Breastfeeding - Fast Letdown - Help!

Updated on December 28, 2010
H.A. asks from San Francisco, CA
7 answers

Hi there,

I'm wondering if any other mommies have had a problem with fast let down while breastfeeding? My little guy is about 2 1/2 months old and we're having such a hard time. I've seen a lactation consultant, midwife, pediatrician, OBGYN, and attended 2 La Leche League meetings. I've followed all of the excellent suggestions on the KellyMom website. But we're still having basically the same problem.

My milk supply has diminished a bit to match his needs, luckily, but the let down is still too forceful. He gags on too much milk, gulps air, inhales milk, screams and yells when we try to breastfeed, etc. He really seems to be suffering and breastfeeding sessions are such a struggle that take a long time. Of course, his ingestion of air also causes painful gas that bothers him all day.

He's gaining weight very quickly (he's off the charts, was almost 16 pounds at 2 months) and is very strong and feisty. That's all good, but his hysterical yelling and screaming are so intense that it's really hard to take several times a day for almost 2 1/2 months. It's really taking a toll on me emotionally.

I keep hoping he will learn to cope with the fast letdown, but he hasn't yet. Have any of you experienced this? Did your baby eventually learn to cope with the "milk boarding", as we call it? It's breaking my heart to see him so angry and frustrated when it's supposed to be a safe, loving moment between the two of us. Also, he clamps down on the nipple to slow the flow of milk, which is very painful for me.

I'd love to hear from you if you've had the same issue, even if you don't have a great solution!

Thanks!

p.s. This is my second child. I breastfed my daughter until she was almost 3-years old (I didn't intend to be one of "those" moms, it just happened :) so I'm not new to breastfeeding. My daughter coped with the fast letdown by clenching the nipples, and I guess that worked for her. She was huge, too, but didn't have any breastfeeding issues.

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J.Y.

answers from Chicago on

I had a really fast, strong letdown also. I would express some milk (by hand) before each feeding-just enough to get past the strong spray. I didn't want to increase my milk supply. Then, I would lay on my back with the baby on his tummy to nurse. I don't know if it was the gravity slowing the milk or the baby's position, but it helped prevent him from choking and gagging. My daughter adjusted to the letdown at around 4 months old and my son did at around 5 months old so that I didn't need to do those things anymore. At that point breastfeeding became much more enjoyable for both the babies and myself. Both of my children nursed for 2 years. I hope you find something that works for you and your baby.

1 mom found this helpful

S.P.

answers from Los Angeles on

Have you tried manually expressing some of the first milk into a container?
And let him latch on after you've done that?
Congratulations on your healthy baby
and your eagerness to make feeding easier for him.

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J.B.

answers from Phoenix on

I had the same issue and would begin the let down myself and catch it in a diaper cloth. i would only let my ds latch on once the initial let down was done and had slowed.

M.R.

answers from Rochester on

I agree with initially pumping just a bit and then save that milk (if someone is not using it for bottles, save it for cereal in a few months). I used to feel like I was hosing my kids down when they nursed, and it wasn't just the let-down. If they pulled off for some reason, to giggle or coo or something, they were getting soaked from milk actually spraying all over them. Sometimes, yes, they gagged on it too. Those points I think I did try to express a bit just to get it under control. My older son was always in the 95% percentile for his weight, which I thought was pretty good for only breastmilk (he's now the same for weight but also very tall, so completely healthy). My younger boy is smaller but was also early and has a different build. He still looked like a pudge. :)

Jill Y's suggestion of nursing on your back might be a good idea. My favorite position was ALWAYS on my side in bed with a thick cloth under us. I am very large-chested, so I think it was easier on my kids not to have the breast weight (and easier on me). Either way, side or back, gravity isn't helping gag the baby and any extra milk is going to run off somewhere else.

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M.C.

answers from Minneapolis on

laying on or close to on my back has helped me drastically with this issues, that way the milk is shooting up...my letdown seems to have slowed a bit now that my daughter is 8 months. I had to pump partially the first three months though because she couldn't handle it.

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M.O.

answers from Chicago on

I had the same thing, esp 1st feeding of the morning when I was really full. I used a warm compress/cloth to start the let down. It would catch the shooting milk when I first let down and relieved the pressure. Then my baby could successfully latch on without being gagged by milk shooting into the back of her throat and have so much milk being pushed into her mouth faster than she could swallow it.

For me, this was only an issue for the first couple of months, and then my body did seem to normalize out. But if she slept well at night, then sometimes I'd be so engorged in the morning, I'd have to either take a warm shower and massage some milk out or do the warm compress thing to give me some relief and her the ability to suck without being gagged.

If you can let down/express a little bit of milk before nursing this will likely help him to latch on successfully without being painful for you too. All of the pressure means that your nipple isn't as pliable, so it hurts when he's latching on.

For the warm compress I'd put a little warm water on a washcloth, or microwave it for a few seconds, then tuck it into my bra. Once the let down started, the wash cloth helped catch all the milk. Then I could let the baby nurse with no problems.

Best wishes and stick with it!

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D.W.

answers from Gainesville on

I've always heard the same as Shira is suggesting-pump off a bit to get past that first fast let down.

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