Overproduction problems

Is anyone other than me "blessed" with too much milk? I cannot for the life of me get away from pumping and pumping. I try, but it doesn't work because I also nurse but if I don't pump, my baby, who is 3 1/2 months old now only gets the foremilk, has green foamy stools and gets fussy. Anyone? I know there are many of you who would love to have more milk but I would love to have less! I have tried to pump less. I nurse all evening and night and try to sneak a nurse in the morning if I can rouse baby enough. I pump at 6 am now that I am back to work. I get 14 oz in 10 min. I pump again at 11 at work. I get 14 oz in 10 min and could get more. By about 1 or 2 I am engorged again. I am trying not to pump again while at work and just nurse when I get home but my boobs are so full, he gets just the watery foremilk. I nurse a few times in the evening and then before he goes to sleep for the night. Then I have to get out of bed and pump before I go to sleep. Another 12 oz or so. I'm pumping about 40 oz plus nursing! I'm just frustrated...my boobs are always full and engorged feeling! Apparently all of the women in my family are "blessed" as well. You would think it's something to be happy about but it's a constant battle. I have more milk than I know what to do with. I can't really quit pumping because I work full time but ultimately would love to just be able to nurse in the evening and at night and just have enough for that, since I have about 3 months worth of milk stashed already. We have run out of room for more...so now I'm just dumping what he doesn't drink at daycare every day.

I'm probably just going to have to feel uncomfortably engorged until I can decrease my supply, but I've been trying to decrease and it hasn't been working. My boobs just hold more and more, and, like I said, then when it comes time to nurse my baby, it's all the watery foremilk. Frustrated and I guess just venting. I don't think I'm going to find anyone who can related, but if you have battled overproduction of milk, let me know how you coped with it!

[tiredbuthappy]

what if you shortened your pumps? pump only to relieve pressure? instead of 10 min, pump 5 minutes. after doing this for a few days you should (maybe?) feel less engorged. in the morning, i do notice that if i pump a short pump, and then go back an hour or 2 later and pump again, then that second pump is much more hindmilk. i have to do this if the girls wake up too early and i want to give dh a break and sleep in. i pump to get a feed or 2, then finish later. so if you pump off the foremilk at work by doing a half pump instead of full, hopefully your supply will drop and that first session at home will be more hindmilk.

[mum2beagain]

I overproduced for about 3 months with Sam, he got green stools sometimes too. Tired's advice is great. Do your morning pump as normal and your 11am one, at 2pm just pump enough to draw off the fore milk (this would be the milk I would dump if I had to dump milk), in a couple of weeks knock a few minutes off the 11 am pump and them a couple of weeks after that drop a few minutes off your morning one. Tight bra and maybe some cold compresses will help relieve the engorgement and allow you to start stretching times between pumps a little too.

[KATE535]

You never expect to need to talk on the other end of the spectrum. I can understand it must be frustrating for you and upsetting to throw your milk away. My advice would be to look at what makes my supply drop - you could experiment with your diet - drinking and eating less affects my supply a lot. If you try a light lunch at work then perhaps the drop in calories will mean you make less milk. Obviously these are just assumptions - maybe you do eat a light lunch. Reducing your fluid intake might help too. Sometimes if I've had a busy day or am tired I produce less milk. Some exercise before bed may wear you out a little to reduce your supply. Although we are tired enough as it is with our babies let alone an exercise routine too. And I agree with the others, pump shorter times for a few days and you will be telling your body to make less milk. (I'm still envious tho ;-) )

[kylesMom09]

I had the same problem until my dd was about 8 months old and my supply finally started to drop...The other ladies have great advise and all i had to do was shorten my pumping sessions and only pump to relieve the pain.  Good luck!

[30something13]

I had this problem with all three yet they gained well. I was told to nurse from one side only at a time. If you stop pumping when your baby is eating then you will not get the right amount of milk eventually. You need to still pump when he eats every time you are not nursing! It will only take a day or so for your milk to adjust. It will be painful at first and you can stnd int he shower and that will let your milk dowm but you willl need to refrain from pumping the other side during that time. It will hurt like I said for a day or two but will be worth it! I would leak so much and poor out all over but i put my wrist right on my nipple to put pressure and it helped. Eating less will not wrok and then you can have less nutrients in your milk too. It will get better and one side at a time worked for me. I nursed both sides for all three till my milk came in and then in say about a month I went to one side feeding. If you have any questions send me a message:)

[jenstam]

I tried something different over the weekend and I think I might have helped it a little bit. I am nursing more on the side that produces less and less on the side that produces more. I'm trying to balance it out first. On the side that always seems more engorged, I used a handheld and only pumped out the first few ounces of foremilk. Believe it or not, FIVE ounces of watery milk and my breast was still full. I got 14 oz out of this breast alone, last week! But, I think I have lessened my supply a bit. I do only nurse on one side at a time though, since there is now way he can even drain the one side. My milk supply is VERY persistent! I need to decrease this suppy a bit and I'm still working on perfecting the balance. I just don't want to decrease it TOO much. I am just so tired of always feeling sore and engorged. I also look that way, too. My breasts get HUGE and it's embarrassing! Thanks for the tips (:

[KATE535]

You're not kidding!!! 14 ounces from one breast must be awful and so heavy, I can't even imagine how uncomfortable that must feel, especially at work! No wonder you are fed up of your ''blessing". Let us know how reducing the supply gets along.

[jenstam]

I was able to reduce somewhat but it's back up again :| I have only pumped twice today and already got 30 oz. He can't even get close to emptying one breast with each feeding. It's a vicious cycle and I'm tired of always having these full, heavy breasts! Grr...