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