What It’s Like Having An Overactive Letdown

Breast pads? Ha. What a joke.

I hate wearing bras, but in public they’re my only hope for a solid enough barrier between my trigger-happy nipples and my shirt. I don’t know why I bother because I still get soaked. Maybe it just makes me feel proactive?

I don’t stand with my arms tightly crossed in public because I’m a haughty snob. It’s just because I’ve got to muzzle the mammaries somehow, and pressure works well. More subtle and civilized than cupping them with my hands, anyway.

I don’t wear thick tops in the Texas summer heat because I want to live in a microwave. Milk leaking? Can’t disrobe? Layers, friend.

The Designated Dad suggested we do a grocery run at Whole Foods. My mind wandered to the happy reality of vegan sushi for dinner. And my milk let down. Not enough to leak, just enough to make me reflexively grab my breasts and exclaim, “Whoa now.”

We were on the highway passing a billboard that the Designated Dad commented upon. I responded saying I mistakenly thought a word on the sign had read “baby.” As I voiced that magic word aloud, my milk let down.

I watched a twenty-second long video of puppies panting and nuzzling each other. So cute. Oxytocin had me good. Milk letdown.

I covered my oldest son in soft blankets and set him up with the mass of pillows he loves so much, a special iPad-watching fortress of coziness. It felt good to make him happy. Milk letdown.

I got excited about going outside to feel the sun for the first time all day since it’d been raining. Fresh stains on my shirt. Because… milk letdown.

A hot shower. What a luxury! My body being rinsed off by something other than milk. But then… a leaky letdown.

One of my favorite songs came on the radio — I hadn’t heard this in, goodness, a decade. Chills! Oh and, milk letdown.

Julep laughs. Julep cries. Julep smells sweet (or sometimes sour). Julep looks cute. His skin is so soft. His eyes have me in a trance. Milk letdown, milk letdown, milk let down, milk letdown…

I think I’ll just wear my milk stains with pride at this point.

I wrote this for mamas dealing with leaky faucets: Got a Milking Problem? – Leaking

Here is a bit about oversupply and its usual partner in crime, overactive letdown: When Breasts Act Like Fire Hoses

And some thoughts on the opposite problem: The Lowdown on Low Milk Supply and/or Slow Letdown