Breast Milk Oversupply Is Painful And Exhausting

Motherhood brings unique joys and pains to every mum, and we are better off acknowledging that. In this series called Mum Truths, mums reveal their secret successes, miseries and gripes about parenting in a no-holds-barred first-person recount.

New mothers are often bombarded with articles and tip sheets on boosting breast milk supply. What about mums who have breast milk oversupply? For me, I needed help in that department. People often assume that oversupply is a blessing, but for me it turned out to be more of a challenge.

Why don't we hear more about the struggles of hyperlactation?

For most women, the third and fourth day is when they start ejecting more milk than colostrum. By the end of my first week, I was pumping 60ml every two hours and had perpetually rock-hard porn star-like boobs. Not having the right knowledge and support system I gave up breastfeeding my firstborn a month and a half in.

For my second child, I was more confident and wanted to see how far I could go. Spoiler: I managed to breastfeed for five months, and was still thrown one curveball after another.

I became a Google warrior

Feed on demand. Try not to pump. Use cold compress. Feed alternate breasts.

These are the tips you’ll find if you Google “how to cope with oversupply”. Not one of those things worked for me unfortunately. Truthfully, those tips felt like they came from someone who had never experienced hyperlactation (like a man, maybe?).

Take for example, “feed on demand”. At the time, my baby was only drinking about 30ml at each feed tops, but my breasts were producing anywhere from 50-90ml! That led to a lot of spit up, an extremely unhappy, bloated baby who was gassy beyond belief. A baby can only eat so much, and “hand expressing till comfortable” just further stimulated my breast to produce more milk.

I tried block feeding as well. This is where you feed from one breast per session. Since I was producing so much milk, one breast alone provided more than enough for my baby. It also meant that since my baby drank every two hours, it would be four hours of engorgement waiting to happen till I fed from that breast again. This just couldn't be the best practice.

Ignoring the noise and listening to my body

After trying everything once, and then three more times, and finding that cookie-cutter tips really just did not work for me, I decided to do things my way. Sunflower lecithin was hands down my saving grace. It helped the clogs in my breasts move out easily when I was pumping. Massaging while I pumped also made a world of difference. I also limited my pump sessions to 10 minutes and used a medium pump suction (unless I had a really stubborn clog) -- I was still producing 100ml within the time. Doing so meant my body knew that pumping wouldn't go longer than that. 

Unfortunately, having an oversupply meant I couldn’t latch my daughter as much as I wanted to because my extremely forceful letdown distressed my baby more than it was worth. No position helped. In the early weeks, I also spent most of my time locked away in my bedroom because I'd have to latch and then pump until comfortable.

I spent my second month listening to my body, and did what suited my version of hyperlactation. This meant minimal latching and more pumping. By the end of the second month, my supply was still abundant, but I was no longer spontaneously leaking and soaking through shirts. My baby was also bigger, and able to cope better with my strong letdowns. Things were looking up!

But wait, did you say you stopped after 5 months?

Things were going well. My supply was stable. Going out with my baby was such a breeze because I could latch her, and know there was enough milk to keep her happy for a good three to four hours. I was back at work after two months, and managed to keep to somewhat of a pump schedule because of my very supportive team. Why stop then? 

Never mind the lack of freezer space, I was tired beyond words. Any woman who makes it past one month of breastfeeding should get GST vouchers, and after every subsequent month, that amount should increase.

Women who hit the one year mark of working and breastfeeding should have a lorong named after them. This is god's work! 

Looking at my baby, her smiley face, all her thigh and arm rolls, and knowing that was 100 per cent my doing felt amazing. Going out and having a stress-free night out without having to think about when to pump, how long I can stay out, and if I had to pump and dump because I had a pint of beer and then a cocktail was also fabulous. 

Fed is best, give those breasts some rest!

This is my new motto I say to myself when I make formula milk and feed my greedy baby who drinks it with the same amount of gusto. I breastfed for as long as it gave me joy, and for me that was five months. I decided I wanted more sleep, date nights out and freedom. Truthfully if I had a third, I’d probably skip breastfeeding completely.

Hyperlactation is painful, mentally and physically exhausting and requires constant tweaking to find out what works. It is useful to know all the tips and tricks that lactation consultants and the internet suggest, but my tip? Come up with your own cocktail of what works for you, your breasts and your baby!

Jill Lim is the perpetually exhausted mother of two girls and an adopted dog. Dark humour and cynicism are her love language. Like and subscribe at @killjilllll.