[Dettol]

I have loads of milk, which sounds good in theory. But it is really starting to wear thin, the lactation consultants told me it would settle down by 6 weeks but it is showing no signs of calming down.

I cant feed while I am out, I constantly have milk spurting every where, all I seem to be doing is changing clothes and showering multiple times a day.

My son is suffering terrible reflux becuase of it, and feeding him is a challenge he thrashes about becuase of his reflux and it results in even more of a mess.

I am seriously considering switching to formula, I can not keep doing this long term. Originally my goal was to feed until he started solids but I am doubting that is going to happen.

I know it seems trivial when so many people struggle to BF, but has anyone else had this problem?

[strawberrypie7]

How old is your baby OP?
Mine settled down by the time my DD was 9 weeks old.

[Excentrique]

Mine settled a lot by 3 months. I went from to much to not enough lol! Have you tried feeding lying down, it slows the flow a bit so your baby might cope better?

[Dettol]

He is 8 weeks. Cant feed him lying down because of his reflux I am afraid .

[CharliMarley]

Could you try taking off some of the milk into a towel before you start to feed. This helps to soften the breast so he can attach and it helps with the gulping and choking, that happens in the first couple of minutes. Don't even contemplate formula - it is not even in the same street as breastmilk, although the marketing companies try to tell you otherwise.

[lucky 2]

As pp's have said it can take longer for some women's supply to fully regulate to need. 8 weeks is still pretty early.
How are you managing your oversupply?
Perhaps there is a possibility that there is something different you can do to manage it?
All the best.

[ubermum]

OP, I have had similar issues. On the side I am not using first I pop a new pigeon breast pad in my bra before every feed and stick a face washer behind it. I also have a hand towel on hand for when my poor gulping and choking baby pulls off the sprinkler and I squirt everywhere.

It will calm down. This is my third and I think it took me until about 12 or 14 weeks for it to calm down last time. Steer clear of eating anything that promotes supply, like oats, linseed, brewers yeast/beer. I fed until my last was 3yo and from about 12 months old I didn't need breast pads anymore. My current baby is 6 weeks and I am still at the beach towel stage.

[Dettol]

I let him attach, then I pull him off if when the milk lets down, and let it flow into a towel. It saturates the towel.

Then I pop him back on, almost immediatly he starts gulping and gasping, so he comes off and the whole process starts again. He starts screaming, I get soaked in milk, and then finally when it seems to have slowed down enough for him to feed he is that stired up he gulps and then his reflux starts and then the thrashing starts. Have been the the lactation consultant a few times, they are re assuring me I am doing a good job and keep doing what I am doing, and that I just have to wait for my supply to calm down.

But it just does not seem to be working. I know the whole breast is best thing, and I feel guilty even writing the above, but it really is starting to do my head in.

[Dettol]

Would it be worth trying to express and feed that way for a while? I can fill a 125ml bottle using a manual pump in 5 minutes? Will expressing make my body stop producing as much milk?

[deejie]

I went from having not enough milk first time with DS1 to having oversupply with an explosive letdown with DS2. I would take off my bra in the early weeks and milk would be spurting across the room. I squirted DH, my Mum, my MIL and even a stranger on the tram (who thankfully was pretty good about it! ) The supply settled down by 2.5 months, the squirting across the room not long after. It helps as babies get bigger they can "grow in" to your supply and manage the enormous volume of milk a lot better. DS2 takes 3 minutes to feed now

A couple of things I did which helped-- hand express the minimum I could get away with for comfort. If I was too hard with milk for him to latch, hand express a tiny bit to soften up. Fed him "uphill" so he had to suck against gravity. This was most effective in the early days. Kellymom has some good info and pics for this:

http://kellymom.com/bf/got-milk/supply-worries/fast-letdown/

If you have a terrible oversupply, have you spoken to the LC about block nursing? I think if you are struggling it would be worth setting up another appointment to have a chat.

Hope it settles down for you soon.