Treatment
There are effective remedies for overactive let-down, and oversupply syndrome, however aggressive treatment should be watched carefully by someone familiar with the condition as the mother is at a higher risk for plug ducts, mastitis and other breast infections.
An Overactive let-down can take a long time to control and can be frustrating for the mother and baby, but when controlled effectively a long and satisfying breastfeeding relationship is possible. Mothers with this condition are often given various incorrect rationales for their concerns such as "having weak milk", or "bad milk", it's "just colic", the baby will "grow out of it", or the child is "allergic to your milk", or a food in the mother's diet.
There are no valid reasons to stop breastfeeding due to this condition.
A strong letdown reflex often coincides with overactive milk production, engorgement, and problems with the sucking/breathing pattern of the baby. Remedies for engorgement and excessive breast milk can include restricting fluid intake for the mother. This helps to reduce excessive milk production. The fluid intake can be resumed when the engorged feeling subsides. When preparing to nurse, mothers should allow the initial letdown reflex to occur and then subside before beginning the nursing session. Or they may stop the nursing momentarily until that strong letdown reflex passes. This will allow the milk flow to normalize.
For very young infants, it helps to pump several ounces of the initial milk flow. This watery fluid is less filling for the baby and can reduce the possibility of an overfull baby. It can extend the nursing session which is preferable for young infants.When nursing, listen carefully to the breathing and sucking pattern of the baby. If the pattern is interrupted and it sounds as if the baby is struggling to swallow, gently slip a finger in the baby's mouth and remove the nipple until the baby is able to swallow and breathe. Also, have a hand towel near during nursing. It can be easily tucked into the bra to absorb the overflow of milk when waiting for that letdown reflex to subside.
Read more about this topic: Overactive Let-down
Famous quotes containing the word treatment:
“Our treatment of both older people and children reflects the value we place on independence and autonomy. We do our best to make our children independent from birth. We leave them all alone in rooms with the lights out and tell them, “Go to sleep by yourselves.” And the old people we respect most are the ones who will fight for their independence, who would sooner starve to death than ask for help.”
—Margaret Mead (1901–1978)
“The treatment of African and African American culture in our education was no different from their treatment in Tarzan movies.”
—Ishmael Reed (b. 1938)
“James’s great gift, of course, was his ability to tell a plot in shimmering detail with such delicacy of treatment and such fine aloofness—that is, reluctance to engage in any direct grappling with what, in the play or story, had actually “taken place”Mthat his listeners often did not, in the end, know what had, to put it in another way, “gone on.””
—James Thurber (1894–1961)