https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Wed, 22 Apr 2026 13:05:29 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/oversupplyforceful-letdown#post-2188366 Mon, 25 May 2015 00:35:45 +0000 PawPrints 2188366@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I don't have any advice that people above haven't already given but I sympathize. I have a fire hose on both sides, and that has been true since LO was born. She has gotten really good at gulping fast so she pretty much keeps up with it, and as a result the lactation consultant has measured that she is consuming a ton of milk in a very short time. Her feedings last like five minutes and she will fall asleep, and that's just one side. She has a ton of wet/poopy diapers (mostly yellow poop) and is gaining weight so we aren't worried about her health but it is frustrating when she is gulping air and cries from the pain of the gas bubbles in her stomach, or when she gets frustrated in between let-downs since she's so accustomed to the fire hose. Then we have more screaming. Lots of burping breaks helped, and always having a burp cloth handy to pop off and soak up the spray is essential. I also try not to do much expressing or pumping so I don't increase my supply even further but I am doing one bottle per day so we can keep her used to the bottle, and I usually pump 5 oz in like five minute or less, so that at least is a plus side. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/oversupplyforceful-letdown#post-2188299 Sun, 24 May 2015 20:32:42 +0000 autumn865 2188299@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I had/ have OALD and over supply with both my LOs. Now at 4 months I think my supply is regulating (I'm no longer leaking all the time) and she generally does ok with the flow but still sputters occasionally and loves to pop on and off and "wrestle" around with the breast. Things that have worked this time around are:<br /> - DO NOT PUMP or even over hand express. BFing is supply and demand so anything extra the baby isn't taking signals to make more. I caused an even bigger problem with my first by pumping even once a day.<br /> - lean back and side lying are the best positions<br /> - pop the baby off as you feel the letdown<br /> - if the baby wants to nurse again within two hours or if I was particularly full and she didn't finish a side put her back on and deal with the other side feeling full<br /> - only nurse on one side at a time<br /> DD2 has been a super fast nurser and pretty much from the first weeks Shes done in 10 minutes or less. No comfort nursing (because I guess she can't :( ) but don't worry about time. If she's satisfied and signals she's done she's done. Hang in there your body will hopefully regulate and baby will get better (and even prefer the fast flow) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/oversupplyforceful-letdown#post-2188269 Sun, 24 May 2015 19:54:50 +0000 SeptMomma12 2188269@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@winniebee: Thank you! That makes me feel so much better to hear. My husband keeps saying she has a wet/dirty diaper at every single feeding - she has to be getting enough - but it's so hard to believe it when they just look so tiny! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/oversupplyforceful-letdown#post-2188268 Sun, 24 May 2015 19:54:36 +0000 mrsrugbee 2188268@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I could have written this last year. After DD was born I had crazy letdown and oversupply. It took her over a month to have normal yellow ebf poops. My suggestion is just nurse and express minimally for your own comfort.</p> <p>I'm certain I ended up with the oversupply because of random pumping early on and it only makes it worse to constantly stimulate your breasts. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/oversupplyforceful-letdown#post-2188259 Sun, 24 May 2015 19:40:44 +0000 winniebee 2188259@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@SeptMomma12: oh yeah as a newborn R only nursed 10-15 mins after my milk came in. By 6 weeks it was 5-10 mins and he's mostly a 5 minute nurser. He was only 5 lbs when he was born and at 5 months he was 13.5 lbs so we are doing something right! He can also take a 6 oz bottle with a medium flow nipple in less than 5 mins. Just try to trust your body and keep working at it if it's worth it to you to keep going! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/oversupplyforceful-letdown#post-2188126 Sun, 24 May 2015 12:45:54 +0000 Astro Bee 2188126@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I have a forceful letdown and my LC suggested I lay back (at an incline) to nurse to counteract the effect of gravity. LO has way more control this way, and it has had the added bonus of allowing him to practice lifting his head. We mostly nurse like that while at home reclining on the couch. We've also had a lot of success side lying. Like PP have said, it also allows LO to control when he wants to be on and off.</p> <p>Despite everything, LO has ended up with milk sprayed all over him on many occasions in his 7 weeks, and I always have a burp cloth or face cloth on hand to wipe him up, especially for when we nurse in the more traditional positions. </p> <p>Another suggestion is to have a shower (if you can) first thing in the morning. The hot water works wonders at releasing the pressure from your oversupply (but doesn't exacerbate the problem) and it really doesn't matter where the milk gets sprayed - my tired mommy brain finds it incredibly funny to watch how far it sprays, often a couple of feet! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/oversupplyforceful-letdown#post-2188116 Sun, 24 May 2015 12:22:50 +0000 MenagerieMama 2188116@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@SeptMomma12: LO rarely nursed longer than 15 min even at that age! Unless it was a nurse to sleep type situation or after I had just pumped she was just a super efficient eater. Trust the wet/dirty diapers and her weight gain :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/oversupplyforceful-letdown#post-2188084 Sun, 24 May 2015 10:13:47 +0000 SeptMomma12 2188084@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@MenagerieMama: Hearing she only nurses for 5 mins makes me feel better. DD is currently nursing only about 10-15 mins and it's scaring me she's not getting enough, but she's got plenty of wet/dirty diapers, so I'm trying to tell myself that.</p> <p>@Keppa: The hand expressing a little before feeding definitely seems to be helping. It's a pain in the butt, but in just two days her poops have gone back to normal "mustard" (vs the green we were seeing) and she seems more content. Though I feel like we're having a 10 day old growth spurt because today she is ravenous! Oh and one of my first questions for our two week visit this week is whether we can start using gas drops. Good luck mama - I feel your pain. </p> <p>Thanks everyone for all the tips :heart: </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/oversupplyforceful-letdown#post-2188033 Sun, 24 May 2015 08:56:25 +0000 MenagerieMama 2188033@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Didn't read the above comments but this is what I did:<br /> - pumped every morning for 10 min when we got up, the morning was my most "plentiful" letdown and doing this before that nursing session helped build my freezer stash for work and give her a break from the geyser! I'm sure it didn't help keep my supply down but when she was older 3-4 mo I weaned off the morning pump (okay, stopped cold turkey and got a plugged duct and should have weaned off!) and it went really well<br /> - block feeding, I only did one side at a time and switched every 2 hrs or so, so if LO was cluster feeding she'd just get one side if she was going back to eat and it was less than 2 hrs<br /> - gave her breaks if she was sort of fighting a fire hose so to speak and would use a burp cloth for the overflow<br /> - side lying was a great position for her to pop on and off as needed and easier to catch the overflow</p> <p>She ended up adjusting as she got older to love the spray! And I've eventually regulated a bit more. It's gotten to be a bonus that she's a super efficient nurser because she gets so much at once, she rarely nurses longer than 5min and has been that way for a while! It was definitely worth sticking with it, hang in there! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/oversupplyforceful-letdown#post-2187934 Sun, 24 May 2015 00:27:16 +0000 turquoisemama 2187934@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>What has really helped me is nursing laying down so we are both on our sides. This helps the gravity problem and allows her to pop on and off it the flow is too much. My supply didn't really decrease until I went back to work at 3.5 months PP even after stopping pumping and block feeding for several weeks. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/oversupplyforceful-letdown#post-2187855 Sat, 23 May 2015 20:21:13 +0000 Mrs. Oyster 2187855@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Same issues here! My sweet girl is 10 days old and I'm having HUGE oversupply/forceful letdown issues. Unfortunately, I haven't got any extra advice for you - we're trying all of the same things that you mentioned - but just here to say you're not alone.<br /> I didn't have this problem at all with my first, and I'm having trouble figuring out what to do with an all-day fussy/gassy baby. I've considered trying gripe water or colic tabs, but can't find enough info about if they're ok at this age. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/oversupplyforceful-letdown#post-2187851 Sat, 23 May 2015 20:15:06 +0000 SeptMomma12 2187851@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@winniebee: I had the same issues with my first and also ended up stopping at 6 weeks because he was miserable and gassy and screaming all day. Really hoping to avoid that this time and make it much longer. Thanks for the tips. It's horrible to feel like you're drowning your newborn :sad: </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/oversupplyforceful-letdown#post-2187849 Sat, 23 May 2015 20:02:07 +0000 winniebee 2187849@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>The key for me was not pumping at all / not expressing more milk than needed. My suggestion would be to let her nurse until you have a let down and then pop her off and have your let down in a towel or bottle. Then put her back on. There's some controversy over block feeding -- I would just put my son back on the same side if he wanted to nurse again within 2 hours. Leaning back for let down helped a lot or even clamping down on the breast a little (like a fire hose!). He had a hard time mostly from weeks 4-8 but then my supply regulated and while at 5.5 months he still snarfs a little if I haven't nursed in a long time, it's fine. He only became a two side nurser (other than growth spurts) once my supply really regulated around 4m. Even now MOTN and morning feeds it's just one side and a deluge of milk!</p> <p>I had the same issues with my first but over pumped and made things worse and it never really got under control. We had other issues too though and didn't nurse past 6 weeks (though I pumped and thanks to my oversupply got 40 plus oz a day). </p> <p>As the baby gets bigger and as your supply adjusts it will get so much better. Hang in there! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/oversupplyforceful-letdown#post-2187847 Sat, 23 May 2015 19:55:47 +0000 Dandelion 2187847@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>M is almost 14 months and I still have a forceful letdown, but not as bad. Luckily, the over supply got better around 12 weeks. I just kept a burp cloth nearby to catch the spray and then put baby back on when it calms down. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/oversupplyforceful-letdown#post-2187843 Sat, 23 May 2015 19:50:08 +0000 SeptMomma12 2187843@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>DD is 9 days old and I saw a lactation consultant on Friday to deal with my oversupply in general (I'm still engorged a week after my milk came in) but even more to get help for my forceful letdown. DD was already having green poops and literally had milk coming out of her nose while she ate. So the LC suggested that before each feed, I hand express for 2 mins to catch the first letdown, then feed DD on that one side on a recline but only until she starts non-nutritive sucking and then pull her off, and then hand express for 1 min to catch some hind milk and store what I'm getting. To give you some idea of my supply, I got 8oz yesterday just hand expressing for 3 mins each feeding. She's only eating for about 10 mins, but has plenty of wet/dirty diapers and seems satisfied, so I'm thinking (hoping) she's taking in enough in that limited time.</p> <p>So my question is... For anyone else in a similar situation, how did you deal with your forceful letdown? And did you have to do it forever, or just until your supply/letdown regulated at some point? This set-up the LC gave me is manageable but makes feeding much more complicated. Especially when my husband goes back to work this week and can't hold her while I express, etc. </p>