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growing increasingly frustrated...

Ok...we've been dealing with oversupply/OALD for over 6 months now...doesn't it ever get any better???? Shouldn't she be able to handle the OALD by now?? How long does it take?? I pumped today and got 4 oz from one side and 3oz from the other that had just been nursed on 2 hours prior... now keep in mind that my dd only nurses one side per feeding, hoping that will help. Ok...if I can pump 4oz on the side she would have been nursing on, and pumping doesn't usually get what is really in there...my word, my kid must be drinking a TON of milk...and all in the 5-7 minutes it takes her to nurse!!! No wonder she pukes it up all the time!!!! I just don't know how much longer I can do this...the constant puking, the too much milk, the leaking, the pain....I've tried and tried, and just get more and more frustrated. Today, I gave her a bottle....and it was a wonderful experience. it was what I want our nursing relationship to be! She rested in my arms, completely relaxed, eating at her own leasurely pace. And when she was done, she burped, played and barely spit up at all! It made me want to cry. I feel like it is my fault that she's not gaining much weight because I can't get this under control! I feel like I am forcing something that is just making her stressed and uncomfortable. She loves nursing, don't get me wrong, but she fidgets, pulls, bites, pinches...and then when she's done, she loses most of it anyhow! I've tried pulling her off to let the spray happen into a cloth, but she screams the whole time she's waiting to nurse more...I've tried longer and shorter periods of block feeding...I've tried so much...I just don't know what to do...Sorry for this rambling, it is kinda a vent...but I'm also looking for SOME idea as to how to make things slow down or to make my body make less....ANYTHING...I don't want to stop, but it isn't relaxing for either one of us...please help.

Re: growing increasingly frustrated...

Hi there,

I'm sorry that you are getting so discouraged with BF. That cannot be a good feeling to have with your dd!

I had the same question as well...about the pumping...do you need the milk for something? Because if not, you probably realize that any additional pumping/stimulationen will cause you to make more milk.

For what amount of time did you try the block feeding?

Have you tried different positions for feedings? Babies dealing with OALD do better in an upright postion, face down, or anything in between. (Keep baby's head *at least* higher than her bottom)

Have you tried expressing some milk *before* she is even ready to nurse? In other words, if you can predict that she is getting ready to nurse in the next 5 minutes, express an ounce or so and then put her on.

Have you tried keeping her upright after feedings? This is very helpful with spitting up. A 45 degree angle is best. Keep her upright for a half-hour after a feeding. Try to avoid changing her diaper right after a feeding. If you must, keep her on her side. Avoid the car seat right after a feeding. This causes legs to be brought up, creating pressure on the abdomen, resulting in spit-up.

Anecdotally some moms have tried ingest sage, parsely or peppermint to deal with oversupply.

There are a few other things you could try if you haven't already. Feel free to PM me for more info.

Re: growing increasingly frustrated...

Actually, I've avoided the pump like the plague for the last 4 months, knowing what it does to my supply! I pumped yesterday so that I could give her my milk in a bottle and see if it made any difference. Typically, if I'm going to be away from her (which RARELY happens) she gets a formula bottle because I don't want to pump extra and make my supply crazy. Yesterday I pumped in place of feeding, and I would have only done one side, but I have an electric dual pump, so I couldn't do just one. Anyhow...over pumping shouldn't be an issue since I haven't done that for quite a while!

I tried longer periods of block feeding for about a month. It helped at first, but then my body just started producing MORE milk...each breast was stimulated so much because she wasn't getting enough milk from one side to last for 5-6 hours, so she would suck and suck, and eventually my breasts started producing enough milk on each side to last that 6 hours....so I seemed to have even MORE problems the longer I extended it...does that make sense?? Anyhow, I tried to give it ample time to fix the issues, but it just didn't last long.

I've tried different positions, she does fine at night when I nurse her uphill, but it doesn't make any difference during the daytime. I try to keep her upright, but she wants to GO as soon as she is done nursing...she has learned to crawl and really explore (and get into trouble) so she wants to get right to it...there's no keeping her still after feeding!

I've thought about expressing some before she starts to eat, but wouldn't that tell my body to make more milk?? I am afraid to do anything but what she eats because the last thing I want is MORE milk! I feel bad...here I am complaining about too much when some women struggle to get enough... *sigh* anyhow...thanks for the help so far, maybe I'll try some sage or something to slow things down a bit...Knowing my body, if it dips too far, it wouldn't take long to get it back!!

Re: growing increasingly frustrated...

I don't have a lot of time right now...but no, expressing just a little before she nurses will help her deal with the OALD better, possibly helping. The force might not be as strong when she comes on to nurse, allowing her to not be so "flooded" when she nurses. Possibly helping the spit-up situation.

Re: growing increasingly frustrated...

I found that a nursing necklace helps my dd with the fidgets, pulls, bites, pinches, etc.....you might want to give it a try, you can purchase one or make your own also. I have a oversupply also, but nothing not like yours. The last time I had to pump during the day, she nursed a hour before I pumped and I got out 4 oz between both of them, I was shocked. I had to do this because she was going in for some tests and couldn't eat for a period of time and I didn't know how long we were going to be at the hossy and I didn't want to become engorged. Usually I pump once in the mornig on one side while she nurses on the other.

Re: growing increasingly frustrated...

Well...for a few days I have replaced a few feedings with solids...just to try and make my supply dwindle at least a LITTLE bit!!! The engorgement was horrible, but now I think I might be ready to try this again...my supply MIGHT be starting to get a bit smaller....probably not the recommended way to do it, but it's better than switching immediately to formula which I was about to do...so we'll see...I might give it another day to lower supply and try again and see if it helps...she doesn't seem to be spitting up as much after nursing, so maybe things have slowed a bit....we'll see....thanks for the support though ladies...I'm trying hard not to give in to formula...it's tempting though as well because of her slow gain...I know better, but I get SOO sick of the comments...anyhow, I'm rambling (I've come to the conclusion I'm good at that!)

Re: growing increasingly frustrated...

If you know you truly have an oversupply you might try taking sage. When I was getting my supply under control I took sage on the advice of my LLL leader and it worked incredibly well. Almost too well! I just downed dried sage straight and followed by a spoonful of ice cream (back when I could eat dairy, sigh). Or you can make tea, or put it into capsules found at the health food store. Good luck!

Mama to Adeline Brett, breastfed for 4.5 years (12/14/05) and little Eliza June, new tiny sprite in my arms and still learning the ropes (7/18/10)

Family Blog • If I'm here I'm nursing and typing one handed ... forgive the typos!
And I'm not a newbie at all ... I'm trying to get my old user ID working from back in the day ... paint-the-moon

Re: growing increasingly frustrated...

If this works for you then it is fine. DD is about 7 months? This is well within the range of normal for solids. I'm sure that you are aware that she should still be getting lots of milk, but I think you have made a very calculated decision here, and maybe this will help you to continue to BF, which is important, right?