Please help! I seem to have a lot of milk! My milk comes out very fast, and my baby has a hard time emptying my breasts. Why is this happening, and what can I do about it?
It sounds like you may have an oversupply and an overactive letdown.
Oversupply
Oversupply means your body is making more milk than your baby needs. This is fairly common and could be due to your body naturally producing a larger amount of milk from the beginning. Other times, oversupply is caused by adding pumping sessions along with regular nursing sessions, which signals your body to make more milk. Asking your doctor to check your thyroid levels to determine if high levels are causing oversupply may be helpful for some.
Signs of oversupply:
Mom may:
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- Leak a lot between feedings.
- Always feel full and hard—never feel empty or refill very quickly.
- Have frequent plugged ducts or mastitis.
- Experience milk gushing out when breastfeeding.
Baby may:
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- Gain a significant amount of weight quickly.
- Have short, frequent feedings—filling up quickly on lower-fat milk before reaching the fattier milk that comes later in the feeding.
- Have green, loose, frothy, or explosive stools—sometimes with blood in them.
- Cry, come off the breast, or seem restless and uncomfortable.
- Be gassy and spit up excessively.
- Be misdiagnosed as having colic or a lactose/milk protein allergy.
- Experience diaper rash.
If oversupply is the issue, decreasing milk supply may be necessary to correct it. This will allow your baby to empty the breast more thoroughly, get to the fatty hindmilk, and help with their digestive issues.
Recommendations for oversupply:
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- Hold off on additional pumping and nurse your baby on the breast only.
- Ensure your baby empties the first breast before switching to the other. This may mean feeding on only one side per feeding or using the same breast for two feedings in a row.
- Massage your breasts during the feedings to loosen the milk ducts and help release the higher-fat milk that is stored in the ducts at the back of the breast.
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Work on gradually decreasing milk supply. Milk needs to remain in the breast to signal the body to slow production, but becoming overly full can cause plug ducts or mastitis.
- To ease discomfort, use cool packs on your breasts to help with swelling. Instead of pumping, try hand expressing a small amount for relief.
Overactive Letdown
Not every mother with oversupply has a forceful letdown, but a forceful letdown often accompanies oversupply.
Signs of overactive letdown:
Mom may:
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- Experience a strong, forceful, rapid release of milk, causing it to flow quickly from the breast.
- Experience excessive leaking from the breast baby is not feeding on.
Baby may:
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- Choke, cough, and gulp during letdown.
- Be excessively gassy.
- Experience discomfort when being laid down after nursing.
- Clamp down on the nipple in an attempt to slow the milk flow.
Recommendations for overactive letdown:
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- Use the laid-back breastfeeding position to slow the milk flow and make it more manageable for your baby.
- Hand express until milk letdown occurs, then wait for the flow to slow before latching your baby.
Over time, using the right tips, your oversupply will regulate to a normal supply, and your overactive letdown can be managed. Great job working through this!
SOURCE: https://www.laleche.org.uk/too-much-milk-and-oversupply/