Jean reminds us that when the let down is too strong for the baby,
<< A sidelying position, where gravitational forces play less of a role,
 also has less tendency to cause difficulty with suck, swallow, breathe
 coordination.  >>

I think the other reason sidelying helps is that the baby usually has much
more control over her own head, and so is less afraid of the pressure.

Speaking personally, I know that when I had very strong let downs my
conscious plan to let the baby avoid the too-forceful milk flow was always
bumping into my contrary intuitive response, which was "Hey, she's losing the
nipple, and needs me to firmly hold her in place so all this milk isn't
wasted!"

In sidelying position, the bed held her head instead of my arm holding it, so
if she wanted to move away and let the milk soak the mattress, she could, and
I was not so likely to heedlessly prevent her.

Elisheva

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