********* Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 Ok, this seems like a good place to ask this question that I've wondered for years but don't have the nerve to discuss with friends IRL for fear that I'm freakish or something. :D I nursed both of my boys; Zee for 6 months, Moose for a year. I never once, not ONCE, felt my milk 'let down'. I had friends talk about it, and it seems so 'normal' that I never did admit that I had no idea what that felt like. I assumed that it was not a big deal, since I didn't have any problems with supply, and both boys nursed just fine. I'm just curious what I missed, I guess. :001_smile: Also, since I'm feeling bold with my strange bre@stfeeding questions today, :tongue_smilie:, I'm curious if anyone else, (oh, I don't know how else to say this!) 'leaked' milk/colostrum while still pregnant. I had to wear a bra 24/7 (at least a sports bra) from the time I was 5 months or so with both boys, or else I would leak. Anyone have either of those two experiences, or am I really some sort of freak of nature. :lol: (Good grief, I didn't even have the nerve to ask my OB about it when I was pregnant, but now I'm willing to ask on here. :001_huh::tongue_smilie:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happyhomemaker25 Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 I never experienced the let dow feeling or painful engorgement. I've felt very full in the beginning but it never hurt. I am almost a year with Lily. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleIzumi Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 I have STROOOOONG (painful!!) letdown, but I know one mom who has never, ever felt letdown, and her dd is still nursing at age 3! Yes, leaking colostrum while pregnant is normal, esp in subsequent pregnancies. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goldberry Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 I never had let down or leaking either. My breasts stayed relatively soft most of the time. I always felt odd because my sister could shoot milk across the room! ETA, the only reason I never worried was because I had a little roly poly baby who was CLEARLY getting enough to eat! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gailmegan Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 I have 6.5 + years of bfing experience and I have felt let down only a few times with my first. I never leaked while pg though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meriwether Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 I only experienced let down when a newborn was crying. It didn't even have to be mine. The oddest thing I ever experienced nursing was when my milk came in with my oldest. I doubled in size in less than an hour. :001_huh: My mom, who never makes personal comments, laughed and said, "You've got some jugs." I didn't leak ahead of time, but I know people who did. I think there is a verrry large range of what is normal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gaillardia Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 I've never heard of not feeling let-down. You missed it? In the first few days it hurt BAD, at least it did for me, every baby (seven). In the first month after birth, it still hurt. I had let-down sensation for the first 4-6 months, and if baby didn't nurse on time, it would leak bad. While pregnant I had some leaking, but not enough to really notice. I mean it didn't get the clothing soaked. I wouldn't say anything was wrong with you.:lol: Just different.;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T'smom Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 My "let-down" doesn't hurt, it just feels like a twinge. I still have it and dd is 10 months. When I feel it, I know I'd better nurse ASAP or my shirt is going to be soaking wet. I didn't leak while pregnant.....but I'm making up for it now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 I nursed twins for 15 months and only felt it *once* when they were probably about two or three weeks old and unexpectedly slept for more than five minutes. I just assumed they dried me out every single time. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heatherwith4 Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 I never leaked while pg. I *definitely* felt let-down early on with DD. It was painful sometimes, and milk would go everywhere. I'm still nursing, but done usually feel the letdown. Milk still goes everywhere, though. :) Kellymom.com is an awesome resource for bfing info, if you're ever too nervous to ask someone. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WishboneDawn Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 (edited) The feeling let-down for me was a tingling sensation. I leaked often. I was one of the ones that could shoot milk across a room. ETA: I only had let down when I was exclusively breastfeeding. After food was introduced and the nursing slowed a bit everything seemed to get a little better. Edited June 6, 2011 by WishboneDawn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homemaker Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 I nursed my 3 for over 13 months each. For me, I had a strong let down for the babies' first few months and then it would fad and I would feel it that much. It is a tingling, pins and needles type of feeling in your breast that last for a few moments. It was painful the first couple weeks of life for each baby. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie in CA Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 I agree with the others who said there's a large range of "normal". I had horribly painful, bring tears to this tough mama's eyes let-down for every single nursing with every single child the entire time. I didn't nurse for much longer than 6 months with each baby, mostly because that part of it was so painful. :sad: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meggie Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 There are billions of women having children throughout the world, a wide range of experience is normal;). With my first pregnancy I leaked A LOT. After he was born, I didn't even know my milk had come in. I thought the only way to know milk came in was engorgement. Well, that kid was such a chugger, I never got engorged. I just thought he was chugging on colostrum for 20 minutes. My mom was the one who pointed out that it was milk (it was white). Also with him, I didn't know what let down was for a long time. I just knew it hurt. My mom said hers was always a tingling running down her bOOks. It took me a few months to realize that my letdown was always a pain in the ni**les. I also had to wear nursing pads the entire time because they would both letdown at the same time. With the other two, I didn't have leaking of colostrum while pregnant, but was made painfully aware of what engorgement is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
herbalgirl Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 My let down was a tingly feeling, sometimes painful, sometimes not. I never have leaked while pregnant, and for the past couple of babies, didn't leak horribly after I had the baby and even when my milk came in. Isn't it wild how much it can vary woman to woman, and even pregnancy to pregnancy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluemongoose Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 For me it felt like when my foot goes to sleep. That tingly, slightly painful feeling. It did lessen after a few months. I did leak a lot with my pregnancies as well. Once my milk came in the pain/engorgement was extreme. I guess I just have a lot of milk! I go up cup sizes in a couple of hours, and have even struggled with Rusty Pipe Syndrome after having a baby. I have friend who have all be very different from me. Some find nursing easy, some hard, some painful, some not. We are all just really different!:001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissel Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 There are billions of women having children throughout the world, a wide range of experience is normal;) :iagree: I'm another who never felt letdown while nursing either babe. The only time I ever did feel it was when I was pumping, and then only occasionally. For me, it was an ache, not horrible, but uncomfortable. I never leaked while PG, but I was not a leaker in general. DD8 was my little addict: she kept me pretty well emptied out, but because of that, if I delayed a nursing session for too long for some reason, I did get engorged. I might leak a little bit then, but nothing major. Everyone is very different--even the same woman from baby to baby. My nursing experience with DD5 was very different from my experience with DD8. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 I nursed both of my boys; Zee for 6 months, Moose for a year. I never once, not ONCE, felt my milk 'let down'. I had friends talk about it, and it seems so 'normal' that I never did admit that I had no idea what that felt like. Most women do feel let-down, but clearly not all do. If your dc seemed to be well fed, well, there you go. :-) Also, since I'm feeling bold with my strange bre@stfeeding questions today, :tongue_smilie:, I'm curious if anyone else, (oh, I don't know how else to say this!) 'leaked' milk/colostrum while still pregnant. I had to wear a bra 24/7 (at least a sports bra) from the time I was 5 months or so with both boys, or else I would leak. Well, clearly some do. :001_smile: I didn't, but then I leaked all.the.time that I was nursing, and not just when my milk let down. Ugh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 I never felt let down with this one. I did sometimes with my first, but that was 11 years ago :) And I leaked colostrum with my first, but not my second. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalanamak Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 I felt a slight sensation of "let down" only after I'd nursed for a bit, and I learned to "will" the flow by putting baby up to the breast and "concentrating". I leaked when pregnant. I was doing a lot of ER work at the time, and I recall one night when there was a baby crying and I told the old lady I was interviewing I was sorry, but I was going to have to talk to her with my left arm compressing both my breasts. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawn in OH Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 (edited) During the early months with all 4 babies I often felt as though someone swung a bag of bricks at my chest. It was over quickly most of the time, but it was shocking. I was also a milk shooter. I never leaked during pregnancy. Edited June 7, 2011 by Dawn in OH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HS Mom in NC Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 I experienced both of those things, but not with both full term pregnancies. I even produced some milk and leaked a little after my first miscarriage at 8 weeks baby development but 13 weeks into that pregnancy-meaning the baby died a month before we knew I was having a miscarriage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lilymax Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 I never leaked while pregnant, and didn't feel let-down with my first baby. With the second one I felt it, but it was never painful. It was just a very faint "shifting of pressure" feeling...like I'd feel slight pressure up close to my ribcage that would drop down closer to my nipples. But it wasn't at all uncomfortable. I still feel it every once in a while, especially if it's been a while since he nursed. But it's definitely not a regular occurance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nd293 Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 Yes, I leaked when pg, maybe from around 6 or 7 months. I never felt the let down reflex, and fed for 2yrs and 4yrs respectively. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmoira Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 Never felt let down in seven and a half straight years of nursing, other than two or three times I was out and heard someone else's baby screaming, screaming, screaming in hunger. :glare: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UnsinkableKristen Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 I'm on pregnancy #4, and I've leaked during pregnancy with every one. I've even had a slight leak when NOT pregnant. Totally normal. I only felt let down at the very beginning while nursing. Very painful at first, tingly for a while, and then nothing. By the time I stopped nursing #3 at 14 months, I didn't ever feel a thing different. Sounds like you have nothing to worry about! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texasmama Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 I never leaked while pg. I spewed like a faucet during the first month or so and had to wear pads. Let down was very strong (almost painful) for the first months to a year of nursing. I nursed at least a year for all of my babies and almost four years with my last one. I say this - If you can't ask the Hive, who can you ask?;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alphabetika Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 I felt the letdown with my first two, even to the point of pain sometimes, but with #3, nothing. You're not a freak! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
********* Posted June 7, 2011 Author Share Posted June 7, 2011 Well thank you, ladies, for helping me feel I'm within the 'normal' range, and not weird. At least about this. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rivka Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 I never felt letdown. Not while nursing, and not while pumping. It was never an issue until my son had the stomach flu. He wasn't drinking from a cup, but I thought we were doing okay because he was nursing. Then he got so dehydrated he went twelve hours without a wet diaper, and we wound up in the ER. Because I don't feel letdown, I couldn't tell that he was comfort sucking instead of swallowing milk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hannah C. Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 For me, "letdown" is a tingling feeling - and it doesn't always happen. :) It took a while for me to identify that as what it was. Usually I feel it when baby's *not* nursing and it happens, or when baby's nursing on one side and it happens on the other. I leaked while pregnant, but not very much - just enough that I noticed when I got ready for bed. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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