What is Letdown Reflex? Is it normal to get hurt?

Being a mom is the hardest thing for women. Whether the baby hurts or not, you have to go through all the blues along with the excitement. Well, as from sleeping to feeding you never know in how many ways you can get hurt. Most of the time, breastfeeding could be painful as well. Whether your baby bites or not but the baby bites that triggers nerves while sucking the nipples for feed. This is called letdown syndrome or milk-ejection reflex. This process is so painful, as the nerves lead the hormones to enter the bloodstream. One of those hormones prolactin which performs as the milk-making tissues, another hormone is known as oxytocin is involved in pushing the milk or let down it. 

Letdown reflex is the process of making the milk available for the baby to feed. Well, if the baby bites, it hurts but there is nothing wrong with you or the baby. Painful letdown reflex is nothing big or to think about, but it is the part of your breastfeeding journey and there is no way to run from it. As you will become used to it, it will not take much time to adjust to the new role, after some time it becomes painless. 

Well, if you notice you are not adjusting to it, there might be some other issues that need to be discussed with the doctor. But there are things you must know and should take care of it. 

What is Letdown? 

In this complex dance, here you and your baby are partners. When the baby cries with hunger it makes the hormones to respond due to the input from the babies when they start feeding. Moreover, it has been noticed that the process of the letdown reflex begins when you think of feeding the child or just push the breast to pump the milk out. 

How does it feel?

During the feeding sessions, the milk letdowns so many times, but it makes you feel like the first time. Well, normally most of the women don’t feel the letdown, some feel it once, some moms feel it for a few minutes, and some feel it second when their baby starts sucking the milk. 

As you never know what happens and when in your body like everything. There is no timetable set for the disorders, or you cannot expect the flow. Here is something you can notice. 

• Maybe due to the release of the hormone oxytocin, you may experience immediate thirst. But still, the researchers are not sure about it. 
• An immediate feeling of warmth and fullness.
• Scratchy feelings like pins and needles become intense and painful. Most of the women do not feel it, some moms feel it while feeding their children then it disappears after some time, and other women feel it throughout the breastfeeding. 
• When your baby didn’t adjust to sucking, the long or quick sucking rhythms during milk flow, the breast starts inflaming. 
• Letdown cause dripping from one or both breasts. However, it is recommended to keep breast pads in hand.