Return of the Green Poops

[@llli*longtalltexan]

Hi all! My LO is 7.5 weeks old and we've been wrestling with oversupply/overactive letdown since week 2. (I had similar issues with DS1 five years ago.) I've been block feeding in 2-3 hour stretches pretty much since the first week, as soon as I saw all the signs (his discomfort and wriggling at letdown, difficulty comfort nursing to sleep, and also all the shooting streams of milk coming out of my breasts haha).

At about week 5, the green poops started like they did with DS1. I know poop color isn't necessarily a big deal, but still, I'd hoped we'd get a bit more of the characteristic yellow curdy poop.

I'm hand-expressing a bit of the milk when he starts to squirm because of the heavy flow, as per my midwife's advice, but I'm a little nervous that it's creating more demand for the milk. (Occasionally it's about 1.5 ounces before the flow slows down.)

He sleeps solidly during the day when it's just us at home - I've actually started waking him up a bit after about an hour so he'll nurse more. IIRC, more frequent nursing helps with oversupply. We also tend to nurse in the laid back position, especially if he's awake when we start. (When he's half asleep, we have fewer issues, probably because he's nursing so gently.)

Overnight, he just sleeps so solidly that some nights we don't even wake up to nurse at all. Those make very damp mornings. DS1 was such a sporadic sleeper, I can't even believe I'm finding a problem with DS2 sleeping so soundly. What kind of madness is this motherhood??!

Bedtime is the worst, mostly because he's so tired (he has a big brother who loves to love on him... right when he's fallen asleep for naps) and all he wants to do is nurse to sleep, but that damn milk won't stop coming. I feel so bad for him and also frustrated!

Other details: after his 10pm nursing, I'm pumping about 5oz to donate. I hope that isn't causing any problems - I only pump once and at the same time every day. Also, he seems to be gaining and growing just fine.

Is there anything else I'm missing to help curb the oversupply/OALD issues?

Thanks!
Jennifer
Mommy to DS1, 5 years, and DS2, 7 weeks

[@llli*mommal]

Are you using reclined positions to slow down the flow?

[@llli*longtalltexan]

Are you using reclined positions to slow down the flow?

Yep, and that works well when he's not too frustrated. I think evenings/nighttime might be so hard because I'm usually nursing DS2 sitting up with a pillow while also playing with DS1. I'm not sure if anything can be done about that.

This morning his poop was a little yellower and came out with less gas, so hopefully if I keep actively nursing every hour or two, it'll slow down.

[@llli*mommal]

Then I think you are doing everything you need to be doing, and all you really must do at this point is to be patient and ignore the green poops. I mean, you could definitely drop the hand-expression and evening pumping, since every additional oz of milk you remove is one your body will replace, but I don't think you have to. Your baby is still so young- I think you just need to give him time to learn to manage your milk supply and letdowns, and to give your body time to throttle back on production.

[@llli*longtalltexan]

Thank you for your keen eyesight on this! How can you tell that patience is a difficult thing for me??

I've really forgotten so much between the two babies. Seven weeks feels like I've been dealing with oversupply forEVER. That's probably just the exhaustion speaking.

[@llli*mommal]

If patience was easy, it wouldn't be a virtue.

Hang in there!

[@llli*longtalltexan]

I wanted to give an update for anyone who might find this thread useful in the future!

Around week 10 is when everything started to settle down for us. He got big enough to handle the heavy milk flow, and I stopped spraying with every single letdown. By slowly increasing the time, based on his reaction, the feel of my breasts, his grassiness levels, and the quality of his poop, I ended up settling into 4-6 hour nursing blocks, which I have to track with an app because otherwise I will never remember which side I last nursed on and when.

I also found that I had to use other forms of comfort or ways to get him to sleep sometimes if he gets too overtired or upset. Then, once he's asleep, I can get him to nurse much more lightly, which helps him stay latched and drinking.

And of course, I probably could have done none of this and time still would have corrected most of it. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

We're at three months now and nursing is a dream! I still have spraying let downs sometimes (I don't go anywhere without a diaper or burp cloth), but he's gaining great, his gas is much reduced, and his poop is generally curdy and yellow.

[@llli*mommadaw]

What other ways did you comfort and get him to sleep?

[@llli*longtalltexan]

Hi mommadaw! Sorry for the delayed reply! In those early weeks, I would sometimes hold him against my chest or on my shoulder and bounce on a yoga ball while singing to him until he calmed down or fell asleep. I'd also try walking him up and down the hall in the dark while singing, or putting him in a front carrier like an Ergo or sling and walking outside for a while until he fell asleep. DH also took him for some walks to get him to fall asleep so he could nurse more calmly.