Overactive Letdown

[Seekrit]

Hi :D
I think I have a boob issue. For the last week we've referred to me as "Sprinkler Boobs" due to the force of my let-down having milk literally squirt out of my boobs, covering quite a distance. Cobey doesn't really like this, he fusses about, pops on and off the boob, cries and carries on etc.

Generally he feeds every 4 hours, sometimes he'll only take one side and feed for half the time, and wanting food every 2 hours, other times he'll drink like a champ from both sides and will spend 4 or more hours completely out to it (took us 45 minutes, and eventually a nappy change and a bath, to wake him up for boobie yesterday)

ANYWAY, I think my flow is too fast, especially in let down. Again, he fights the boob, pops on and off, cries sometimes, sometimes he'll lie with his mouth open catching the spray, othertimes when he feeds I can hear it in his nose as he breathes. etc. Yesterday morning and this morning on our first feeds (between 4 and 5) after gutsing down a whole boob he just threw up (note: not a little spit up, but quite a big throw up). No pain involved, no discomfort before or after, just :barf:. The first morning he fed again and did it again, but this morning he more or less fell asleep straight after, maybe with a bit of comfort sucking.

I was googling throwing up after breastfeeding and found a few people mentioning this 'overactive letdown' causing the bubs to get too much foremilk, and gutsing on it, then throwing up afterwards. Other symptoms include a gassy baby (check) comical farts/poops (check) green in the mustard poop (check).. So there we go, I've diagnosed myself.

Does anyone else have/had this problem? And what did you do to combat it? Through reading on other sites I'm going to pump a little just as letdown occurs to help him out with the sprinklers and maybe really try long feeds on one side (my other boob aches thinking about it) I tried feeding 'up hill' last night but he wasn't going to have a bar of it. ALSO when did this stop for all others?

So yeah, long post - in short.. My boobs turn to sprinklers at let down, what can I do, when did it stop?

[Sara's Boys]

HI, this used to happen to me for the first 8 weeks until my milk had adjusted to demand. I was told after 2weeks not to offer boob before 3 hours as the milk is lighter and it takes 3 hours to produce the fuller fat milk. In some babies the lighter stuff doesn't fill them up and some times leaves them with discomfort. also if you feed every 3-4 hours your supply will establish a lot quicker. If you put bubs on too often or frequently, you body will assume you need more and start making more and let it down faster and harder. That advice I had was form a 65 yo mat helath nurse, who specialises in feeding and settling. She also saif that when you leave the hospitals most information is about demand feeding. She said that most poeple think that means feed bub whenever she cries! Well thats what I thought! As soon I started stretching the feeds to 3-4 hours, he started taking 1 boob then half of the other and was content and satisfied and about 1 week my squirting issue was starting to resolve already. Although, even when my suypply had adjusted I could still squirt hubby from accross the room. He would sit the re and wonder what was that, until I would burst out laughing!!

[Funkychicken]

Hi Nikki, you have described exactly what I went through with DS#1! Milk flowing 24/7, DS guzzling, then vomiting, poopy squirting and all within each feed. Milk on tap was an understatement. I tried feeding uphill too and boy, was that a comical sight to behold! I often thought about offering my breasts as scientific experiments as no-one else I knew had this kind of flow.
It did settle down-eventually. *Scratches through memory bank* I think DS was about 3 months when I noticed it was settling down. I always had a big supply though, even after we sorted the firehose effects out.
The morning feed was the hardest. My boobs were so full that DS couldn't latch on properly. I started to express off about 100 mls (into the sink) before I fed him. This seemed to help and reduced the amount of foremilk he was getting and he would happily feed after that.
On the opposite breast, if I was at home, I would stuff a nappy in my bra or, if I was braless, I just kind of held it against my boob so I wasn't having to worry about streams appearing from the other side.
I do know when my milk lets down, it seems to come from at least 7-8 holes and with DS#1, I also had milk coming out of a hole on my areola, about 1 cm higher than my nipple!!
The upside? He'll be the bonniest babe around.;) And don't let anyone tell you he is overweight-he will work it off when he gets mobile. DS#1 resembled a sumo wrestler and was so round, his own tummy could hold him up in a sitting position at about 3 months. He is now the smallest and lightest in his class!
Here's a pic for you of DS#1 at 3 1/2 months old.:D

http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/4159/babytristan0004pv9.jpg

[elissas]

I had this problem too. The way I fixed it was to express about 20ml (about 5mins) before each feed (you can do it 10mins or so before you anticipate a feed if you like). It was a pain but I only had to do it for a couple of weeks till my milk settled down a bit and DS was able to handle it.

The initial let down is what puts bubs off. By expressing you're taking off the excess, helping slow down the initial flow, and reducing the amount of foremilk bubs is getting, so they get more hindmilk.

[meme]

yep - love the sprinkler boobs tag:D thats me too.

my babies have always just come off if the flow is too much and i let it gush intoa cloth nappy . eventually it settles down, although it still can happen now (bubs is 13mths) but she is much bigger and it doesn't swamp her as much, she just comes off and lets me get it all over me:o

i found that i usually had enough milk that one breast was plenty for one feed in the early days.

[Pixie]

Nikki E is 4 months old nearly and I still wear breast pads all day and all night I am like a sprinkler too. Your milk should regulate eventually it can up to 8 weeks like the others have said., if you pump you can actually create more milk so you might want to wait a while, and E is a big chucker too also another thing the nurses told me was your baby's stomach is the size of their fist so, they will fill up very quickly and spew what's left over. I have found the ABA counsellers fantastic you can call them and speak to someone and they can help you they were my saviours in the first few weeks!!

Oh and the whole sleeping thing babies hibernate for the first few weeks then the wake up enjoy it :D

[xkwzit]

Hiya Seek
I had this with both babies too. In the early weeks I would not feed in public because I knew what would happen. DD drinking like a champ, but you just know she's not keeping up and will have to come off. Milk pouring out - everywhere. I had to tuck a nappy in underneath my bra to catch the flow.

But it only lasts a few weeks really, your supply will regulate and baby grows so fast.

My paed and LC recommended feeding on one side only to ensure baby was getting the right fore/hind milk balance. Too much sugary fore milk can give them wind and result in explosive, frothy poo (think caramel milk shake:D ). It is the creamy hind milk that fills them up and helps them gain good weight.

(Now I also know heaps of ppl who did as CHN would tell them and feed from both sides each feed, but that didn't work well for my babies)

Cheers

[SilverStarfish]

I friend of mine had a problem with fast flowing milk too. She said that her babies nearly drown in it. She said what worked for her was sort of feeding lying on her back with the baby lying on her chest (might need a little head control for that?) so that gravity would help stop the major squirting.

[Hokey Pokey]

Oh gosh have to laugh at the way you described that because I had the very same problem. Bella would not have to suck, she would just sit with her mouth open :laughing: I had to sleep with towels under my breasts too and getting out of the shower was a battle to get dressed so quickly :(
And while feeding my DF would hold a bottle under the other boob and within minutes that bottle would be FULL :eek:

[veve]

I'm going to be really mature here.. point and laugh and chant - *leaky boobs* * leaky boobs!!* - ok .. that is now out of my system :D

in all seriousness nik .. you fed really well out in public the other day ... I barely noticed what you were doing!! (and just for the recond... you are a wonderful mummy :) :hugs: )

xxx

[rynosmum]

I had the same issue Seek and even after 4 months I still went through about 4 pairs of breastpads per day - it was constant. Poor little Ry used to gulp it down so loudly, people couldn't help but look to see what was going on - if he pulled back, he'd cop milk in his face!:o

I think it calmed down after 2 months but never completely - the good thing is that I used to be able to express 180 mls pretty quickly:D

[wattle]

Hey there Seekrit. It's a real juggling act isn't it. Your post took me right back to the early days with ds. I too was a sprinkler!

After a lot of difficulty (and I mean a LOT), I finally found a great lac consultant who diagnosed my 'sprinkler' issue. What a relief that was. Some things that she suggested that worked for me:

express a bit before you feed (you'll probably figure out how much after a couple of days).
feed lying down - I found this quite difficult, but she showed me a few ways which helped. It helped us both to relax too :smiliedance:
only feed bub every 3 hours or more.
relax :D

Things I figured out:
b/feeding in public was a nightmare, I could just about squirt the whole shopping centre!
While bub was feeding from one side, I put a warm wet cloth on the other breast and a folded up nappy to soak up the milk. The heat helped increase letdown, so I never had to express on the second side before he fed. (Did that make sense?)
Overactive letdown is messy and awkward for a while.
Don't drink a cup of tea just before/during b/feeding. The heat seemed to make my sprinklers work overtime :laughing:

[elissas]

Oh, and as someone mentioned, I had to do the one boob per feed thing. Didn't offer the second side.

Even now if DS takes the second side he must be REALLY hungry.

[InSaneOne]

i too gushed for the first few months. i could only feed laying down on my side and bubs laying next to me her head level with my boob. it is easier if you lay with your head proped up on your hand and legs lightly bent. that way it is easy to fall asleep and just let bubs fall off when they are done.

i would only offer one side per feed too. it does help to regulate your supply better but you have to remember which side to use. i found a hairband on my wrist helped me to remember.

[elissas]

Hehe, Billie&Beth. I used to forget too!

I ended up clipping a paper clip to the top of the bra strap on the side I was up to :D

[Seekrit]

:wave: Thank you all!
We had our first parents room experience today! And he fed like a champ as if there was no issue with milk going everywhere. :rolleyes: I only offered him the one side instead of going one side, burp, other side. He filled up and fell asleep for the rest of the shop.. in fact that was 2 and a half hours ago and he's still zonked out.

We love feeding lying down (thank you Veve for telling me of that one and also for your loverly comments :hugs:!) and do it when we can!

We don't successfully do the laying back thing tho', My boobies kinda go to the side and Wee Man isn't too fond of being horizontalish on his tummy at the moment (He has good head/neck control tho'!)

Also, today we went shopping and bought a whole lot of cloth nappies. Chris asked if it was for the boy.. "No... for my boobies." He knew not to ask anymore.

[veve]

Also, today we went shopping and bought a whole lot of cloth nappies. Chris asked if it was for the boy.. "No... for my boobies." He knew not to ask anymore.

:laughing: oh .. I would have paid to see his face.... too funny :laughing:

I do hope you said it nice and loud in the checkout line .... :laughing:

[MoonstoneMumma]

This is a great thread! Connor keeps chucking after each feed and really gulps it back. Some times he just lies there with his mouth open and it just falls in. He also breathes it in and starts drowning! He doesn't feed properly when he is lying down so that is out - but i will def try expressing some out before he feeds.

Is another option to just express the milk and bottle feed him? Has anyone tried this method? And if so, how much should he be drinking at the moment - he is 10 days old.

[xkwzit]

There are just a few dangers/problems with only feeding EBM via bottles, so I would not think it a good way to cope for this temporary problem. Problems may be:

1. Expressing is not as efficient as your baby feeding, so you may experience a loss of supply due to less stimulation or you may get blocked ducts that in turn may lead to mastitus. I'm also concerned about the fore/hind milk balance when you express, if it's not as efficent, maybe you aren't extracting that creamy hind milk that fills baby up and helps them gain weight (not heard that from any expert though).

2. Feeding a newborn witha bottle may lead to nipple confusion and so you may end up with breast refusal and weaning unintentionally. My LC recommended waiting until baby was 6 weeks old before introducing a bottle.

No problem with expressing a bit off before you put the baby on to feed, you can always freeze that to feed baby when you are away. But I really think that putting baby to the breast is the best way to get your supply regulated.

Cheers

[cheezelkat]

I pretty much only feed lying down. My overactive letdown settled ages ago, but I like to doze off when I'm feeding :p

I still have some sprinkler boobs. Liam likes to pop off to say hi to anything else in the room and gets rewarded with a big spray of milk in the face, everytime!