milk bank, but it still doesn't solve my problem. I'm feeling like the oversupply is resulting in my baby wasting energy on coughing, gagging and crying and not getting a full feeding.  As a result, he is still feeding every 2 hours and sleeping fitfully.  I'm definitely exhausted and  frustrated, and would appreciate hearing from others on how to cope.  :oops:

THANK YOU!

[Luke-n-Me]

I started to have this problem when my lo was about3 weeks old.  I was told to try the football hold, which did help some and to pump before the feed which I never did and to catch the milk after my let down, which still helps some.  She's  7.5 weeks now and she's adjusted pretty well, of course my supply has balanced a little better now too, but it will get better.  I was also told to only feed on the side with the fast let down for every other feed for 24-48 hours.  I tried this for 24 hours and I'm not real sure I noticed a difference.  The best things for me were to catch the milk after let down, football hold and just giving her time to adjust.  I know it can be frustrating-I even got engorged for a few days because she wouldn't take as much, but it did get better.  Good luck!

[elfin]

I had this problem with my son early on, an abundant milk supply and overactive letdown.  The advice I got from a breastfeeding clinic was to submerge my breasts in a large bowl of warm water, about 10 minutes before feeding, to draw some of the foremilk out.  The reason being, that if you continue to pump before feeds, you're still stimulating milk production, and therefore can make it harder for your supply and flow to settle down.  Make sense?

Good luck!

[Erin (redstarfalling)]

I had this problem too - I did the other suggestions already made and they helped.  I also found feeding while lying down helped (something to do with gravity and the flow...). It got better by around 6-8 weeks, if I recall right.

[GraceKellysmom]

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/supply/fast-letdown.html

This is the best info out there on OALD. Let me know if you have questions beyond that.

[tracefo]

I started having this problem at 11 weeks.  The Lactation consultant told me what's already been said plus baby with baby's head higher than the rest of her body. I also found some interesting feeding positons at kellymom.com which are different but good to start a feed out on and then switch to a more common feeding position.  I too can't feel letdown so you're not the only one!