I agree with Jenny--so many symptoms are being treated when they are simply the result of the underlying problem.
When oversupply is untreated, gut damage results from the rapid transit time and babies have food allergies, reflux
and "colic". By 4 months, mom has suddenly lost her milk supply and the entire breastfeeding relationship is often
fraught with misery.
But, I would go one more step and contend that oversupply is also a symptom, although of a condition often more
difficult to pin down. One of the common associations is tongue-tie. I see a lot of babies who are several months
old and mom has finally figured out she has an oversupply, but she is stunned to find out her baby has a posterior
tongue-tie to boot. I have seen three of these babies in the past month. I have a lot of theories about oversupply and
its relation to gut damage, but like Jenny, don't quite have the spare time to look at it as comprehensively as I'd like.
Jennifer Tow, IBCLC, CT, USA
Intuitive Parenting Network LLC
Jenny wrote:
"I think oversupply is really over mis-diagnosed. I am a general pediatrician in
the US and I think a see a few cases a week. And when I do consults, these
women are as miserable as any I help.
I think what happens is that it goes unrecognized as oversupply, but gets
labelled as reflux, gas, diarrhea, breastmilk allergy and any number of other
things. The mothers are restricting their diets, have been treated for yeast
(since the baby is biting to slow the flow and the nipple pain is "yeast") and
the kids are all on reflux meds.
I run a website for my patients and when I put up my article on "can you
make too much milk?" it got a few hits, like 10, the first week. When I linked
it to the pages on reflux, gas drops and other things, it has gotten several
hundred hits a week. The problem is there- it just has a different name.
I also think it's a big reason for weaning. The kids are miserable handling the
flow and the moms think the kids don't like them since they are so fussy at
the breast. It undermines their whole notion of themselves as mothers.
Especially when they pump and give expressed milk and the baby does fine.
It's a big problem. Here in the US moms get pumps as baby shower gifts.
They are so convinced they won't make enough milk or they are getting ready
to go back to work that they just pump and pump and pump.
And yes, I'm setting up a study. In my spare time :)
Jenny Thomas
Milwaukee, WI"
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