Here's a story for you from my dear friend and mentor, Margaret. Margaret is a lactation consultant at a local hospital.
One day I assisted a mom to latch on ber twin baby at about 33 weeks...they were born at 26 weeks and his big brother had been breastfeeding well for 2 weeks. Our little boy showed everyone that he was just as efficient as his big brother and in fact latched on and was breastfeeding very contentedly. Suddenly his eyes shot open and I realized that mom had had a let-down so I "delatched", him rapidly, just in case he choked. Mom's breast continued to spray his whole face. I wish I had had a camera to record the expression of shock, surprise and hurt. I could imagine that he thought, "Here I was cuddling and enjoying my lunch, when they not only open the hose in my mouth but proceed to spray my face, You hurt my feelings!! I am not sure if I trust this plumbing!! But it was great so perhaps I will try it again." He then tentatively re-latched and mom slipped backwards to reduce the pressure somewhat. I suggested that she pump for a few minutes to reduce the over-active let-down in future!! So sweet and trusting.
Do you have an overactive let down? Does your baby come off your breast coughing and sputtering with milk running all down his face? Some moms have a powerful let down that is overwhelming to their baby. In these cases moms may need to take extra steps. As Margaret said they can lean back while feeding to allow gravity to decrease the flow. Moms can pump for a couple of minutes until their milk lets down and then latch baby. Another option is use your hand to compress the breast slowing down the flow for baby. For more info check out http://www.kellymom.com/bf/supply/fast-letdown.html.
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