Too high milk flow on one side

Hi all,

I have a 2-week old that I've been breastfeeding exclusively. I have a lot of milk supply (probably overabundant but I don't have anything to compare it to) and so I've been feeding her on one breast for a period of ~ 3 hours, and then I switch to the other breast.

However, yesterday, she started having trouble eating from one breast - she'd suckle a few times, then spit the nipple out, and she was kind of choking a little, coughing and burping more than usual. At first I though she couldn't breathe through her nose well but when I tried the other breast, she was back to normal.

Is this too much let-down that is overwhelming her? Is there anything I can do about it? I've tried to contact the lactation consultants but I think they might be on holiday. So far I've been feeding her off just one breast and expressing from the other one. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!

[tiredbuthappy]

Unfortunately, I am in a rush, so I cannot write too much. However, the term you may want to google until more people have a chance to respond would be "overactive let-down" or "forceful let-down". This will bring up lists of suggestions like block feeding, feeding the baby while holding her as upright as possible, feeding her "uphill", expressing a little manually before the feed, etc... Be sure not to express too much from the other side, as you don't want to signal it to produce even more milk.
Gotta run... hopefully others will be able to get on. Often times, things are a little slow around here on holidays. And congrats on your little one and decision to breastfeed!

[tiredbuthappy]

Unfortunately, I am in a rush, so I cannot write too much. However, the term you may want to google until more people have a chance to respond would be "overactive let-down" or "forceful let-down". This will bring up lists of suggestions like block feeding, feeding the baby while holding her as upright as possible, feeding her "uphill", expressing a little manually before the feed, etc... Be sure not to express too much from the other side, as you don't want to signal it to produce even more milk.
Gotta run... hopefully others will be able to get on. Often times, things are a little slow around here on holidays. And congrats on your little one and decision to breastfeed!

[KarenDiane]

Liam will have this problem occasionally. I think it's because the breast is too full. Sometimes I will pump a little first, but you can also try reclining while you nurse so that the milk isn't flowing quite as quickly. I'm sure others will have more suggestions for you. Good Luck.

[Clysta]

I've had issues like this sometimes too. It normally only happens when she hasn't eaten from one side in awhile. Try switching breasts after each feed and see if that helps at all. You could just be going too long on one side and the flow/let-down is overwhelming to her at this point.

[SHVEPS]

So I tried feeding her upright and "uphill" and that helped tremendously. And expressing a little beforehand worked in the few times she was still having trouble.

Thank you all for the great suggestions and hope you are enjoying the holidays!!