Poor weight gain with overproduction.

[@llli*k.c.smitty]

I have posted several times about my insane oversupply. Still not a whole lot better and my dd is 8 months. Her weight gain is not good and I can't help but wonder if it is because I have so much milk and because there is so much it is lower in fat. She eats on demand every 2 hours. I block feed. I tried to work the blocks up but it made my dd and I both too miserable. She was born at 7lbs 5 oz. She is now 8 months and 14lbs 12 oz. Tiny!!! Anyone ever tried jasmine? I read a study firm Australia about this. Anyone ever tried to dry up one breast and how did you do this? I feel that if we do not get this under control we may be at failure to thrive status soon. I have tried everything else to no avail. Sage peppermint you name it we have tried. Any thoughts? Our blocks are 4 hours currently and all we can stand. Also have oald.

[@llli*mommal]

When a baby has issues with weight gain, the usual cause is not the quality of milk (i.e. "foremilk" vs. "hindmilk"), but rather the quantity of milk. A baby will grow well on so-called foremilk alone, provided she gets enough of it, because foremilk contains everything a baby needs- fats, proteins, carbs- albeit in a somewhat different ratio to the watery fraction of the milk.

What is the doc saying about your baby's size and development?

[@llli*k.c.smitty]

The ped has been very supportive. He keeps telling me to not worry. She has dropped %tiles with each visit. On track with developmental milestones. When she has solids, I try to give her the most nutrient dense things. She seems miserable a lot. We are on Zantac...just in case. Do you think the block feeding is making things worse? Should I just do one sided feedings. She eats every 2 hours. She still can only nurse laying down due to my oversupply. I just don't want to see her gain adequate weight.

[@llli*mommal]

I hate to ask you to go through this again, but can you describe the symptoms of oversupply that you are seeing at this point? Are you feeling full/engorged all or most of the time? Leaking a lot? Feeling strong letdown sensation? Seeing baby choke/gasp/gag/splutter/click?

FTR, my kids dropped percentiles from 4 months onwards. It was never even remotely an issue because they were at the top of the weight-for-age charts at 4 months, so they had a really long way to go before anyone would look askance at their weight. What happens is that as kids get more mobile, their rate of weight gain slows way down. All those calories that used to go into fat go into motion, instead.

Sorry if this is all well-trodden ground for you...

[@llli*k.c.smitty]

No worries! Happy to get any help I can. Yes. I feel engorged most of the time. She chokes, coughs, sputters. I do not leak like I used to. Very strong and painful letdown sensation. She spits up a good bit sometimes. I just want something to work. Nothing has and I just don't get it!!! Have you ever heard of jasmine to reduce supply? When I pump at work, I can easily get 8 oz in 10 min. Dd only drinks 3.5 oz in a bottle when I am at work. I only pump what I know she will take. No freezer stash or additional pumping.

[@llli*djs.mom]

I wouldn't work to reduce supply if you are worried about weight gain. I'd worry about upping the number of feedings a day. It's all really a simple math game. So if you want the baby to gain more, up her feedings. If you can get MORE than what she normally eats while away from you, then pump her one extra bottle a day. 1 extra 3oz bottle a day only on the work days will increase her intake by 15oz a week. The EASIEST thing to do is to overfeed a child from a bottle. Seriously. I constantly have women here panicking and ready to supplement because their DCP are overfeeding the babies. So if you want your baby to gain, up her intake. And while that can be hard to do AT the breast it's not hard to do when bottle feeding. Because babies usually just drink until the bottle is gone. So if for some reason your DCP can't get her to drink an extra bottle a day, than up the amount in each bottle by 1oz. That should get your the same number, 15 extra oz extra a week.
Also, It's a HUUUUGE leap from your Pedi telling you NOT TO WORRY to your child being FTT. Some kids are just small. And that is OK. My niece weighed 6lbz 11oz when she was born and at 8months she is also just over 13lbs. Still in 0-3month clothes. And NOT FTT. Small as a bean and cute as a button. And active, and crawling and FINE. I bet your baby is too. But if you want to make her gain weight, the only way to do that is to feed her MORE OFTEN.

[@llli*mommal]

I've never heard of using jasmine to reduce supply, but why not give it a try?

One thing that you might also try is to feed your baby high-fat bottles. Let the milk settle in the fridge until the cream floats to the top, and then pour off the creamiest part to create your 3.5 oz bottles. That might mean doing some additional pumping, though- clearly not so desirable in your situation!

Have you spoken to a doctor about your overproduction? Maybe you have a really high prolactin level for some reason, and perhaps there's some medical solution to the problem that goes beyond herbs and OTC medications. I hate to even suggest this- because I think it's very unlikely and also scary- but there's something called a prolactinoma, which is a benign (usually) tumor on the pituitary which causes the pituitary to produce excess prolactin, and can cause even non-pregnant, non-nursing moms to produce milk. In a lactating mother, I would think it could result in long-term overproduction.

Basically, I think DJs.mom has it right: it's a huge jump from "don't worry" to FTT. Just feed the baby as often as you can and try not to worry.