Oversupply in one breast - what to do?

Hi ladies

My bub is 3.5 weeks old. Feeding has been going well but an issue has arisen over the past week or so.

One breast (Leftie) is pretty 'normal', but the other (Mr Right) is bursting with milk.

Mr Right has a very fast flow, milk just squirts out across the room even after bub has fed for 15-20 mins. Bub was choking on the milk, wiggling and squirming in discomfort, and also seemed to be very windy so I was suspecting a bit of lactose overload. I don't know about weight gain as he hasn't been weighed for a couple of weeks.

So I've read a bit about how to manage it and this is what I'm doing.

Yesterday I started trying posture feeding on Mr Right which seems to be good for reducing the choke factor.

To manage oversupply I am also trying to favour Leftie, ie try to encourage a full feed (till bub drops off / lets go) on Leftie, only offering Mr Right afterwards if he is wide awake and still interested. Also hoping to avoid using Mr Right for 4-6 hours or more, which is hard when he's cluster feeding during the day and wants to feed every 1-2 hours.

So in the last 24 hours Mr Right has gone massive and hard as a rock, I'm hand expressing a touch but feel I just want to offer it to bub as it's sooo big and painful, meanwhile Leftie is still soft and manageable!

Any thoughts and opinions appreciated. SHould I perservere with feeding mainly from Leftie and just hand express Mr Right for comfort? Or do I have it completely wrong!?

Thanks in anticipation!!

I had the same problem and found that I actually ended up favouring Right in the end, because I knew there was guaranteed supply there. Please don't let your boob get sore and hard, give bub a good feed from Right, you don't want to risk mastitis, or even be uncomfortable. The supply issue will sort itself out in time or like me, still always be a good producer! :)

Many women have better supply and let-down in one side compared to the other, which generally shows itself over time when bub develops a preference for one side. I'd just go with the 'flow' so to speak. At this stage your milk supply is being dictated by hormones, so express off enough milk to be comfortable and feed her from that side whenever you like. I tried *tricking* DD to feed from the less-productive side twice in one feed, by changing positions with her (so cradle hold at first, then RHS with its copious amounts of milk, then football hold on LHS). I'd be careful of letting the RHS become too engorged, you run the risk of mastitis. If baby hasn't fed from that side, then express off a small amount at least (shower is good, unless you're trying to store the ebm!).

It might make you a bit lopsided, but trying to get equal supply in both sides might not be possible and isn't necessary. GL! Sounds like you're doing wonderfully well otherwise.

Congratulations on your bub!
My breasts are the opposite - my leftie has the greater capacity.
Personally, I would just be feeding from both sides as if there wasn't a difference between them KWIM? You are only 3 weeks in, so your breasts are probably still producing more than you need. It can take a few weeks for them to regulate to how much bubs needs. As the others have said, I would definitely not let your right breast get too full and sore.
You are doing a fabulous job and hopefully Barb can help you out further.

Thanks so much ladies

Winter I read your reply yesterday before I went to bed and decided yep, I'll just feed away on the milky side. And I see that Jennifer and Snacks have said the same thing. It has highlighted to me It's too soon to try to be 'clever' with playing with supply - firstly I'm not clever, bub and the boobs know what they're doing and I don't! And secondly at only 3.5 weeks in I just need to grin and bear it and if things are still problematic after 6 weeks then maybe just maybe think about trying to manage things.

Thanks again, I'll go back to just feeding on 1 or 2 alternating sides per feed as dictated by bub.

Oh ps I weighed bub at the clinic today.. he has gained 880g in 13 days! :o

Wooohooo! Go Chubba Bubba!!! :bluecheer:

What a great gain! Good for you :) (Both of you!)

Thanks ladies for your enthusiastic support! :)

Well done, Ali! Clearly that milk is going to good use. ;)