Help needed with one-sided oversupply/forceful letdown.. I want to quit BF
I’m really struggling with breastfeeding right now and could use advice from anyone who has dealt with oversupply/forceful letdown/reflux-like feeding issues because I’m about to quit.
My baby is around 3 months old and breastfeeds relatively well overnight because she’s sleepy, but as of a little over a week ago, daytime feeds are SO stressful!
During the day when I try to breastfeed on my left (the over producing side), she often pulls off and arches her back, scream cries (soon after she latches or even as I lower her into cradle position), chokes/gulps and rarely wants to latch back on. I have to hold her upright and pat her back and then she starts sucking on her hands. I’ll try again but same thing back to screaming but I know she’s hungry.
It really seems like she gives up because she’s tired of getting waterboarded by my milk, and she’s come to expect the pain of gulping air and the gas that comes with feeding on the left side.
Pediatrician suggested low stim feeding in a dark room with white noise right as she wakes up from a nap since overnight feeds have been more successful. That has worked some of the time, but others she still cries and arches her back and pulls away, even if we switch it up with side lying position or football hold. (The laid back position has never worked for her she’s very uncomfortable with the pressure on her belly from the start and she won’t latch).
At this point I know it’s my forceful let down, particularly on my left side. It fills quickly and gets firm easily. Baby is far less fussy on my right which seems to be regulated and doesn’t fill up to that same firmness.
Overnight I struggle with engorgement and I have to set alarms to wake up and pump even if just for 5-8 minutes to relieve the pressure. I’m trying to balance that without worsening oversupply, all while worrying about clogged ducts and mastitis (had that last month on my right side).
It’s the worst feeling when your baby is looking up at you red faced crying wondering why this is happening and all you want is to make it stop and have the wonderful BF bonding experience you were hoping for. I’d be okay moving to bottles but it’s such a pain trying to get her to drink even 2oz from a bottle without choking or generally refusing that it’s hard to imagine her on bottles 100% of the time.
If anyone has dealt with something similar I’d love to know what worked for you and your baby. Did they grow out of it? Did you do something specific that worked?
I had no idea how much stress this would cause and it’s mentally wearing me out. I’m not enjoying being a mom when I dreamed of this since I was a child. Any advice or encouragement would really help right now.