Tips and products for managing the abundance, pain, and mess of breastmilk oversupply.
The web is alight with breastfeeding topics for World Breastfeeding Month.
I have many I’d love to share about, and if you are here on Substack (not just getting emails), you can follow my notes for some political free speech topics about puberty blockers, surrogacy, and de-gendered language.
Today, I thought I’d share a list of tips I wrote a while back for a mama who was struggling with oversupply.
Oversupply is one of those topics where people who haven’t been through it might think it was not worth complaining about. Too much milk? Not nearly so severe a problem as not enough.
However, oversupply is worth talking about. I’m a big milker, too, and here are some things that have helped me manage the abundance, pain, and mess:
-no fenugreek, oatmeal, or other galactagogues
-never compress the breasts in any way (no bras, no tight baby carriers, don’t put a hand over it to stop it from leaking)
-invest in LOTS of rags for cleaning up milk leaks - wash them often! (I love these for luxury or these for bargain)
-invest in several large waterproof mats to cover your nursing chair and the bed (sheepskins are lovely, these alternatives are budget and machine washable)
-keep extra cloth or towels in reach to soak up the puddles (especially at night, so you can get back to sleep in a dry place—receiving blankets and swaddles are softer than towels; these have extra ply but are still lovely and soft)
-nurse each side completely until the baby lets go on their own before offering the other
-nurse topless (let the milk flow out both breasts, the cold air will pucker the one not being nursed, too)
Thanks for this my friend had this issue and was told to express her milk but it actually made things worse. She got massive oversupply and blocked milk ducts and it was extremely painful. Is expressing milk not a good idea?
Correct: expressing the milk can relieve the pressure in the moment, but it gives the body the signal to make more milk, which is opposite of what we want. That’s why I prefer to let the milk flow naturally as a long-term strategy (even though it can get very messy, hence all the different kinds of waterproof and absorptive products I recommended along with being outside). I have a theory this extra milk used to keep baby cleaner in times when clean water may have been scarce! A shower with the nursing ☔️👶
well done 👍
Thanks for this my friend had this issue and was told to express her milk but it actually made things worse. She got massive oversupply and blocked milk ducts and it was extremely painful. Is expressing milk not a good idea?
Correct: expressing the milk can relieve the pressure in the moment, but it gives the body the signal to make more milk, which is opposite of what we want. That’s why I prefer to let the milk flow naturally as a long-term strategy (even though it can get very messy, hence all the different kinds of waterproof and absorptive products I recommended along with being outside). I have a theory this extra milk used to keep baby cleaner in times when clean water may have been scarce! A shower with the nursing ☔️👶
Thanks so much for your response x