Ok or not?

[CutiePatootiesMama]

I have purposely not googled this because every time I google a problem I end up way more freaked out about it than I was to start with.

Dd2 is 3.5 weeks old. She chokes with pretty much every feeding when my milk lets down. I have to unlatch her and rub her back until she can catch her breath. After that she will sometimes continue to get a little choked, but not so bad that she unlatches. She often makes a loud gasping noise until she clears her throat and then keeps eating.

Most times she does not get upset by this at all, unless she's really hungry. Then she gets annoyed that she has to stop eating.

So- should I be worried about this? I know it could be overactive letdown but milk isn't spraying like crazy when I unlatch her. It's usually just coming out in pretty big drops. Could that still be the problem?

I feel like I should already know the answers to these questions, dd1 is only 22 months old so it hasn't been that long since I had a newborn...but I can't remember!!

[lilmomma83]

On my phone and can write more when I'm on my laptop, but, just wondering.....are there any other issues going on? also have you had oversupply before (with first baby)? I'll write more later

[CutiePatootiesMama]

Originally Posted by lilmomma83 On my phone and can write more when I'm on my laptop, but, just wondering.....are there any other issues going on? also have you had oversupply before (with first baby)? I'll write more later

No other issues. She eats well, sleeps well and is gaining well and is overall pretty happy. She does occasionally get fussy at the breast and latch/unlatch and roots but it seems to me like she does that when she's tired. It's always after she's eaten well and is nursing for comfort (or that's what it seems like to me anyway).

Oh, and no oversupply issues with dd1. In fact I was always worried I wasn't making enough milk with her. With dd2 my milk came in way faster and I was engorged for days if that makes a difference. No matter how much she ate I was still super full.

[Teexie]

I had to get letdown to happen when DD wasn't latched at that age. She got angry if she was super hungry (even though she nursed like every 30 minutes so she didn't even have time to get hungry ). For me I could just wait til the tingly feeling went away, but I know not everyone has that feeling during let down. In hindsight I think I had an overactive letdown. It did pass after a couple months and she was able to handle letdown better without choking, although she did pull off on her own during letdown for several months after that.

ETA: Wow, I don't think I could have used the word "letdown" any more if I tried!

[uphillskiing]

I could have written this post 5 weeks ago and eventually decided it was overactive letdown plus a large supply in general. I started block feeding and that helped the choking but would still have to pull her off when I felt the letdown and let it leak into a towel for maybe 20sec. Now at 8 weeks she can handle the flow better (less choking and few spitups) but still block feeding in 3 hour blocks and that seems to work nicely for us.

[erin_c_odonnell]

Oh my guy had this too! He still does once in a while (usually when he's really hungry and in a hurry) but he's fine. 5 month last Thurs and fat and happy.
I'd say it's just overactive letdown and it'll balance out eventually.

[lilmomma83]

If there are no other issues, than likely it is over supply and/or overactive letdown. Someone already recommended block feeding, you can also try leaning back some while you nurse, and sometimes sidelying helps too. If you feel the tingling of the letdown or baby lets go and milk is dripping quickly as you describe, you can just catch it in a towel and wait until it stops to relatch her. Likely as she grows she will be bale to handle it more and also your supply will even out more. You do not want to pump too much and increase your supply, but, if you end up getting very full before she asks to nurse than you can express just enough to let it slow down for her (again be very careful not to pump too much or too often or you will just increase your supply even more).

It should start getting better on its own in a few weeks. :-)

[keen1981]

Get let down down, pull her off, spray into prefolds reattach.

It's terribly common and she will eventually learn to put pressure on the breast to slow the flow.

[masja]

Still happens to dd who is 2 months old. She will unlatch, hold her breath for a second then gasp and cough. I usually just give her a sec and then she relatches on her own after and she is usually ok. Lots of burps when she's finished :$

[CutiePatootiesMama]

Thanks everyone! Good to know I can check that off my list of things to worry about, lol.