Trying to Deal with Oversupply

[@llli*slag07]

My oversupply problem started when after I was feeding my 4 day old daughter, I began pumping since I thought this is what I have to do. As a result, I assumed both of my breasts think I have twins who eats a lot and now have a stack of pumped milk for the past 7 weeks (she will be 2 months on the 19th). I have been dealing with oversupply for almost a week and seems like I still have not regulated my milk production.

What I have done so far...
1) I STOPPED PUMPING since last Friday because another mother told me I should not be pumping each feeding!
2) My daughter feeds only one breast on each feeding. In a course of three hours, I offer only one breast and if I think she seems hungry, I put her on the same breast. I tried to feed her uphill by using my brest friend pillow and raised one of my thigh higher than the other thigh.
3) When I breasts are engorged, I placed cold compress and hand expressed.

Problems which I need help with...
My baby gulps/gags/chokes/coughs or pulls out of my breast each feeding, she is gassy, fussy, vomits, spit ups, and she only eats for 5 minutes in a course of 3 hours that's why my breast which I feeding her is still full while the other breast is engorged. Also, I tried feeding her when I see hunger cues not when she is crying so she is relaxed and sleepy (but maybe I am feeding her and not supposed to). At night time, she does not want to deal with my breasts. She goes to bed hungry

What should I do with engorged breasts? Do I hand express before each feeding? How long do I have to hand expressed - until it stops squirting? Do I pull her out of breast when I think she is about to choke or wait until she pulls out on her own? Is 5 minutes satisfies her hunger (her stool is sometimes green but mostly yellow, 6 wet/2 or 3 dirty diapers, not sure if she lost weight since our appt is on the 20th)) How do I deal with breast refusal (she got tired of dealing with squirting, full breasts) Again, it's been almost a week, still my milk production has not regulated. What do I do now?

[@llli*mommal]

Welcome! I'm so sorry pumping caused a problem for you. But it sounds like you're taking the right steps to deal with it, and if your baby is having the right number of wet and poopy diapers and her poops are mostly yellow, it sounds to me like you're on the right track. (A baby who is not getting enough to eat will not produce enough wets/poops and will likely have consistently green, watery poops.)

What should I do with engorged breasts?

The more you can put up with them, the faster your supply will reduce. The more milk you leave in your breast, the more your body is able to realize that it's overproducing.

Do I hand express before each feeding?

Up to you. If you hand express, you may reduce the speed of your letdown- but every drop you remove from the breast is a drop you will continue to make. So hand expression is good for the letdown issue, but is something you want to avoid if your more pressing goal is to reduce supply. Hard to balance those 2 things, I know!

How long do I have to hand expressed - until it stops squirting? Do I pull her out of breast when I think she is about to choke or wait until she pulls out on her own?

Again, this depends on you and your baby as individuals. Try a variety of hand expression times, and observe your baby's reaction.

Is 5 minutes satisfies her hunger (her stool is sometimes green but mostly yellow, 6 wet/2 or 3 dirty diapers, not sure if she lost weight since our appt is on the 20th)

Since your baby is having adequate diaper output, it's very likely that she is getting her needs met very quickly. Babies who cope with OALD often don't enjoy long, mellow stretches of comfort nursing!

How do I deal with breast refusal (she got tired of dealing with squirting, full breasts)

Patience. Hand expression. Block feeding. More patience. Avoid the bottle.

Again, it's been almost a week, still my milk production has not regulated.

It takes time to reduce supply. It took me about 3 months.

What do I do now?

Patience. Hand expression. Block feeding. More patience. Avoid the bottle. And try increasing the length of your blocks. I needed to do 6 hour blocks for around a month to get things to even out.

Also, try a cup of sage or peppermint tea- they're supposed to be useful herbs for reducing supply.

[@llli*froggylogic]

Oh dear, that sounds so very familiar. It sounds like, in addition to oversupply, you also have an overactive letdown reflex. (Here's some good info on oversupply and fast letdowns.) I had the same problem. That overactive letdown is what's causing the gulping/gagging/choking/coughing, and in turn, the gulping/gagging/choking/coughing is leading to the gassy, fussy, spit up-iness.

I totally second everything the pp said, and add these options for your consideration:
1) Hand express until letdown, catch the milk in a rag, and THEN put your LO on the breast. That will help with the choking/gagging, and should help with the gassiness. It will likely also increase the length of her feedings.
2) Side-lie nursing. (This is one of my favorite tricks.) The baby can let the extra milk dribble out of her mouth more easily, and doesn't have to gulp or drown. Personally, this worked great at night.

You are completely doing the right thing by feeding her when you see the cues and not waiting until she's crying.

Good luck!

[@llli*slag07]

Thank you. Some more questions...

My goal is to do both decrease supply and ensure baby is not gulping/choking/fussy/coughing and waking up quickly from a nap. Is it normal to have a squirting let down for most women? If so, Option 1 - Stop hand expressing on my engorged breast to decrease supply? Option 2 - Hand express for short time and let baby deal with it. Option 3 - Hand express until completely let down since it still better than I was dealing with in the past (pumping after feeding) and hopefully it will regulate someday. What do you think?

I just fed her with right breast twice since she giving me signs that she is still hungry. Since I am dealing with Oversupply, how many hours should I have her feeding on this breast before I offer her my left breast?

[@llli*joey4mom]

Hi! I had the same problem with my little man! It is no fun!

It took us almost two weeks before my supply was regulated. Also, during that time, he went through his six-week growth spurt, which messed everything up again.

Anyway, I agree with side-lying position. DS and I still use it and he's 7 months old. I would also recommend this position because it puts some pressure on your milk ducts. My lactation consultant, who saved us when we had this problem, suggested that this would make my milk not flow as fast since not all ducts were fully opened. I think it worked because he was able to stay latched on longer. You can also try pushing on the side of your breast if you feed in any of the other positions.

I did not hand express. Instead, when DS pulled off and I was spraying everywhere, I put a burp cloth over it until it stopped, then put him back on. It worked pretty well. I also had to use Mylicon drops to help with his gas since he had a pretty bad foremilk/hindmilk imbalance; every single poopie was green.

Hope this helps! Good luck!

[@llli*joey4mom]

One other thing: as far as how long to stay on one side. I had to feed DS on the same side for two feedings in a row. He ate about every three hours, so we were on the same side for about 6 hours.

[@llli*still.here]

I think the general recommendation is to start with every 3 hours and increase from there if it's not having an effect.

[@llli*mommal]

Is it normal to have a squirting let down for most women?

Yes.

If so, Option 1 - Stop hand expressing on my engorged breast to decrease supply? Option 2 - Hand express for short time and let baby deal with it. Option 3 - Hand express until completely let down since it still better than I was dealing with in the past (pumping after feeding) and hopefully it will regulate someday. What do you think?

I think they're all good options. I'd start with option 1, and see what happens. If that's not working, try 2, then 3. There's no one right answer about what's going to work- you just have to keep tinkering with it.

[@llli*joe.s.mom]

You've gotten good advice here. I think the most important thing is to stay away from the pump. So if you have to hand express to relieve engorgement, that's still better than pumping, and you can slowly back off of that.

I actually found that growth spurts HELPED my oversupply significantly. Suddenly, Joe wanted more, and he got it! I no longer felt as full all the time. After the three-month spurt, my supply was "regulated." But honestly, I felt like Joe grew into my supply as much as me getting "control" over it, ykwim? And in retrospect, I was very lucky to have such an abundant supply - the reverse - low supply - is so much harder.

[@llli*slag07]

All, thank you for the advice. One of the lactation consultat suggested is to put her back on the last breast used so she can get the hindmilk and half way feeding switch to the other breast. Will this work too? Is this mean both my breast will now be engorged? Should I go back just using one breast at a time? So lost now?