One of my co-leaders is working with a woman with an 8 day old baby who's
so frustrated with the difficulties she's experiencing that she's almost
ready to give up breastfeeding.  We're running out of ideas for her and I
was hoping some of you could help.

The problem is that she's producing too much milk.  Her breasts are so
full she can't even put her arms down and milk is leaking all over the
place.  That could be engorgement, but the same thing also happened with
another one of her children and nothing changed until 4 months when she
finally gave up breastfeeding.  I think it's the idea that this could
continue forever until she weans that's bothering her so much.  By the
way, the mother is very committed to breastfeeding.  She would like to be
a lactation consultant some day and so doesn't want to give up
breastfeeding.  But she is starting to feel desperate.

She says breast shells have been her only relief, as they keep the milk
from leaking all over the place.  She can easily catch 2 oz. of milk in 3
minutes while the baby feeds on the other side.  My co-leader wondered if
the pressure of the shells might be making her produce even more milk, so
she tried not using them for a while and was even more uncomfortable.
She says the shells aren't putting much pressure on the breast.

The baby nurses for about 5 minutes at least every 2 hours (whenever
there are any hunger cues).  No artificial nipples have been used.  The
baby's stools are yellow, not greenish.

The mother is using cold packs and has also tried cabbage leaves (3 hours
at a time, twice).  She didn't feel like the cabbage leaves did anything
for her.  Also, she is pretty big-chested to begin with, if that makes
any difference.

Any ideas on what could cause this or what else she could try?  TIA

Becky Williams, LLLL
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