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Hi, my son is 3weeks & 3 days old and I’m breastfeeding but for the last week and a half he has been having trouble feeding. He is latching on ok but the milk is coming out too fast for him and he is coming off five or six times and getting a lot of wind before it slows down enough for him to get a good feed. He gets so upset and it takes a long time to feed him. I said it at my GP appointment last week and was told it will settle down but it hasn’t changed. Has anyone else had this problem or know if there’s anything I can do?
You could express a bit before the feed, so the milk supply is slightly less fast.
When I say express, not really, just gently massage your breast, let some milk (the light watery one) leak a bit for about 1 once max, then the breast will be less full and milk will come less fast to baby mouth, and the second part of the milk is thicker and easier to come with for a baby.I had that trouble, but don’t remember it all.
I did preexpress sometimes but rarely as it was hardworking to do it just when baby wanted to feed.What I did, is when feeding, I put a cup (the one special to collect milk to avoid wetting bra) on the other breast. It drained a bit the breast and then for the next feed it was not so powerfull.
Or you can feed a bit before really needed same again milk supply is slightly less.
But yes, it will settle by itself but faster with little help.Carefull thou, the first milk is very watery and water needed a lot especially in hot days.
Breastmilk is not only feed it’s also hydratation.Best of luck.
Fabienne
As well at about 3 weeks, the baby is having growth spur and needs more milk so your production is more important and it’s a bit too much for now, but within days it should improve.
You can also, slightly hold the baby’s head so he can’t come off the breast and slowly he’ll get used to the flow.
Of course do it gradualy, hold his head a few seconds then let him come off and the next time a second extra and so on.It will get better.
They are so expert mum here at breastfeeding they’ll give you good advice.
Fabienne
Eve-K,
Expressing a bit first might help. You just have a very strong let-down reflex.
Breastfeeding mothers group meeting upstairs in Costas in the Marshes in Dundalk 10-11.45 approx. Major experts there & I think one of the ladies (a German lady) had something similar. I’m hoping to be there with my little man & Caligal (on this site) – a real expert – might be there with her newborn. Not sure where in Louth you are, but hope tosee you there.
Hi Eve-K,
There is a wonderful midwife, Clare Boylan who offers breastfeeding support, you can reach her at clare@anulife.ie and she may be able to give you some advice too.
Good luck, expressing a little bit can help just be careful not to express too much as baby needs the fore milk for thirst and then the hind milk for hunger. Babies also have growth spurts at 10 days, 3 weeks and 4 months so if he seems super hungry around these times don’t worry, its normal (whatever normal is when you have a new baby 😉 )
Take care and keep going, you’ll get there. 🙂
This happens me as well, my baby is 11 weeks now and it has improved a lot, I find if I feed him off the breast he finished off on he can manage ok and then put him on the fuller breast I have noticed as he has gotten older he copes better as well. I watch him and wind him well when the let down is strong like that it does get better!
Hi, I had a similar problem, and found that instead of alternating breast for feeds, I fed my baby on same breast twice. This seemed to reduce his wind as well. Good luck!
Firstly lucky you to have an oversupply! I am so envious as I have to really work at keeping my supply up.
I agree with Fabienne’s advice. Let him latch on then when the milk let’s down, pull baba off and let milk drain into a cloth or get those milk catcher cups.
When your son is older he will learn instinctively how to do a modified version of this to cope with the strong let down.
Whatever you do DON’T pump! You will only be creating more milk which is what you don’t want.
You can also consider donating your milk to the only human milk bank in Ireland which is in Northern Ireland. There’s a bit of a process involved but you are literally saving babies lives as there are babies that can’t tolerate formula and rely on donor supplied breastmilk to survive 🙁
If you are interested in donating breast milk or would like more information, call the milk bank on 048 686 28333 (from Northern Ireland, call 028 686 28333) or email milkbank@sperrinlakeland.freeserve.co.uk
Thanks everyone. Glad to hear you can’t remember this when it happened you fabienne, hopefully it will be the same for me soon!! 😀
I will try expressing a little first. I’m in Drogheda pookie so won’t be able to go to that group meeting, thanks though. Thanks timetochange and smile, will try this now. Good to know you’re still breastfeeding, it’s a bit hard to keep going at it when you are having problems.
Thanks sabbi, will see how I go now and may use the email if nothing seems to improve.
Really grateful for all the help! 🙂Thanks caligal, will see how I get on. That’s good to know about donating milk, didn’t know there was somewhere to do that. Nice to think of myself as lucky as well! 🙂
Hey Eve-K,
There is a breastfeeding support group in Laytown at the health centre on Thursday afternoons 2-4pm (I think thats right time). Contact your Public Health Nurse today and ask her which breastfeeding support group you should attend. I think there is one in Drogheda too, she should be able to tell you.
Ciudiu should have also listings for breastfeeding supports groups near you. Would strongly recommend going, its so fantastic to be in a room with other bf mums as chances are, some of them will have been through the same situation and can advise you.
Another wonderful group who can help you are Friends of Breastfeeding, a lovely bunch of mums who have lots of great advice to share, they are at : http://www.friendsofbreastfeeding.ie/
Hope some of that helps. Try not to worry, it usually gets easier as he gets a bit bigger. Sounds like you are doing a great job having such a good milk supply so give yourself some credit and in a few days hopefully things will be a bit better for you. 🙂
Well done!! It does get easier as your supply regulates itself.
Could you try lying down when feeding so the letdown isn’t so fast?
There is a group of breastfeeding Mums who meet in the D Hotel every Tuesday at 11am and there’s another breastfeeding group on Thursday mornings run by a fantastic Lactation Consultant (Margo)who used to work in the Lourdes.
On the 3rd Tuesday of each month the La Leche League meets in Bettystown. Give Marie a call she’s our local leader and a brilliant resource and support – Marie (041) 9812032
Also have a look at http://www.KelllyMom.com – it’s a brilliant online forum with really good advice on breastfeeding issues. I found it greathelp last Summer
This article is about ‘forceful’ letdown.
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/supply/fast-letdown.html
Enjoy your new arrival!
Tracy
HI there Eve-K!
I also had a very strong let-down issue with my now-four-month-old. It was hard for her to cope with as she even sometimes would gag or cough a bit with the surge of milk, and it did (and still sometimes does) result in her getting a lot of wind because of gulping in air. Here are the things I’ve tried/done which have helped:
1. Whenever she likes and if I’m in the right place (home and able to recline) – I lie her on top of me and she can then control the flow better (gravity is working with her). They sometimes refer to this as ‘biological feeding’. I also often sit her on my thigh (this may work for you better when your little one is a bit bigger – in a couple of months) for a feed. That is, if I want to feed her on the left side, she sits on the left knee and is supported on my left arm as she feeds.
2. Upon the suggestion of my midwife, and looking it up in the internet, I did ‘block feeding’ which is doing more than one feed from the same breast. You can look at this link, which provides excellent advice/info about this: http://www.kellymom.com/bf/supply/fast-letdown.html
– block feeding worked for me because it gave her a chance to feed from one breast until it got ‘soft’ and the flow gentler, and it meant she was able to get the richer milk ‘in stages’, which wouldn’t happen as much if I was always switching sides. A ‘block’ could mean 2 to 3 hours in which you will only feed your baby from thesame breast.3. I would take her off the breast when the milk lets down the fastest, and catch the milk with a muslin cloth I always keep handy, and resume feeding her again when the milk slows down a bit.
4. I hardly ever expressed before a feed because that will compound the ‘problem’ by making my breasts produce more milk (they think it’s your baby doing the milking 🙂 )… I only did that in exceptional times when she reallywas very hungry and the letdown was too much and taking too long to settle.
5. I feed her lying down in the side by side position. I’m still doing this now as the flow can still be too strong although it has settled down a lot and she’s more used to it as well.
Wish you lots of luck finding what works best for you and your son. Have confidence in yourself (like Maria in the sound of music, hee hee).
When I said express I did not mean pump, but like other said just let the extra flow of milk leak down, and whatever you do don’t over stimulate the milk production.
That’s why when I wanted to go out I never expressed milk, I give baby formula. Expressing milk, I did that once and it took ages to regulate again.Breastfeeding groups are great.
Fabienne
Here are a few suggestions for you – sometimes you have try different things because every mother baby pair is different and what works for one may not work for another.
1) When you latch baby on be aware of the let down sensations for some women this feels like a pins and needles feeling, but some women don’t notice anything and then you have to look at the baby and as soon you see the baby start to splutter and get a bit overwhelmed by the milk coming down take baby off immediatly and press two fingers onto your nipple and this will slow the flow (a bit like when we put pressure onto a bleeding cut) after about a minute the flow will slow down and you can put baby back on. What this does is show the baby that you will take care of the fast flow for him and that he can relax and enjoy the feeding, otherwise he is constantly expecting to be flooded with the fast flow and thus the coming off and on that he is doing at the moment. You may have to this a two or three times during the feed but as the baby learns that he doesn’t have to cope with the fast flow he may well cope with it better. As baby gets older he will probably manage the fast flow better but for the moment you can try this technique.
2) Another option is to take baby off as soon as the fast flow starts and allow the milk to drain as has been already suggested this is a handy way of collecting milk but can be messy if you don’t have a container with you.
3) The feeding in the "biological nurturing" semi-reclining positions will also work well.
4) As a last resort but really this is a last resort you can use a nipple shield as this will slow the flow down through the whole feed and sometimes this is more appropriate if you have a continual fast flow through the whole feed rather than just a fast let down. I am reluctant about suggesting the nipple sheild because the baby can get very attached to it and can end up only wanting to feed with the shield which can become inconvenient when the baby is older but sometimes this is the only thing that will work.
5) Also remember that your milk supply doesn’t really "settle" in until about 6 weeks ie: your body is still figuring out how much milk to make and this whole problem may resolve around six weeks when the milk supply is in properly.
Hope this helps!
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