Breastfeeding Help: Oversupply

A common problem that breastfeeding mothers encounter is oversupply. This frequently occurs when a mother pumps excessively in an attempt to establish a good milk supply or to be able to pump enough to store in the freezer. Oversupply is not a serious problem and can be easily corrected without medical intervention.

What is oversupply?

Oversupply is just what it sounds like: the body produces more milk than the baby needs. This is often called a forceful letdown or a foremilk/hindmilk imbalance, but it is rare to have a true imbalance. What happens with oversupply is that baby will take in too much foremilk and not enough hindmilk. (These terms will be explained in the next section.)

Symptoms of oversupply are more apparent in the baby than in the mother, and may include:

-- Coughing, gagging, or choking while nursing, especially right after letdown.

-- Greenish, watery stools. This can also sometimes be caused by a sensitivity to something in the mother's diet.

-- Excessive gas.

-- Frequent spitting up during or after nursing. All babies spit up from time to time, and it's usually normal and not a cause for concern. But if your baby seems to be spitting up because he is too full after nursing, you may have an oversupply issue.

-- Clamping down on the nipple during nursing to stop the flow of milk.

-- Periodically refusing to nurse, and a general dislike of comfort nursing.

Fully drain one breast before switching to the other

Breastmilk is not uniform. It changes during the course of a feeding. The first milk that baby will receive is called foremilk. Foremilk is more watery and contains less fat and nutrients. Toward the end of a feeding, the baby will receive hindmilk, which is thicker, fattier, and full of nutrition. If the breast is not fully drained before switching to the other side, the baby will not get that yummy hindmilk that she needs, which can cause digestive problems. Some mothers are told to limit the time that baby spends on the first breast, but this can cause oversupply problems. Ignore the clock, and let baby drain that first breast before offering the second.

Block feeding

Block feeding is a very effective method of correcting oversupply. This is done by nursing only on one side for a few hours, then switching to the other side for the next few hours. Don't worry about your baby getting enough to eat - a lactating breast is never truly "empty," and your baby will continue to get milk as long as he is suckling.

Pump off some foremilk before feeding baby

In extreme cases of oversupply, it may be beneficial to pump or hand express some of the foremilk before nursing baby. This will allow baby to get to the rich, fatty hindmilk more quickly. If you use this method, be sure to only express a small amount of milk. Overpumping can make oversupply problems worse.

For more information on oversupply, please see a lactation consultant, or refer to the links at the end of this article.

**This is one of a series of articles about common breastfeeding problems. To see the rest of the series and other articles by this writer, please click on the picture of the baby's bottom, at the top of the article beside the author's name. **