Over supply with BF

BackseatDriver · September 2014

If you had over supply with your first child, did you have over supply again with subsequent children as well? Did you find your supply regulated a bit faster the second time around?

Stargirlb · September 2014

If you mean for the first month or so you were engorged/leaking that's totally normal. Don't pump for relief and you will regulate faster by just nursing. However, I took advantage of it last time and pumped to donate for a few months. But regardless, regulation happened wayyy faster the second time. I hardly ever leaked or got engorged at all. My boobs also didn't grow as much as they did the first time, despite my production actually being higher.

Mrs_Bennett · September 2014

Stargirlb said:
If you mean for the first month or so you were engorged/leaking that's totally normal. Don't pump for relief and you will regulate faster by just nursing. However, I took advantage of it last time and pumped to donate for a few months. But regardless, regulation happened wayyy faster the second time. I hardly ever leaked or got engorged at all. My boobs also didn't grow as much as they did the first time, despite my production actually being higher.

All of this. Exactly.

BackseatDriver · September 2014

I had fast letdown and over supply issues that lasted a long time. I definitely contributed to it or maybe even caused it during the first two weeks when I was pumping exclusively. I pumped for 20 minutes every 2-3 hours. By the end of 2 weeks I was pumping 9+ oz every session. I sometimes had to swap out bottles mid pumping because they were full. At that age my son wasn't eating anywhere close to that amount. I definitely realize that was a mistake and will not do that again. I will pump for the appropriate volume now and I hesitant about pumping at all early on.

I stopped pumping almost entirely at 2 weeks, but I had oversupply for many months and a fast letdown pretty much as long as I nursed. As he got older he got better with the letdown though. For the first couple months it was a difficult problem to deal with, although better than not producing enough. Still I'm hoping that if I start things off right we can avoid some of that.

Stargirlb · September 2014

BackseatDriver said:
I had fast letdown and over supply issues that lasted a long time. I definitely contributed to it or maybe even caused it during the first two weeks when I was pumping exclusively. I pumped for 20 minutes every 2-3 hours. By the end of 2 weeks I was pumping 9+ oz every session. I sometimes had to swap out bottles mid pumping because they were full. At that age my son wasn't eating anywhere close to that amount. I definitely realize that was a mistake and will not do that again. I will pump for the appropriate volume now and I hesitant about pumping at all early on.

I stopped pumping almost entirely at 2 weeks, but I had oversupply for many months and a fast letdown pretty much as long as I nursed. As he got older he got better with the letdown though. For the first couple months it was a difficult problem to deal with, although better than not producing enough. Still I'm hoping that if I start things off right we can avoid some of that.

Is definitely avoid pumping at all at first, unless you are going back to work quickly and need to start building a stash. It's much more enjoyable to not worry about the pump!

Stargirlb · September 2014

Some good tips here to try:
https://kellymom.com/bf/got-milk/supply-worries/fast-letdown/

UberBiz · September 2014

I wouldn't say I had oversupply for my first, but I did pump continuously AND nurse her, so I had a stash when I went back to work, and that helped me keep up with pumping AT work, she didn't get a drop of formula. I also had CRAZY let-down, and a very fast flow, so I leaked ALL the time.

With my son (8yrs later), I was lazy with the pumping, and maintained nursing while I was home with him, but when I went back to work, couldn't keep up the pumping routine and eventually supplemented more and more til I stopped pumping all together at around 8-10 months. I still nursed him when I was home with him and we just weaned two months ago (15M). I didn't leak nearly as much, and the poor fellow had to work for the let-down to happen, thankfully it didn't deter him from the breast at all.

I like to blame me being older for a lot of the differences, but I also know that maybe if I had kept up with the pumping it would have been a little better. We'll see how it goes this time around.

YaMrWhite · September 2014

I didn't touch a pump the first time until I went back to work at 6 weeks (which I know is not long enough to establish a regular supply) but I highly doubt if I did not have an oversupply right off the bat. Something wasn't right. I was a leaking fool. I had to change the breast pads every 20-30 minutes or I would soak through them and through my clothes. While feeding my daughter, I would hold a medela bottle to my other boob and would easily collect over 4-5oz of extra leakage. It didn't go away until around 4 months pp (2.5 months of that was spent pumping at work).

Lanatir · September 2014

Oversupply and forceful letdown was what made me ultimately start pumping around 8 weeks pp when DD stopped latching.

I'm glad to see a few of the moms had it work out better a second time around. When I was pumping only, it wasn't until almost 18m pp that I could cut a pump session without getting plugged ducts. Until I dropped the night sessions and was able to pump only 3-4 times a day, I had 60-70 oz in a 24 hr period... I'd LOVE to instead just carry my kid with me instead of kid and pump and not be engorged all the time.

AggieMom0809 · September 2014

I over produced with my first and was planning on saving what I pumped, but she wouldn't drink the expressed milk.(I could only stand so much being engorged without leaking or feeling like I was going to explode.) With my second, I produced even more to the point that I had more than one pedi say my son was getting too much even though he was exclusively breast fed. I am expecting the same over production this time too.

BackseatDriver · September 2014

AggieMom0809 said:
I over produced with my first and was planning on saving what I pumped, but she wouldn't drink the expressed milk.(I could only stand so much being engorged without leaking or feeling like I was going to explode.) With my second, I produced even more to the point that I had more than one pedi say my son was getting too much even though he was exclusively breast fed. I am expecting the same over production this time too.

My son gained too fast too.

kellyfo14 · September 2014

Stargirlb said:

BackseatDriver said:
I had fast letdown and over supply issues that lasted a long time. I definitely contributed to it or maybe even caused it during the first two weeks when I was pumping exclusively. I pumped for 20 minutes every 2-3 hours. By the end of 2 weeks I was pumping 9+ oz every session. I sometimes had to swap out bottles mid pumping because they were full. At that age my son wasn't eating anywhere close to that amount. I definitely realize that was a mistake and will not do that again. I will pump for the appropriate volume now and I hesitant about pumping at all early on.

I stopped pumping almost entirely at 2 weeks, but I had oversupply for many months and a fast letdown pretty much as long as I nursed. As he got older he got better with the letdown though. For the first couple months it was a difficult problem to deal with, although better than not producing enough. Still I'm hoping that if I start things off right we can avoid some of that.
Is definitely avoid pumping at all at first, unless you are going back to work quickly and need to start building a stash. It's much more enjoyable to not worry about the pump!

I completely agree. With my first I pumped in the hospital too and was there several days because of Csec. I was constantly attached. I had a very large baby to keep up with and I had the opposite problem of over supply especially at the beginning. We had to supplement with her from the beginning. With my second our hospital stay did not include a pump at all. My body really seemed to know what to do and I was so much more relaxed. I did start pumping when I got home (with my second) and had a pretty good freezer stash when I had to go into the hospital again 2 months later for a couple days to have my gallbladder out. Freezer stash went pretty quick and never got replenished to where it was. The second seems to go so much easier.

mom2case · September 2014

I had an over-supply with #1 but pumped right before I went to bed at night to remedy the fullness. That became part of my routine and I donated the leftover milk to a preemie milk bank.

When I had a preemie, I was on the fast track to being an over-producer again. I think it was day 5 when the nurse told me not to worry about my supply because I already had 26 oz. in the freezer! I assured her I wasn't worried.

Point was you can use your overproduction for good. I saw it as a blessing.

GromMom · September 2014

BackseatDriver said:

AggieMom0809 said:
I over produced with my first and was planning on saving what I pumped, but she wouldn't drink the expressed milk.(I could only stand so much being engorged without leaking or feeling like I was going to explode.) With my second, I produced even more to the point that I had more than one pedi say my son was getting too much even though he was exclusively breast fed. I am expecting the same over production this time too.
My son gained too fast too.

My son was in the 100th percentile for weight until maybe a year? I swear I had a normal supply though, if I pumped after being totally engorged I could get 4-5 oz on each side but normally was lucky to get 4-5 oz total. I think ds was just a boob fan and ate often, or was like a million tines more efficient than the pump, which I'd pump for minimum 30 min.

BackseatDriver · September 2014

mom2case said:

Point was you can use your overproduction for good. I saw it as a blessing.

I know oversupply can be a "good problem" to have, but it did cause a lot of feeding issues for us, partly (mostly?) because the letdown was too fast for my son. He was not able to keep up with the flow and was gagging, choking, and swallowing too much air. He was extremely gassy and fussy despite having a good latch. When he would pull away milk would still spray out and shoot him in the face which made him even more upset. It was a mess, quite literally. It wasn't the leaking or engorgement that really bothered me, but more the discomfort that it caused my son.

Once he got used to the flow it was nice that he never nursed for longer than 6 minutes at a time and I could pump 4 oz for a bottle in 2 minutes. Saved me a lot of time! But that was one of the reasons he was gaining weight at a faster than expected rate (his overall weight was okay). And it was the reason we had to introduce a pacifier- he wasn't able to get enough satisfaction from sucking. The LC said he wanted to suck, but it was like he was sucking on a fire hose

I did end up donating a bunch of milk to a mom with an adopted baby.

Lanatir · September 2014

BackseatDriver said:

mom2case said:

Point was you can use your overproduction for good. I saw it as a blessing.

I know oversupply can be a "good problem" to have, but it did cause a lot of feeding issues for us, partly (mostly?) because the letdown was too fast for my son. He was not able to keep up with the flow and was gagging, choking, and swallowing too much air. He was extremely gassy and fussy despite having a good latch. When he would pull away milk would still spray out and shoot him in the face which made him even more upset. It was a mess, quite literally. It wasn't the leaking or engorgement that really bothered me, but more the discomfort that it caused my son.

Once he got used to the flow it was nice that he never nursed for longer than 6 minutes at a time and I could pump 4 oz for a bottle in 2 minutes. Saved me a lot of time! But that was one of the reasons he was gaining weight at a faster than expected rate (his overall weight was okay). And it was the reason we had to introduce a pacifier- he wasn't able to get enough satisfaction from sucking. The LC said he wanted to suck, but it was like he was sucking on a fire hose

I did end up donating a bunch of milk to a mom with an adopted baby.

@BackseatDriver-- my daughter got really gassy, too with the oversupply. Pumping made her less gassy since she wasn't constantly latching and unlatching and screaming during a feeding. Plus with pumping, I found out some of my oversupply was too much foremilk (which makes some babies gassy) so pumping I could mix fore and hindmilk in the bottle in a way that decreased her gassiness.

AggieMom0809 · September 2014

GromMom said:

I over produced with my first and was planning on saving what I pumped, but she wouldn't drink the expressed milk.(I could only stand so much being engorged without leaking or feeling like I was going to explode.) With my second, I produced even more to the point that I had more than one pedi say my son was getting too much even though he was exclusively breast fed. I am expecting the same over production this time too.
My son gained too fast too.
My son was in the 100th percentile for weight until maybe a year? I swear I had a normal supply though, if I pumped after being totally engorged I could get 4-5 oz on each side but normally was lucky to get 4-5 oz total. I think ds was just a boob fan and ate often, or was like a million tines more efficient than the pump, which I'd pump for minimum 30 min.

My son was feeding every 1.5 hours for 3-5 mins each time. When I told his pedi how long he was feeding early on they wanted me to pump and measure how much I was getting (right before a usual feeding time). It was 6-8oz in 5 mins at less than a month old. I guess I should have figured it was going to be high since he left the hospital (within the 48 hours) weighting more than when he was born.

lavet22 · September 2014

I have been able to feed a baby army with all 3 of my boys. I would BF in the hospital, but at night sent the boys to the nursery and they were given formula there. I never had any issues with supply. BUT, I'm also a SAHM and never had the issues of needing to pump to go back to work. I do know supply can drop when switching from exclusively BF'ing to pumping.

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