Anyone block feeding due to oversupply?

[sept2010]

Hi ladies,

Jus as the title says really... Im having oversupply problems!! LO is spluttering & coughing during feeds.. Is generally fussy & uncomfortable due to gas im assuming also has explosive poop altho not fully green i do notice a tinge every now and again.

As for me, my breasts/nipples are xtremely sore (sorry tmi) as LO uses a shallow latch mid feed to help her get through the fast let down i have..funnily enough i dont get engorged as much as i think some ladies get during oversupply problems.

Anyway i was wondering if any of u Ladies gave tried block feeding.. And does it work in reducing supply of breast milk? TIA xxx

 

[Torz]

What do you mean by block feeding?

I had problems with my LO spluttering & coughing during feeds. I found that feeding from just 1 breast every feed helped, rather than offering both breast ifkwim

 

[sept2010]

Its the same principle... Block feeding means either feeding from one breast only per feed like u said or it could be feeding baby from one breast for a block of time i.e. 2 hours. So everytime baby wants feed within that 2 hr block u use that one breast then switch over for the next 2 hours.

Im talking about the second way as my lo doesnt feed long enough per feed to get to hindmilk...she keeps feeding every half hr im assumin this is because she feeds just on foremilk because it digests really quick. Also babies feed until they get their calorie needs and to get that frm foremilk means you would need more of it as it doesnt contain as much calories as hindmilk. Drinking too much foremilk n not enough hindmilk causes the problems i mentioned in babies due to baby taking in lots of lactose which they can only digest a small amount of...

 

[MelanieAnn]

Block feeding is a great way of dealing with oversupply. Some mums use up to 12 hours / boob. Some mums also use herbs - sage and rosemary - or the contraceptive pill, to reduce their milk. Sudafed is quite effective too!

 

[xemmax]

i did this to ensure oliver got the hindmilk as a few weeks ago we were getting a lot of green poos and he was feeding every hour. since then we've had no problems. i make myself comfortable before feeds so that i don't move much and disturb him, allowing him to finish his feed properly, and used one boob for 3 hours or so.

things have settled down now though and i can now tell when a breast is finished by how it feels, and we've not had any green poos in weeks. yay! xx

 

[sept2010]

i did this to ensure oliver got the hindmilk as a few weeks ago we were getting a lot of green poos and he was feeding every hour. since then we've had no problems. i make myself comfortable before feeds so that i don't move much and disturb him, allowing him to finish his feed properly, and used one boob for 3 hours or so.

things have settled down now though and i can now tell when a breast is finished by how it feels, and we've not had any green poos in weeks. yay! xx

Thanks for the reply. Are u still block feeding now? If not, how did u know when to stop i.e. Going back to just using one breast per feed? X

 

[xemmax]

i did this to ensure oliver got the hindmilk as a few weeks ago we were getting a lot of green poos and he was feeding every hour. since then we've had no problems. i make myself comfortable before feeds so that i don't move much and disturb him, allowing him to finish his feed properly, and used one boob for 3 hours or so.

things have settled down now though and i can now tell when a breast is finished by how it feels, and we've not had any green poos in weeks. yay! xx

Thanks for the reply. Are u still block feeding now? If not, how did u know when to stop i.e. Going back to just using one breast per feed? X

i stopped about 2 weeks ago i think, just got more relaxed as he got used to longer feeds. now i feed him from one breast usually for 10/15 minutes and usually the next breast the next time depending on how it feels. when i feel my breasts now i can tell whether it has been emptied properly so i do it before each feed xx

 

[sept2010]

So how long were u block feeding for begore you saw a difference in LO? X

 

[xemmax]

i noticed a difference in just a few days. after 2 days or so of block feeding his poo turned back to yellow and he was going longer inbetween feeds and seemed much more satisfied after each one. his poo was the main thing i was worried about, as it was almost always green, so i was pleased it seemed to have done the job and it wasn't that he was poorly or anything. i would really recommend focussing on feeding, i know it sounds stupid, but i used to try and do things while i fed him and i think it disturbed him from his feed. so now i try to make myself comfortable and let him feed for as long as he needs to xx

 

[gina8177]

I block fed for about a month with Kaiden. I had a major oversupply, it chocked him, he shallow latched or freaked out, it was not fun. The block feeding definitely helped with his gas. Now my supply has settled a bit but I still choke him a lot, lol. He deals with it better now that he's bigger.

 

[sept2010]

I block fed for about a month with Kaiden. I had a major oversupply, it chocked him, he shallow latched or freaked out, it was not fun. The block feeding definitely helped with his gas. Now my supply has settled a bit but I still choke him a lot, lol. He deals with it better now that he's bigger.

My girl is just over 3 weeks... And what you said is the exact same thing she is doing... I hav been block feeding for about a day and can already see improvements ...i just hope n pray it continues to improve the longer i do it.

 

[gina8177]

I block fed for about a month with Kaiden. I had a major oversupply, it chocked him, he shallow latched or freaked out, it was not fun. The block feeding definitely helped with his gas. Now my supply has settled a bit but I still choke him a lot, lol. He deals with it better now that he's bigger.

My girl is just over 3 weeks... And what you said is the exact same thing she is doing... I hav been block feeding for about a day and can already see improvements ...i just hope n pray it continues to improve the longer i do it.

It will get better, I promise. Feeding isn't perfect yet with Kaiden but it is 1000 times better and easier!

 

[Asher]

I had OS with my last little boy and did block feeding. I used the same boob for 6 hours, and within a day I saw a big difference in him. This time, so far so good, but I won't hold my breath!

 

[Pearls18]

Hi all sorry to intrude- I've had most of these symptoms; fussiness on the boob, shallow latching (which causes him to slip off a lot), he's gassy, and sometimes has green poo. Does this sound like over supply.......???? Sometimes he will fuss much sooner after a feed than another. I've really tried to make sure he finishes the first boob- leaving him on it for 1/2 an hour ish but always to offer the other boob. He used to feed for 1/2 an hour, now it's taking a good 40-45 mins.

This block feeding....how can you be sure a boob is empty, I sometimes worry he's sucking on it for a long time but nothing is coming out....(I admit I'll sometimes swap him over coz I assume he must have emptied it after 1/2 an hour...he's a comfort sucker) How can I tell he's getting hind milk??????

 

[sept2010]

Hi all sorry to intrude- I've had most of these symptoms; fussiness on the boob, shallow latching (which causes him to slip off a lot), he's gassy, and sometimes has green poo. Does this sound like over supply.......???? Sometimes he will fuss much sooner after a feed than another. I've really tried to make sure he finishes the first boob- leaving him on it for 1/2 an hour ish but always to offer the other boob. He used to feed for 1/2 an hour, now it's taking a good 40-45 mins.

This block feeding....how can you be sure a boob is empty, I sometimes worry he's sucking on it for a long time but nothing is coming out....(I admit I'll sometimes swap him over coz I assume he must have emptied it after 1/2 an hour...he's a comfort sucker) How can I tell he's getting hind milk??????

Sounds like oversupply... Do you get engorged alot...or have a fast let down at all? I dont get engorged but i do have really fast let down which causes baby to choke n cough mid feed...

Also does ur baby seem like he is feedin all the time. My girl was feeding every half hour.. Thats because number1 foremilk doesnt keep them full for long and drinking milk helps their tummy problems.

Ive only just started block feeding and already she is sleepin more and has more of a gap between feeds...

If ur lo seems satisfied after his feeds and has yellow poop that indicates tgat he is gettin hindmilk...also your breasts are never empty as long as lo is sucking because that tells your body to produce milk.

You could try block feeding if you think u have oversupply bt bear in mind that it reduces milk production thats hw it helps oversupply..by regulating milk supply to babys needs. Hope this helps.

 

[snugglebot]

Girls, be sure to get some outside opinion from a lactation consultant or something if you aren't sure. I say that because I self diagnosed my milk issues/colicy baby alot and turns out I likely didn't have "oversupply" just a heavy let down and probably LOW supply. Block feeding likely made the low supply even worse!! I lost my milk at 9-10 months and baby's weight gain was less than steller.

Anyways, not to scare you but I relied alot on the internet in those early days and wish I had just gone to a dr/lactation consultant to get the BF help I needed rather than trying to manage my milk supply myself without really knowing the problem.

 

[sept2010]

Girls, be sure to get some outside opinion from a lactation consultant or something if you aren't sure. I say that because I self diagnosed my milk issues/colicy baby alot and turns out I likely didn't have "oversupply" just a heavy let down and probably LOW supply. Block feeding likely made the low supply even worse!! I lost my milk at 9-10 months and baby's weight gain was less than steller.

Anyways, not to scare you but I relied alot on the internet in those early days and wish I had just gone to a dr/lactation consultant to get the BF help I needed rather than trying to manage my milk supply myself without really knowing the problem.

I agree wlth gettin a professional opinion...bt just curious hw u resolved heavy letdown if it wasnt an oversupply problem? I thought heavy letdown and oversupply go hand in hand....kellymom and le leche league seem like reliable sources and the professionals on there seem to think oversupply causes fast letdown...

What do u think could be causin a fast letdown and how would i remedy it without affecting my supply?

 

[snugglebot]

I have no idea hun. I was unsuccessful in figuring it out. Obviously as my little guy got older he handled the let down better but my supply never improved ( I didn't know it was a supply issue until it was basically too late), even though he nursed every 2 hrs all day and 3-5 times a night. There were likely many other issues with my milk than just the let down so chances are you won't come across those issues.

One thing some mom's do that don't have oversupply just a strong letdown, is put a receiving blanket over the worse boob, get baby to start sucking on the other until the letdown happens in the other, and do a quick switch. Alternatively some pump until the let down happens, then put baby on and use the early pumped milk as a top up or freeze it for later.