Well, I'll do my best. We don't have much literature on this other than case studies. What I'm sharing is from clinical experience but I am investigating, mostly because these women are so miserable. I don't think many women call about "too much milk" if they are asking for help. I also don't think they get seen by consultants much. I think the kids are seen as "thriving" and colicky or diagnosed with reflux. And without an explanation for or some improvement in all the irritability, moms wean. I also think that the babies get blamed for lots of the problems (poor latch, discoordinated suck/swallow, colic...) when they are actually adapting to the circumstances given to them. I often wonder if the tongue movements, shallow latch, clicking...aren't an adaptation rather than a primary problem. My red flags... I hear moms ask about gas drops, what foods to avoid while nursing. I hear compaints about recurrent plugged ducts and hear stories of recurrent mastitis. I hear them ask if the baby can be allergic to breastmilk. I get asked about formula recommendations because the baby can't go for very long in between feedings or the baby never seems satisfied (often in the face of tremendous weight gain!) and the mom thinks she doesn't have enough milk. Any cranky kid I get worried about too. As they get older, they are able to respond better to noxious stimuli and adapt. Some kids just let the milk flow right out of their mouth, never seeming to be bothered. Others bite, pull back, push away the breast, or learn a very shallow latch to control the flow. Others pull of and just yell. Or, the kids get fussy just approaching the breast since they know the flow is coming-- the moms obviously don't like that. Instead of seeing it as means of communicating that something is wrong, they take it that the baby "doesn't like them." I get asked about thrush all the time. The mothers sometimes have been on diflucan or something several times because their nipple pain is "yeast" (I think it's often repeated trauma from adaptive behaviors). I get asked about about colic, or the child being on reflux meds. I also listen to find out if they were feeding the baby at the breast and now are feeding expressed milk in a bottle. I guess what I'm trying to say is that the diagnosis of ovesupply is probably hidden in the misdiagnosis of lots of other problems. And I don't think many of these mom are seeking help for "oversupply" if they are seeking help at all. Their main worry is probably hidden in a mess of other concerns about their ability to feed and mother their baby. Jenny Thomas www.drjen4kids.com *********************************************** Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html To reach list owners: [log in to unmask] Mail all list management commands to: [log in to unmask] COMMANDS: 1. To temporarily stop your subscription write in the body of an email: set lactnet nomail 2. To start it again: set lactnet mail 3. To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet 4. To get a comprehensive list of rules and directions: get lactnet welcome