Reducing My Milk Supply

My oh my, where do I begin! Well, for starters, reducing my milk supply took quite a lot of experimenting and adjusting to meet Aya's needs. One of the best ways to reduce an abundant milk supply is to keep the breasts full as long as possible. Full breasts send a message to the brain that they overdid it and don't need to continue producing so much. This may seem simple, but when you have a baby that needs to eat frequently, keeping breasts full is difficult.

The way to get around this problem is to try what they call block feeding. Basically, you only feed on one side for a given period of time and block out the other; by keeping the one breast full longer you decrease your supply while still feeding your baby. It is a bit of a guessing game as to how long to block out a side, but we started by switching every two feedings. Since I was feeding Aya every 2 1/2 to 3 hours, this meant I blocked out one breast for about 5-6 hours at a time. Now as you can imagine, when this time had elapsed and it was time to let Aya feed from the other breast, it was VERY full, TOO full. If I had let Aya simply feed from that side she would have been overwhelmed by the milk and received far too much foremilk--the whole reason for her discomfort to begin with. To get around this, I had to pump off the first 1-2 ounces of milk before I fed Aya a more balanced milk with the hindmilk she had been missing out on for too long. At first, it was a bit of an experiment as to how much milk I needed to pump off. Too much, and my body would continue to make far too much milk. However, too little, and Aya was a very unhappy little lady.

So, our goal was twofold--keep Aya calm and peaceful by pumping off some milk while still decreasing my milk supply. Slowly but surely my supply did decrease, and I got good at knowing when I had pumped just enough milk so that Aya would be comfortable. Like learning to make bread or ride a bicycle, I began to get the feel of a breast that was just right for feeding Aya in comfort. In time, I knew my supply was decreasing because I didn't have to pump off as much milk in the beginning. Sometimes I didn't have to pump at all, especially late in the day when milk supply naturally decreases.

The hardest thing about pumping for me was that I had to do it for night feedings. It was really difficult for me to listen to little hungry Aya scream while I sat next to a nightlight and pumped. It was exhausting and felt like too much work. Several times, I thought about quitting all together. The pump made my breasts sore at first too; I had to use lanolin again, and felt like I was starting over in some ways. Nursing was not relaxing for me at all. It was the opposite. It made me nervous as I waited to see Aya's reaction to a feeding. Would she be content and peaceful? Would she arch her back and scream? Would she gulp and choke? I had seen pictures of women feeding their babies and not one of them looked like the battle it was for me. It was hard to continue when I felt like I was the reason Aya was so upset and challenging.

Through the entire process, we watched Aya's stools closely as an indicator of whether or not she was receiving hindmilk. During this time, I was eager to change her diaper to see if her stools had changed from green to yellow. Finally, after nearly a week, they did, and we knew Aya was finally getting a more balanced meal at each feeding.

The most miraculous change during this experience was Aya's demeanor. She wasn't colicky, her milk just wasn't quite right. She went from being fidgety and irritable, always on the brink of a meltdown, to a happy, calm little lady. Her fists unclenched, her arms relaxed. And so did we.