To much milk now?

[kassiaethne]

So in the beginning I was only making 1/4th of an ounce per breast. So the lactation consultant said start pumping every 2 hours to get my supply up while we wait for him to grow a bit and get his tongue tie fixed (which ended up the surgeon decided his mouth is perfect and not needing so just had to wait itll he grew bigger to be able to latch properly and the pumping has helped my flat nipples come out)

I am making about 5ounces per pumping on top of breastfeeding him most of the day (he gets 2 ounces 3x's a day still just incase because of his weight loss in the beginning)

my problem now? I have a freezer full of milk, fridge full, and am finding I'm having to throw away milk at the end of the day (freezer is 1/4th full of milk....doubt I'll use it all in a month) I am now pumping 3-4 times on one breast only now and one time on both in the night (he prefers the other so this one gets engorged on me if I don't pump)....my question..should I slow down to no pumping and if I do how do I deal with the engorgement on the right breast when he doesn't eat off it that often?? and if I slow down will I start drying up to much or will it balance out?

 

[Disneygrl]

I'd like to know the same thing. My milk literally squirts out like a foot, its too much. My baby gets sprayed in the face. The problem is she can't handle it all and ends up not relaxed or eating enough so I pump so she has something to eat. Right now, I'm trying block feeding (just started yesterday) so we will seeif that works but my boob I'm not using gets so sore.

 

[seaweed eater]

I would cut down the pumping. Whether you eliminate it completely depends on what your goals are IMO. If you are planning to be away from LO on a regular basis (e.g. if you will be working) you could leave in one pumping session a day. 5oz per day for the freezer will give you a great stash over time and some wiggle room in case your supply ever drops. But if you are planning to nurse on demand almost all the time, you could aim for zero pumping. The thing about an oversupply is you have to keep removing the extra milk so that LO doesn't suffer effects of oversupply (e.g. too much foremilk).

I don't think you'll dry out. Your low supply was caused by LO's poor latch, not by a problem with your ability to make milk. Clearly you are making milk just fine. So if you cut back to just what LO needs, I think you shouldn't have trouble maintaining that amount.

You should reduce SLOWLY though so you don't get mastitis. At 5 oz a session even cutting an entire session at a time may be too much. I would pick one session at a time and reduce your output to 2 oz for 3 days, then cut out the session completely for the next 3 days. Then repeat with each session you want to cut. That's just a guideline -- even that might feel too fast. You have to go by what works for your own body.

Also, please please don't dump that milk there are moms who can't BF or can't pump enough who would love to have it. Human Milk 4 Human Babies is one organization that connects donors with mothers who need milk.

 

[kassiaethne]

I would cut down the pumping. Whether you eliminate it completely depends on what your goals are IMO. If you are planning to be away from LO on a regular basis (e.g. if you will be working) you could leave in one pumping session a day. 5oz per day for the freezer will give you a great stash over time and some wiggle room in case your supply ever drops. But if you are planning to nurse on demand almost all the time, you could aim for zero pumping. The thing about an oversupply is you have to keep removing the extra milk so that LO doesn't suffer effects of oversupply (e.g. too much foremilk).

I don't think you'll dry out. Your low supply was caused by LO's poor latch, not by a problem with your ability to make milk. Clearly you are making milk just fine. So if you cut back to just what LO needs, I think you shouldn't have trouble maintaining that amount.

You should reduce SLOWLY though so you don't get mastitis. At 5 oz a session even cutting an entire session at a time may be too much. I would pick one session at a time and reduce your output to 2 oz for 3 days, then cut out the session completely for the next 3 days. Then repeat with each session you want to cut. That's just a guideline -- even that might feel too fast. You have to go by what works for your own body.

Also, please please don't dump that milk there are moms who can't BF or can't pump enough who would love to have it. Human Milk 4 Human Babies is one organization that connects donors with mothers who need milk.

thank you! I'll give your rough guide a go and let my body do the choosing where to go from there if to slow down and such. my poor LO, he's happy to stay latched no matter what the flow, but he had a bad latch today so I took him off and he got a giant squirt of milk all over his poor face...he was so hungry he just lunged to relatch and had no problem with the milk on his face as long as he got to eat lol.

I really don't want to dump the milk, I even was looking into donating to the hospitals but they are all about the formula being good for babies here soooo *rolls eyes* that's a no go. I'll look into the human milk group, if they could find someone here in mexico that would want I'd happily give.