Please can you help, oversupply, fast let down etc, need some guidance....

[fudgecake251]

Hi there, well my baby girl is now nearly 5 weeks old. I've been breastfeeding since she arrived. I didn't breastfeed my little boy so this is all new to me. I've suffered from the start with terrible pain in my nipples. I went to the doctors a couple of weeks ago and they first thought I had mastitis, and then thrush, so I'm currently using daktarin and I'm on antibiotics. I now don't think it was/is either. My LO doesn't open her mouth very far to take in a good amount of breast, she seems to drag in the nipple and I can feel her tongue too. I've tried all ways to get this changed, but she doesn't seem to want to know. I know the latch isnt the best because a lot of the time my nipple comes out lipstick shaped. Both nipples are very pink and sore, although it's not horrendously painful a few mins into the feeds. I have noticed that she coughs/chokes a lot during the feeds and then seems to fall asleep fairly quickly, then will wake up again a short time later to feed again, so my nipples are really getting a battering because there is no rest. I'm putting the latch and the coughing etc down to oversupply and fast let down. My question is, will this right itself, and will her latch change if the supply does. I've read they latch this way because they are trying to control the flow themselves. Also, if I can't express (incase this increases the supply), how do I leave her with my OH or my mum when I need to go out? Any help and guidance on this would be great as I've been toying with the idea of starting her on formula, as the last 5 weeks have been awful and although people keep telling me it will get better, it's not, her latch is still the same and I'm so fed up with the pain in my nipples. I'm using lansinoh but it doesn't seem to help at all. Thanks.

 

[fudgecake251]

I had been expressing once or twice a day up until 2 days ago and I generally get around 3oz on each side, and it takes about 5 -10 mins to get this off each side, so I know I have a lot of milk and it comes quickly.

 

[Sproglet]

Sounds like your baby has a really shallow latch and I'm getting that this is the source of your pain (rather than it being thrush or mastitis).

I went through similar with my little girl, lipstick shaped, incredibly sore nipples. I was also told I had thrush and given daktarin. Robyn also did the 'drag my nipple into her mouth' thing. And falling asleep only a few minutes into a feed.

At 8 weeks, I found out she had tongue tie. I strongly suggest that you get her checked out too. Robyn's tongue tie was missed by GPs, HVs, midwives and breastfeeding support workers, it was only when I got a referral to a specialist through a sympathetic GP that the tongue tie was picked up. Catherine Watson Genna has a great web page with things to look out for, that's what made me think there might be a problem with Robyn's tongue.

In the meantime, you could try nipple shields to see if you can give your nipples a break. Or express a feed or two to give your nipples a break (but give it by cup rather than bottle as you may confuse her and make her latch even worse).

 

[Sproglet]

Your supply will settle down soon enough and you will be able to express so you can go out, I had horrendous oversupply caused by exclusively pumping as Robyn couldn't latch at all at first (I could get 5-6 oz each side in 5 mins!) but even that settled down by 3 months. I did have to go cold turkey on expressing for a short while though to let my supply adjust.

 

[keela]

Go to a breastfeeding group or la Leche league and get help with the latch. Your supply will regulate eventually

 

[ladysarcasma]

I had the exact same problem. My only advice is to absolutely not try to diminish supply in any way unless a LC tells you how to do it the proper way. I took a lot of bad advice about trying to cut it back and I went from an oversupply to a complete tank in a matter of a week. I'm now trying to build the supply back up from the bottom and my baby is 3 months old!

Definitely see a LC if you can.

 

[NoodleSnack]

Have you tried block feeding? If baby is really struggling, maybe unlatch and hand express some when you feel the let down coming. You should talk to someone personally, as we don't know how it's like for you and advice on reducing supply that works for others could lead to low supply for you.

The latch will improve when baby gets bigger, I experienced the same problems as you, my baby was diagnosed with a tongue tie but the LC said it wasn't bad enough to do anything, the pain was bearable for me, so I left it alone and it improved with time.

 

[Newky]

I second block feeding,its by no means a miracle cure but it helps. There are also some good tips for managing oversupply on kellymom.com.tbh the only cure i found with my first was time. Think it was between 8-12 weeks that my oversupply calmed down. Dd is currently 5 weeks as well and im having the same issues again its crap but just gotta ride it out. I havnt had nipple pain since about week 2 though. Does you lo latch shallowly every time, even when you arnt particularly full? If so might be best speaking to a lc. Id also stop pumping unless strictly neccessary as that will make your oversupply worse.x x x

 

[XJessicaX]

Don't pump. I had awful oversupply with my first baby, seriously my body must have thought I was catering for triplets! I pumped to relieve my huge engorgement which in turn made my breasts go mental. I used to wake in the night massively dehydrated because of how much milk I was making, would leak continuously. My daughter was a tiny thing as well so it was just ridiculous! I would panic because I would have that lovely initial relief of my breasts deflating while she nursed but 4 hours later my breasts would be knobbly with engorgement. I would have this feeling of "make it stop!!". I started by block feeding which reduced my supply somewhat but after 5 months of battling with it I went over to formula.

2nd baby I knew better! NO pumping or expressing at ALL. I expected to be engorged and ohhhh yes my boobs were ready lol! Milk came in 24 hours PP, and I just let them leak. I made sure I didnt massage them, get them hot under the shower, I block fed my (larger) baby so she was feeding from one side for several feeds and I wore a very tight sports bra to bed. Around 2 weeks PP my supply dropped a bit but I still had a really fast let down which choked my LO, so I would feed and then when I felt the let down start I would pull off and spray into a tissue. This worked pretty well! She started coping with the let down at a couple of months old.

 

[AmyB1978]

I agree with the previous posters, look,for info on Kellymom and la leche league. I struggled with this a lot... We did block feeding, pulling her off with the letdown and letting it spray/leak into a burp cloth and it helped.i think, mostly, time has helped. Luckily she's always been pretty good at dealing with it but as she's grown she's gotten even better and my supply regulated. We now don't block feed but I do typically o ly feed off.one breast at each feed.
Here are some good websites..
https://www.normalfed.com/Continuing/gulping.html

https://www.lalecheleague.org/llleaderweb/lv/lvsepoct95p71.html

https://www.llli.org/llleaderweb/lv/lvsepoct95p69a.html



Good luck to you!

 

[lily28]

Also, if I can't express (incase this increases the supply), how do I leave her with my OH or my mum when I need to go out?

same here I have an oversupply and overactive let down. Plus engorged boobs half the time...
AND a very gassy baby, as he gets a lot of air from crying, trying to feed while milk sprays in his mouth etc. I feel very sorry for him
I do block feeding, it helps him get full and calm down, but my other boob will get like a balloon. My LC said to hand express a bit to have some relief, but not to pump.

If I have to go somewhere I do pump though. So it is a vicious cycle.

 

[bibicakes]

I'm totally going through this right now. My LO is 2 weeks old and he's spitting up almost every feed. At first I thought it was acid reflux but the more I read about an over active supply, the more I think it might be this. Since I've been block feeding, he has spit up less. Still spitting up, but not as much. I'm still getting a bit frustrated though, this is only day 2 of block feeding and my boobs still leak like crazy and my left breast might have a plug. I'm at the point where if it doesn't correct itself soon, I'm switching to formula.

 

[Newky]

I'm totally going through this right now. My LO is 2 weeks old and he's spitting up almost every feed. At first I thought it was acid reflux but the more I read about an over active supply, the more I think it might be this. Since I've been block feeding, he has spit up less. Still spitting up, but not as much. I'm still getting a bit frustrated though, this is only day 2 of block feeding and my boobs still leak like crazy and my left breast might have a plug. I'm at the point where if it doesn't correct itself soon, I'm switching to formula.

I was in exactlY the same position 2 weeks pp with spitting up and i thought about ff too. I perseverd though and it has gotten better. I started using infacol and burping lo throughout the feed. What has really helped though is lo started pulling off at let down and i would spray into a bib. Ds would do this and he never spit up, and my oversupply was just as bad with him. If your lo doesnt do this i would suggest removing him from the boob when you feel let down and latching him back on when the flow slows.dont get me wrong she still sicks up, but just little possets, prob a teaspoons worth now rather than vomitting what would seem to be entire feeds sometimes! X

 

[bibicakes]

I'm totally going through this right now. My LO is 2 weeks old and he's spitting up almost every feed. At first I thought it was acid reflux but the more I read about an over active supply, the more I think it might be this. Since I've been block feeding, he has spit up less. Still spitting up, but not as much. I'm still getting a bit frustrated though, this is only day 2 of block feeding and my boobs still leak like crazy and my left breast might have a plug. I'm at the point where if it doesn't correct itself soon, I'm switching to formula.

I was in exactlY the same position 2 weeks pp with spitting up and i thought about ff too. I perseverd though and it has gotten better. I started using infacol and burping lo throughout the feed. What has really helped though is lo started pulling off at let down and i would spray into a bib. Ds would do this and he never spit up, and my oversupply was just as bad with him. If your lo doesnt do this i would suggest removing him from the boob when you feel let down and latching him back on when the flow slows.dont get me wrong she still sicks up, but just little possets, prob a teaspoons worth now rather than vomitting what would seem to be entire feeds sometimes! X

Glad to hear that your block feeding went well. mines took a wrong turn. it's gotten a bit worse. i'm retrying it again and hoping it does get better. unfortunately i have no idea what my let down feels like. my LO does tend to release from the boob and then i spray into his burp cloth. sometimes i'm spraying so much it soaks the whole cloth. and each time he lets go, i'm burping him. he has spit up a lot less. and sadly, i'm switching him to formula. not only because of the boob situation but because OH wants to help feed and I'll be returning to work soon and i don't want to pump and ruin everything block feeding has done.