Too Much Breast Milk! Help!

I agree with all who advise on freezing or donating. I froze milk when my were infants. The milk came in handy if I had to leave them with a sitter, their grand parents or if my husband and I went out to dinner. Definitely don't waste it in the shower.

Same Advice I went thru same thing so I used to freze it and I was always full even later. I could feed her f two months after I stopped..!

Helps in time when you are way too..ALL THE BEST!

Purchase an electric breast pump and start getting some breast milk into the freezer for later! I also produced a lot of milk, more than my son really needed/wanted. We were able to continue "nursing" for about three months after he weaned b/c we had a great "supply". It will even-out over time.

The other option (which I was totally unaware of until my OBGYN mentioned it), is that many hospitals have a "milk bank" where you can donate excess breast milk. I know it sounds gross, but apparently there is a need.

Don't wash it down the drain! It's like liquid "gold" when you consider the price of formula. Invest is a good pump. I had the Medela Symphony and it was easy to use (felt like I was milking myself, but got over it). You can freeze what you don't use or donate it!

Lady -Count your blessings! your baby is 10 days old. Leaking and fullness is typical and please - don't take for granted that because you feel like you have tons today - that ou're in a rock solid place and don't need to "try". Supplies can be funny like that, unfortunately.
Pump for comfort - or if you think your baby can't finish the breast, b/c she needs the rich hind milk at the end of a feeding. Freeze it and be grateful for it.
Your body will level out in the weeks to come.

Congratulations on her birth and great job being, clearly, dedicated to bfeeding. Le Leche League is a great place to meet moms and get all the bfeeding support you could hope for. Just go to their site to find a local meeting.
Take care.

Went through the same thing, it will balance out. I pumped the first couple of weeks because I was so uncomfortable and froze the milk for when I was occasionally away. The first two weeks I pumped enough milk to last the whole year my child was on breast milk. (Although I am a SAHM) Then I stopped producing so much and I was able to nurse my children and be comfortable and never had to pump. I did have to wear breast pads for a long time though, but stopped having to change my shirt several times a day.

It will get better, your body will regulate to your baby's needs. I had the same problem and I got a lot of good advice from the La Leche League website. It will help to nurse from only one breast per feeding, then switch for the next feeding (use a bracelet or a hairband to help keep track). The only way for your body to know it's making too much milk is to allow engorgement to happen. If you are really uncomfortable, pump, or manually express a little in the shower like you've been doing. Another thing, to help your daughter, is to nurse while lying down on your side, baby facing you. This will help her to regulate the flow of the milk better because she won't have to fight gravity bringing the milk down too fast. As far as leaking, get some breast pads and wear a bra to bed. You can get really comfy nursing bras, or they also make "sleep bras" which are just really thin sport bras that offer little to no support - if you're large chested I do not recommend them, just go for a regular nursing bra. Good luck to you, don't give up! Nursing is a wonderful thing to do for your child. One of the most helpful things may be for you to seek out the help and advice of a lactation consultant. Your OB office can probably give you a referral, or they may have one on staff. Even thought the internet, family, and friends can be a wealth of information, a lactation consultant's hands on approach can really be a huge help, even if they just reassure you that you're doing everything right :)

I would contact your LLL or a LAC if you really need to, but my advise is that you should only pump out as little as you can to provide relief and then just sadly deal w/ it for a little while bc it really will work it self out. your body makes only what it needs and it will slow down soon. I leaked a lot at first too, it was so annoying! good luck and happy nursing!

I second the electric pump. Mine was a life saver and having the milk in the freezer can become a necessity if anything were to go wrong or if you suddenly had to be away.

I had the same problem- my son, who is now 7.5 months old, learned to keep up with the supply at a certain point and now prefers how fast it comes out. Two things I tried which seemed to help were- 1) pump a little bit before you feed the baby to try to relieve some of that first initial spray, and 2) feed only one side at a time and if you feed again before 2 hours have passed. At the beginning when I fed only one side at a time I pumped the other side and stocked up a supply to allow my husband to give some bottles and also to keep up my supply. Good luck!

It will balance out - very normal and AWESOME! Infants have many, many growth spurts during their first year.

I will say that the throw-away nursing pads are junk. If you go Etsy.com - they have fabulous hand-made washable nursing pads. Much MUCH better.

And PS - we all have soaked the sheets as breastfeeding moms. It WILL pass :)

It will balance out. If your daughter is "drowning" pump a tiny bit of the foremilk off before you put her to your breast - it's all watery anyway and I found it made my kids spit up more than the heavier hindmilk.

Good luck.

Yes! Pump, freeze, or donate. You're fortunate to be able to provide your baby with the nutrition mother nature intended. You might be able to do it for other less fortunate infants. Donate! Breast milk is in high demand. I also produced so much but I was so ignorant, and would dump it down the drain!!!! What a sin!!!! Donate, freeze, make your hubby drink it (ewwww), but don't throw it away! HUGS!

I have so been there. I think this is one of the biggest SECRETS of bearing a child/nursing that NO ONE tells you...that you look like Dolly Parton for weeks after your milk comes in. And you'd love to think that'd be fun - NOT.

1. Get an electric breast pump. You can rent one relatively cheap through a local lactation consultant - check out the Le Leche site or talk to your OB. Also check out eBay and Craigslist if you plan on doing it long term/returning to work/having more children. You can buy an inexpensive manual one, but I'll tell you, it's not a great long term solution - it's slow, hurts your hand to keep pumping, etc.

2. To give you some relief, before feeding, use warm compresses or a heating pad on low to help "stimulate" your breast to let down, you can manually pump a little milk, this will soften your breast and allow your baby to latch on better AND relieve some of the pressure so milk shooting out of your breast doesn't gag the baby. Plus, by using the warm compress, it will help loosen any "lumps" of full ducts so they don't become infected or clogged (talk about painful).

3. AFTER nursing or pumping, use cold compresses. This will help reduce inflammation and slow down production (not a lot, but enough for some relief).

4. Use cold cabbage leaves!!! I know this sounds wierd, trust me here. ANYWHERE you have inflammation or healing (boobs, in your pants "down there" on c-section incisions, etc). They are cool, flexible and have natural properties that help healing. I wore them in my bras day and night for a couple of weeks. I've also done this on a surgery scar and you can't see it! Supposedly the leaves draw out impurities that cause those big, wormy scars. I've also used it for hemmoroid issues too - sorry if that's TMI. But when you're desperate for some cooling relief, it's a welcome natural solution that's CHEAP.

5. I agree, pump now while you have so much. Your body is designed to regulate itself. So it's really full right now as it's come in to ensure your baby/babies have enough to eat. Then it will taper off. If you can keep pumping at least once a day, you'll have a nice frozen supply for later. I'd suggest getting Daddy to start helping too! At about 2 weeks, try 1 bottle a day. Maybe Daddy can take the last feeding at 11pm to let you get some sleep?

6. I used one breast per feeding. I know some people always used both. But for me, it kept it easier to have "one" to feed, and one to pump. I always had plenty of milk then, even during growth spurts. And I had a nice supply in the freezer too. Never any stress if I needed some more sleep or we left the baby with grandma and grandpa.

I'm sure even without all of our advice you'd be just fine. But I'm with you, why tap the Mama's for some relief?

Best wishes to you and your LO. I have three, and just stopped nursing my last LO - I BF'd all of them, and later used some formula. Feel free to msg me with ANY questions. I've so been there, done that.

I had the same problem and was told it is normal. It balanced out after about 2 weeks with all of my children. I soaked trhough everything.
When it does balance, out Johnsosn Nursing pads were the only ones that helped me as I always leaked, though it slowed down.

Oh my, I wish I had your problem.....I am on so many supplemets to get my supply up and we still have to supplement with formula :(....
I would say pump, donate it if you do not want to freeze it.(I was given some donated milk at the hospital and was very thankful since our baby was loosing too much weight) Many call it liquid gold :) (1oz of breastmilk sells for $40-50).

Pump. Seriously. I had that problem with both my kids. I could pump 10 ozs in 10 minutes and still have enough to feed an army. Or at least it felt like that! The absolute only thing that brought me relief was pumping. I froze anything I pumped.
It's true that milk is supply and demand. But, you also don't want to be that uncomfortable all the time. I would pump maybe once a day or if you feel overly engorged. You don't have to pump until your breasts are empty, just until the engorged feeling goes away. Maybe a few minutes at a time. It's really nice to have that extra milk for the babysitter or for Dad to feed her.
Your milk production will balance out soon. It just takes your body a little bit to get used to how much milk to produce. You might have this same problem when your baby hits a growth spurt.

I agree with the other mothers about your body working itself out. I too made way too much milk for both of my babies, but it did reach a point where I only made what they needed. If you want to pump to start a supply of milk, that's fine, but know that every little bit that comes out of your body, via your baby or a pump, your body will work to replace it, so if you keep pumping, you will keep up the supply. If you don't want to pump, you don't have to, your body will slow down the making of the milk eventually.

Good luck!!