Too much foremilk

[rugbywife]

I did this when I had oversupply. I didn't need to do it long in order for my supply to 'balance out'…

[ringstrue]

If he is currently feeding 10-15 mins on one side it's hard for me to see foremilk as an issue. But I guess it won't hurt supply too much so long as you are feeding every 1-2 hours anyway?

[mannah]

One LC told me to feed from both breasts each feeding but then to start the next feeding with the breast you finished the last feed on. This sounds like sort of similar advice. I think from a supply standpoint you wound be ok at this point since he would still be feeding from each side every 3-4 hours (if he's going 1-2 hours between feeds).

[curbsideprophet]

This is pretty standard advice if you have over supply. I would try if for a few days and see if it helps.

ETA I have pretty much always only fed off one side per feeding, it was never an issue for me.

[ssmjlm]

If you have an over supply this is normal. Look up block feeding for more info.

[glitzy07]

I agree that this is pretty standard advice. I also had an over supply and did block feeding (what the LC is proposing) to get it in check.

Anecdotal, but I only ever fed on one side per session from birth to about 10 months and he was completely satisfied. Now that we're down to just morning and night he'll take both sides, but I think my supply dipped after cutting pumping sessions.

I think it's worth a shot, and don't think it would permanently damage your supply in any way. If nothing changes you can always go back to every other side and your body will figure it out!

[AlpineSlide]

Jul 23, 2014 19:05:44 GMT -5 jjwritergirl said:

Jul 23, 2014 19:03:02 GMT -5 curbsideprophet said:

This is pretty standard advice if you have over supply. I would try if for a few days and see if it helps.

ETA I have pretty much always only fed off one side per feeding, it was never an issue for me.

Thank you for telling me this! Everyone I know in real life feeds on both sides so I was hoping someone on here did just 1 side. 

Do you (or anyone else) know if you can increase your supply if you accidentally decrease it too much?

I have always fed just one side per feeding too.

As long as you aren't supplementing, you won't decrease your supply. (also staying hydrated and consuming enough calories will help.) Every time the baby nurses he signals your body for milk and your body will adjust accordingly. So as long as you don't give a bottle (and not pump to replace the feeding) you and the baby will work out the supply.

edited to add - it may take 2-4 more weeks for everything to even out. I had an oversupply and my baby was probably about 8 weeks old when things regulated.

But to answer your question, pumping can increase your supply if you need to try to increase it down the road. Pumping tells your body you need to make milk. So you can nurse as needed and pump in addition to that and you'll make more milk. (assuming you respond well to a pump.) There are also teas, foods (oatmeal, flax) and supplements to increase supply.

[AmyRI]

So what makes you think you still have an oversupply? To me it sounds like one-sided feeding solved your oversupply and things are fine now. Are the poops only watery, or watery with stringy/seedy yellow stuff mixed in? If it's all watery, I might try it... but if it's at all solid + watery and yellow, it sounds like normal poop to me.

The advice is good if there really is a foremilk/hindmilk imbalance due to oversupply. It just doesn't sound like you have any problems from your description, other than a fussy baby when he finishes digesting each feed. (And digesting even hindmilk is normal within an hour.)

[Deleted]

I usually feed only one side at a time unless she is going through a growth spurt and eats for more than 20 minutes per time. I had an oversupply the first 2 months but I think it's regulated now (5 mo).

[rugbywife]

I only fed on one side until just recently.

So more or less I started by doing both but was going back and forth too much, which caused her to only get fore milk and have green poos. I was also pumping and this created over supply.

So then I went to her drinking from the same boob two times in a row…this only lasted a week, maybe two.

Then I went to one boob per feed, switching every feed. This lasted 2 months?

Now my supply is normal and I do both boobs, but one always ends up being for longer (first one).

[mannah]

I also always feed just one side per feeding unless she still seems hungry and it's been like 20 mins (didn't follow the LC's advice who I mentioned earlier)

[MadamePresident]

I usually only did one side and started with whatever side was fullest.