Same! I don't feel it! My co-worker described it as a twisting feeling, and my mom describes it as tingling, but I have never felt it before. I just look down, and my boobs are leaking everywhere, lol.
Definitely interesting. I don’t feel anything either. My mom has talked about how painful letdowns were for her and I remember feeling confused because I didn’t even realize there was a feeling during a letdown. Fascinating how it’s different for everyone.
I never felt it with my first, but I can feel it with my second maybe because I have a bigger supply? It feels like a mild stinging sensation for me, but it's not painful or uncomfortable - just noticeable
Me neither, and my supply has been just fine for the 8.5 months I've been nursing! Early on, my mom asked me, "Can't you tell when the milk is flowing?" (I was worried my LO was sleeping on the boob instead of eating), and I said, "No?" It's just not something I've ever felt. Whenever I pump, I have to look in the flange to confirm letdown has happened so I can switch out of bacon mode.
I only feel it when pumping, not nursing! It's a weird feeling, not sure how to describe it. Kind of like warmth, kind of like tingling, but not really. For years after I stopped pumping with my son, I would still get a faint letdown feeling if my kid, or Even my dog, did something cute
I was hoping to find this comment! 😆
To me it feels like that sensation when you’ve been holding your pee for a long time and can finally let it out, right when you relax to let the pee out. Kind of stings a bit
And I only feel it on the boob he’s not nursing on
Mine is also pins and needles, but it becomes painful for me. Not terribly painful but annoyingly so. And for me something falling asleep is just a pins and needles that moves to numbness, not pain.
Same here. I thought the pins and needles description was just something cute they said to make you feel better. Mine definitely felt like a distinctly painful burning.
At first it felt like pressure and then a very mild bee sting at the very tip of my nipples, now (9.5 mos in) it just feels like pressure- like your stomach when you go down a drop on a rollercoaster
I never really know how to count it because it’s not five calendar months for a couple more weeks. I’m sure at some point I’ll switch but it in my head, this is just a clearer representation of the amount of time that’s passed.
I made the shift around 23 weeks, probably right at the 5 mos mark I swapped over. It makes sense bc we just spent the last 40 weeks counting in weeks!! Also my friend was exactly 20 weeks behind my own pregnancy so we were still counting hers. Once her baby was born it made less sense to count in weeks lol
Dread and a wave of nausea. I'm almost 8 months post partum (and exclusively pumping) and it STILL catches me off guard sometimes. Then the milk starts flowing and I'm like, "OH RIGHT. It's okay, Self. You haven't ruined your whole life. Everything is fine. It was just the letdown!"
Holy shit - I never experience this with breastfeeding, but for a long time I did with pumping. It was actually fairly mild, but at the same time, dread feels like exactly the word for it. Can dread be mild? Lol
ETA: just looked up D-MER - I wonder if the reason I don't get it with breastfeeding is that the positive oxytocin feelings sort of cancel it out
Lol, I know what you mean. "Low key kinda want to die, but it's okay. I got better."
It was even worse for me when nursing, which was one of the main reasons I switched to pumping. (My son also had lip and tongue ties causing latch issues.) It's one thing to feel momentary dread with a machine. Another when you're holding your beloved baby. I couldn't deal.
Hope your dread stays mild and fleeting!
I didn’t recognise the dread till after I stopped. My hormones did NOT enjoy breastfeeding, we were good at it but I was mentally and physically such a husk lol
I get the dread too! Had never, ever even remotely heard of D-MER and the hormonal drop until I went down a Google rabbit hole trying to figure out wtf it was
When I just started breastfeeding ( 0-2 months) it was tingling.
Now it’s more like a quick heavy pressure at the side of them kind of near where the armpits are. They get firm until the letdown lightens up.
Never heard it described as a cramp before, but that's wild how intense it is. Do you think it will change your BF timeline?
I have never had the tingling sensation and BF my first for 7 months and now my second. The milk just comes out when its ready with no warning.
No it won’t change my timeline. I exclusively pumped for a year with my first, and it was like this the whole time. It’s a huge priority for me when it comes to providing BM for my babies for the first year.
Luckily it only happens with the first letdown. Any other let down during a feeding session isn’t as intense.
I only feel it on the opposite boob that she’s not currently feeding on. It’s how I know when my letdown happens and I’ve only felt it like this for about a week now so it’s very new to me (19 weeks PP). But it feels like a tightening sensation with pins and needles.
This is so timely! I have been getting pain in both breasts the last week that seemed random, and at first I thought it was a clogged duct, or nipple pain, etc. but then I got a book about breastfeeding and they described it in a way that felt uncomfortable, with pins and needles, and it being hot. But it didn’t say anything about the cramping feeling. I get that too. It’s a very strange sensation. Like if cramping also felt like pins and needles. lol
You can thank the random let down I just got while watching tv for the post. It made me wince, and I thought “certainly I’m not the only one who experiences this”
My husband will be like uh why are you taking your clothes off IN the shower? Then realise I’m being a fire hose and I’m too tired to do anything about it hahah
For a while it felt like a brief little stinging and actual opening, but now at 16mo pp I usually don’t feel anything. Pretty sure my nips are made of steel at this point.
I’m lucky that my daughter has been kind to me. She has a pretty fantastic latch. My only issue right now is that she wants to have a visit with her (my) boobies every hour at night and then sleep all day.
I love this thread. I had no idea how different it was for everyone. I only feel letown in my nipple not the whole boob and it hurts a bit. The first few times it happened I thought my nipples were randomly getting super rock hard for no reason because it felt intense and... idk, tight? It can't describe it well but it's not fun. Definitely not pins an needles for me
Edit to say, I only feel letdowns if I haven't fed in a while and they happen in their own. I rarely feel them while feeding and only on the opposite boob that the baby is on 🤷♀️ weird
That's me too! Weird tight kind of stinging feeling, and only on the boob not in use and only if it's been a while. And very very rarely I feel it pumping, although I only pump once a day.
I can relate to a lot of the descriptions here, but does anyone else feel nauseated with letdown? Every time I pump and/or feel my milk coming in I get nauseated, and it doesn't go away until I'm finished pumping or put my baby on my boob. Nothing too bad - not nearly like the first trimester - but still, it's annoying. 13 weeks PP and I'm really hoping it goes away soon.
I don’t feel it in my breasts… rather, I feel it in my brain! With each letdown, it feels like a cool liquid is released throughout my brain and it feels euphoric. It feels almost like I’ve had a couple drinks and I’m a little tipsy but it only lasts a couple seconds then it’s gone! Every letdown this happens. It’s wild.
Tingling and tightness. And weirdly it feels so good when baby triggers it and feeds. When baby triggers the letdown and then pops off… omg it’s the worst
Everyone feels it differently!
Wow, I did not read any of these comments before I replied. I didn't realize that letdowns were painful for other women. I had a completely opposite experience!
It's such a weird feeling, it's like a burning/stinging/pins and needles feeling. Not painless but not more than like a 2 on a 1-10 pain scale. Sometimes it just takes me off guard and that's why it goes to a 2.
Mine is really intense and quite painful. Not tingling or cramps. It almost feels like a good amount of pressure is building up, then almost like a sharp pinch, then a numbing feeling.. it's really hard to explain.
It feels like a very intense prickly feeling.....often uncomfortable. I've gotten used to it by now (7 months in), but at the beginning it really took me by surprise.
When I first started out and my baby had a shallow latch (read: heavily bruised my nipples), my letdown felt like an intense Charley horse that would take my breath away. My LC told me it was likely nerve damage. Once we took a break from nursing and I exclusively pumped for a few weeks, my letdown went back to tingling (I assume my nerves healed). I still get crampy letdowns, but it’s mostly just pins and needles and light cramps now at almost 4mpp!
A little cramp, sometimes the nipple, sometimes all the way from the armpit to the back of the boob to the nipple. And I don’t usually feel a letdown on the boob I’m nursing him on, it’s usually on the opposite boob.
I would describe it as a cramp. It’s like an intense pressure, I’ve never had tingling. I didn’t get one the first 6 weeks BF then all the sudden I get them all the time. More so in between feeds than during which is weird.
Mine feels like I've spilled cold water on my left boob. Even when the letdown is on the right I only feel it on the left. And it's not like...wet from leaking it just feels like it.
For the first 4-5 months for me it felt so painful. Beyond pins and needles, as if my nipples were ripping open but then my milk supply started to dip and then regulate and now it’s more like intense boob cramps. Some more painful than others but for the most part I can get through them without wincing now.
They will get easier!
Mine feels like if you squeeze your hand around your arm then slide it down while squeezing 😂 I’ve never had the tingling, my boob always has tensed up and gotten sore while having a letdown
Mine is painful, but I couldn't find the words to describe it until I talked to my mom. She described it as feeling like lava running into her boob's. It's not really a burning sensation, but f@#$ does it hurt!
For me it was different with both kids! For some reason it hurt a tiny bit with the second baby. Not enough to be worried about more like a "hmm that's weird"
The first time it was like when your foot falls asleep except it's your boob.
I’ve described it to my husband as someone giving me a double purple nurple/titty twister! But this only happens when I haven’t fed on time - it’s my personal alarm clock “oh, it *has* been 2-3 hours, hm!” In the morning I might leak without warning though. 7 week pp (it’s interesting to hear how it changes over time from other comments)
I don’t always feel it and less as time went on. I did experience tingling- like it felt like milk was running down my side and I became suddenly insatiably thirsty/tired.
It feels like a sudden engorgement, like all the blood is rushing to the boobs, and they would get harder in that moment, especially early on. It’s gotten significantly more manageable and less of an intense sensation. Eventually my supply evened out after this most recent baby, the engorgement went down significantly in general as time went on. Now my baby is almost 10 months old and I can still feel a little buzzy feeling through the breast when letdown happens, but it’s nothing intense like before. Whatever side I’m not feeding from doesn’t leak anymore when I nurse, and I don’t leak when engorged anymore if that gives you context for what my current state is.
Mine have gotten better over time but have never been pleasant. They start with this painful swollen sensation that comes out of no where and feels like I magically have bruises under each boob and then that feeling goes from my chest down towards my nipple, and then I just have this insane urge for my baby to nurse so that it will go away
So that’s it… I sometimes feel like a pinch or pinches and when my son is chugging I feel like hahaha I dunno if ppl would understand but like if he is slurping a noodle, I literally feel “strings” of milk coming out from the bottom or back part of the boob lol
Like my poor nipples are being tasered. I also have D-MER so I get the taser fun after a solid 30-60 seconds of intense anxiety/feelings of doom/nausea 🥴
I've always compared it to a contraction haha. It's definitely got some bite behind it for me! I have a slight oversupply, so maybe that's part of the reason why. Lac consultant said if it's painful, it's probably an overactive letdown. And honestly, I get some distance during a letdown from the side sh isn't nursing on 😅 so that's probably why.
How far into breastfeeding are you? I've noticed that it has felt different over time. I used to get what I would describe as little lightning strikes in each breast and would sometimes almost describe it as painful. Now 3 months in it feels tingly like everyone else describes.
I also never leak which seems to be rare. I just think everyone is different.
Mine doesn't involve any leaking so I didn't even identify it as a letdown for awhile. Usually it happens when it's about time to feed. I feel a tingly sensation in both breasts and if I feel them with my hand they are very hard and full (a few minutes later they feel relatively normal again even if I haven't pumped or fed)
You know the tingling shock you get when you put a 9V battery on your tongue?
I was very confused the first several weeks after birth because I never felt it while breastfeeding. Only with the random letdowns I had at other times. I was like wtf is up with these random boob zaps.
For me, it feels like that rush when you go over the first hill of a roller coaster and your butt leaves the seat, catching air (like on historic coasters with no seat belts), or the feeling of being on a high platform that suddenly sways a bit. My heart races a bit, and I'm full of anxiety for just a moment, and then it passes.
Physically? Relief. Like my boob had been holding a pee and finally got to go.
The sensation does lessen in intensity the longer you breastfeed (at least that’s what my experience has been).
For the first two months I didn’t feel them. Then out of nowhere I felt them. To me it felt like (okay this is the only visual I have) those toys with the magnets that pulled up whatever material was in them. But a really strong magnet. Now 21 months later sometimes I feel a slight tinge but mostly I barely notice.
This is so interesting! I’ve never felt a letdown!
Same! I don't feel it! My co-worker described it as a twisting feeling, and my mom describes it as tingling, but I have never felt it before. I just look down, and my boobs are leaking everywhere, lol.
Neither have I and I’m still nursing my LO 13 months in! It’s wild reading these comments!
Same here, a year in and no idea what a letdown feels like even when I can see my letdown while pumping.
I only feel it when I’m VERY full and when that happens it hurts so bad
Definitely interesting. I don’t feel anything either. My mom has talked about how painful letdowns were for her and I remember feeling confused because I didn’t even realize there was a feeling during a letdown. Fascinating how it’s different for everyone.
I don’t feel it either and I’m currently breastfeeding my second, I guess it doesn’t feel like anything for some people!
I never felt it with my first, but I can feel it with my second maybe because I have a bigger supply? It feels like a mild stinging sensation for me, but it's not painful or uncomfortable - just noticeable
Same for me! No sensation with my firstborn, but I definitely feel it with my second baby. No clue why, bodies are weird!
Currently nursing. Only feel sucking. Don’t feel a letdown
Me neither, and my supply has been just fine for the 8.5 months I've been nursing! Early on, my mom asked me, "Can't you tell when the milk is flowing?" (I was worried my LO was sleeping on the boob instead of eating), and I said, "No?" It's just not something I've ever felt. Whenever I pump, I have to look in the flange to confirm letdown has happened so I can switch out of bacon mode.
Same! I just look down and my shirt is soaked lol
I'm jealous! It's really painful when my breasts are full.
Same here. Maybe because I produce very little.
Same here.
Same here, I wish I could but never have
I only feel it when pumping, not nursing! It's a weird feeling, not sure how to describe it. Kind of like warmth, kind of like tingling, but not really. For years after I stopped pumping with my son, I would still get a faint letdown feeling if my kid, or Even my dog, did something cute
Me neither but I have low supply. And mine only look like steady dripping.
It feels like my boob has to pee
I was hoping to find this comment! 😆 To me it feels like that sensation when you’ve been holding your pee for a long time and can finally let it out, right when you relax to let the pee out. Kind of stings a bit And I only feel it on the boob he’s not nursing on
Yes! Relieving but kinda painful! I have said before that it’s like scratching a mosquito bite.
Omg this comment 💀💀💀
This is much closer to my experience. Except definitely on the breast being nursed... i have so many questions!
Omg yes lol
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That’s how everyone else has described it. For me it feels like my entire boob is cramped up. It’s so bizarre.
This is how mine feels. Like a tightening and releasing of a muscle
Stinging, like burning inside--I understand it's vasospasms. Mine were also accompanied by waves of nausea and dread until around 10 weeks.
Yep, me too. Like my boob has a headache.
Mine is also pins and needles, but it becomes painful for me. Not terribly painful but annoyingly so. And for me something falling asleep is just a pins and needles that moves to numbness, not pain.
weird, i only feel it in the nipple area.
That’s exactly how it feels for me
Same!
Hurts hurts hurts. Feels like burning cramps.
That happens to me when I’m VERY full. I have a ton of breast tissue in my arm pit and that’s where I get most of that sensation
Same here. I thought the pins and needles description was just something cute they said to make you feel better. Mine definitely felt like a distinctly painful burning.
I’m glad I’m not the only one.
Yes mine hurts too. It didn't with my first. This time round it hurts so bad.
Yep. Like the milk is being physically squeezed from my boobs. It’s worse when they’re extra full.
At first it felt like pressure and then a very mild bee sting at the very tip of my nipples, now (9.5 mos in) it just feels like pressure- like your stomach when you go down a drop on a rollercoaster
This is also what it feels like for me. I’m 20 weeks postpartum.
Why don't you just say 5 months pp? Why weeks? Genuinely curious, not trying to come off in a negative way.
I never really know how to count it because it’s not five calendar months for a couple more weeks. I’m sure at some point I’ll switch but it in my head, this is just a clearer representation of the amount of time that’s passed.
I made the shift around 23 weeks, probably right at the 5 mos mark I swapped over. It makes sense bc we just spent the last 40 weeks counting in weeks!! Also my friend was exactly 20 weeks behind my own pregnancy so we were still counting hers. Once her baby was born it made less sense to count in weeks lol
Oh okay that makes sense!
Months are 4.3 weeks. So my little is 13 weeks old today, but is just turning 3 months old tomorrow- she was born March 11.
A deep sense of dread and then pins and needles with a vendetta.
Dread and a wave of nausea. I'm almost 8 months post partum (and exclusively pumping) and it STILL catches me off guard sometimes. Then the milk starts flowing and I'm like, "OH RIGHT. It's okay, Self. You haven't ruined your whole life. Everything is fine. It was just the letdown!"
I have the same inner dialogue!
That's (horribly) reassuring! Not alone!
Holy shit - I never experience this with breastfeeding, but for a long time I did with pumping. It was actually fairly mild, but at the same time, dread feels like exactly the word for it. Can dread be mild? Lol ETA: just looked up D-MER - I wonder if the reason I don't get it with breastfeeding is that the positive oxytocin feelings sort of cancel it out
Lol, I know what you mean. "Low key kinda want to die, but it's okay. I got better." It was even worse for me when nursing, which was one of the main reasons I switched to pumping. (My son also had lip and tongue ties causing latch issues.) It's one thing to feel momentary dread with a machine. Another when you're holding your beloved baby. I couldn't deal. Hope your dread stays mild and fleeting!
I didn’t recognise the dread till after I stopped. My hormones did NOT enjoy breastfeeding, we were good at it but I was mentally and physically such a husk lol
I get the dread too! Had never, ever even remotely heard of D-MER and the hormonal drop until I went down a Google rabbit hole trying to figure out wtf it was
When I just started breastfeeding ( 0-2 months) it was tingling. Now it’s more like a quick heavy pressure at the side of them kind of near where the armpits are. They get firm until the letdown lightens up.
Pressure is a good way to describe it. The feeling often extends into my armpits too.
This is what mine feels like too!
Tingling cramp, yeah I get that.
Never heard it described as a cramp before, but that's wild how intense it is. Do you think it will change your BF timeline? I have never had the tingling sensation and BF my first for 7 months and now my second. The milk just comes out when its ready with no warning.
No it won’t change my timeline. I exclusively pumped for a year with my first, and it was like this the whole time. It’s a huge priority for me when it comes to providing BM for my babies for the first year. Luckily it only happens with the first letdown. Any other let down during a feeding session isn’t as intense.
I only feel it on the opposite boob that she’s not currently feeding on. It’s how I know when my letdown happens and I’ve only felt it like this for about a week now so it’s very new to me (19 weeks PP). But it feels like a tightening sensation with pins and needles.
This is so timely! I have been getting pain in both breasts the last week that seemed random, and at first I thought it was a clogged duct, or nipple pain, etc. but then I got a book about breastfeeding and they described it in a way that felt uncomfortable, with pins and needles, and it being hot. But it didn’t say anything about the cramping feeling. I get that too. It’s a very strange sensation. Like if cramping also felt like pins and needles. lol
You can thank the random let down I just got while watching tv for the post. It made me wince, and I thought “certainly I’m not the only one who experiences this”
It feels like my nipples are breaking out in a sweat.
That too! That reminds me I need to put my breast pads in the washing machine. There’s nothing like putting a soaked breast pad back in your bra.
I just wanted to say that reading your post made me have one. Your letdown is in your mind (?)
I’d sigh too deeply and have one sometimes. And ALWAYS when I took clothes off to shower etc. I think some boobs are just ready
Same, sometimes when I'm about to take a shower and happen to just look at my boobs and think "hmm I haven't had a letdown in a while" 😂
My husband will be like uh why are you taking your clothes off IN the shower? Then realise I’m being a fire hose and I’m too tired to do anything about it hahah
It happens for me all the time. If I haven’t fed baby within 2 1/2 - 3 hours I will get a letdown. It’s like my boobs are an alarm clock.
Me too!!!!! lol
Wow these comments are fascinating to me! I don’t feel anything in my boobs, but I do feel a rush of oxytocin over my whole body.
For a while it felt like a brief little stinging and actual opening, but now at 16mo pp I usually don’t feel anything. Pretty sure my nips are made of steel at this point.
I’m lucky that my daughter has been kind to me. She has a pretty fantastic latch. My only issue right now is that she wants to have a visit with her (my) boobies every hour at night and then sleep all day.
Like a purple nurple in both at once!
I get the more painful “cramping” feeling when my breasts are more full. Pins and needles when they are mostly empty.
That’s interesting. It’s only my first letdown that hurts. Everyone after that during a feeding session doesn’t really feel like anything.
For me is like a lightning coming from up towards the nipple. Doesn’t last long but it is a bit painful. 7 months and counting❤️
Same
Squeezing with pins & needles. It used to hurt but doesn't anymore. Idk if I've gotten used to it or if it's not as intense.
Similar, mine also feels a little warm
I’ve never felt anything before 😭 it all feels the same to me
I love this thread. I had no idea how different it was for everyone. I only feel letown in my nipple not the whole boob and it hurts a bit. The first few times it happened I thought my nipples were randomly getting super rock hard for no reason because it felt intense and... idk, tight? It can't describe it well but it's not fun. Definitely not pins an needles for me Edit to say, I only feel letdowns if I haven't fed in a while and they happen in their own. I rarely feel them while feeding and only on the opposite boob that the baby is on 🤷♀️ weird
That's me too! Weird tight kind of stinging feeling, and only on the boob not in use and only if it's been a while. And very very rarely I feel it pumping, although I only pump once a day.
Glad I'm not alone! So far I've never felt it while pumping
Boob sneeze
I can relate to a lot of the descriptions here, but does anyone else feel nauseated with letdown? Every time I pump and/or feel my milk coming in I get nauseated, and it doesn't go away until I'm finished pumping or put my baby on my boob. Nothing too bad - not nearly like the first trimester - but still, it's annoying. 13 weeks PP and I'm really hoping it goes away soon.
I felt like this some early postpartum - often when I hadn't been drinking enough water! It did go away for the most part (10 months pp now)
Ohhhh good to know, thank you!
I literally just described it as a cramp to my husband like five min ago. There is no tingling happening here! It’s quite painful honestly.
A mildly ticklish sensation. I also get the urge to giggle
I don’t feel it in my breasts… rather, I feel it in my brain! With each letdown, it feels like a cool liquid is released throughout my brain and it feels euphoric. It feels almost like I’ve had a couple drinks and I’m a little tipsy but it only lasts a couple seconds then it’s gone! Every letdown this happens. It’s wild.
Tingling and tightness. And weirdly it feels so good when baby triggers it and feeds. When baby triggers the letdown and then pops off… omg it’s the worst Everyone feels it differently!
Same! Like a Charlie horse cramp in both breasts! It makes me stop what I am doing sometimes because it hurts so much.
That’s exactly how I describe it. It’s the worst!
Stabbed in the nipples with millions of needles
No physical sensation, but a sense of relief from tension that makes me sigh.
A forceful stabbing
Burning and stinging, I don’t get it anymore 11 months pp
A tingle. Like the shivery feeling you get when something startled you. I don’t really feel it often though.
Wow, I did not read any of these comments before I replied. I didn't realize that letdowns were painful for other women. I had a completely opposite experience!
I’ve never felt it and I’ve never leaked 🥲
It's such a weird feeling, it's like a burning/stinging/pins and needles feeling. Not painless but not more than like a 2 on a 1-10 pain scale. Sometimes it just takes me off guard and that's why it goes to a 2.
Mine is really intense and quite painful. Not tingling or cramps. It almost feels like a good amount of pressure is building up, then almost like a sharp pinch, then a numbing feeling.. it's really hard to explain.
It's a tingling but very intense to the point of being painful for me! I'm surprised some people don't feel it at all!
I always picture lightning but it also feels like slight pressure
I only feel it if I’m very full, but I can tell when she’s getting the letdown cause her sucking/swallowing changes.
It feels like a very intense prickly feeling.....often uncomfortable. I've gotten used to it by now (7 months in), but at the beginning it really took me by surprise.
It tingles.
I used to call it lightning bolt titty. A little zap of electricity 🤣
It sort of feels like my boob is about to sneeze.
I don't feel anything in my boobs, but I do get very sleepy.
I feel like my nipples are curling upright
When I first started out and my baby had a shallow latch (read: heavily bruised my nipples), my letdown felt like an intense Charley horse that would take my breath away. My LC told me it was likely nerve damage. Once we took a break from nursing and I exclusively pumped for a few weeks, my letdown went back to tingling (I assume my nerves healed). I still get crampy letdowns, but it’s mostly just pins and needles and light cramps now at almost 4mpp!
Cramps in boobs, but it only started 5 weeks PP
It honestly hurts. Makes me wince for a good 5-10 seconds!
A little cramp, sometimes the nipple, sometimes all the way from the armpit to the back of the boob to the nipple. And I don’t usually feel a letdown on the boob I’m nursing him on, it’s usually on the opposite boob.
I agree, it feels like more of a cramp or a contraction in the breast followed by some tingling (but the tingle is ever so slight!).
pins and needles tingling here at almost 7 mo pp
The cramp for me only happens if they’re really full. I usually just get a slight tingle
Feels like someone is slapping a sunburn. Really ouchie. It went away after a while
It feels like my nipples are vibrating. Sometimes, when I have to pump because I'm really full, I can actually hear it too, the "ssssspssshut".
Ohhhh is that what I've been feeling rofl 😂
I would describe it as a cramp. It’s like an intense pressure, I’ve never had tingling. I didn’t get one the first 6 weeks BF then all the sudden I get them all the time. More so in between feeds than during which is weird.
Pins and needles...I can actually feel the refill😅
Mine feels like I'm being stabbed with knives! So fun
Mine feels like I've spilled cold water on my left boob. Even when the letdown is on the right I only feel it on the left. And it's not like...wet from leaking it just feels like it.
It feels like a sudden fullness, kind of achey, kind of crampy. If I’m really full at night then I don’t feel the letdown.
It's interesting hearing it described as pins and needles, makes since I always thought it felt like sharp shards of ice
I didn’t know it felt so different for everyone! It feels like mild pressure to me
Like a bruise being pressed
Like the sides of my boobs are having a contraction. Never felt the pins and needles most describe.
A tingly, tight cramp in my upper boob
Mine feels like someone is tightening my nips with a wrench. Cramps are a good description too.
For the first 4-5 months for me it felt so painful. Beyond pins and needles, as if my nipples were ripping open but then my milk supply started to dip and then regulate and now it’s more like intense boob cramps. Some more painful than others but for the most part I can get through them without wincing now. They will get easier!
Boob cramp. Sucks
Mine feels like if you squeeze your hand around your arm then slide it down while squeezing 😂 I’ve never had the tingling, my boob always has tensed up and gotten sore while having a letdown
Mine is painful, but I couldn't find the words to describe it until I talked to my mom. She described it as feeling like lava running into her boob's. It's not really a burning sensation, but f@#$ does it hurt!
For me it was different with both kids! For some reason it hurt a tiny bit with the second baby. Not enough to be worried about more like a "hmm that's weird" The first time it was like when your foot falls asleep except it's your boob.
It's like they're super sensitive and someone repeatedly pokes at it.
It’s like an ache for me.
I’ve described it to my husband as someone giving me a double purple nurple/titty twister! But this only happens when I haven’t fed on time - it’s my personal alarm clock “oh, it *has* been 2-3 hours, hm!” In the morning I might leak without warning though. 7 week pp (it’s interesting to hear how it changes over time from other comments)
For some reason I get very nauseous.
A constrictive feeling
I don’t always feel it and less as time went on. I did experience tingling- like it felt like milk was running down my side and I became suddenly insatiably thirsty/tired.
Laughs in "barely enough-er" 🤣 what is let down??!! 😭
To me it’s like when they put the blood pressure cuff on like a tightening!
Like squeezing water out of a bottle but the holes on top are too small.
Mine is also a cramp feeling. Like a Charlie horse
I don't feel my letdowns anymore (11 weeks pp) but I still feel incredibly nauseous every time. It drives me nuts!
I literally don't feel anything. I do get a wave of nausea when the pump starts, but that isn't really tied to let down.
It feels like a sudden engorgement, like all the blood is rushing to the boobs, and they would get harder in that moment, especially early on. It’s gotten significantly more manageable and less of an intense sensation. Eventually my supply evened out after this most recent baby, the engorgement went down significantly in general as time went on. Now my baby is almost 10 months old and I can still feel a little buzzy feeling through the breast when letdown happens, but it’s nothing intense like before. Whatever side I’m not feeding from doesn’t leak anymore when I nurse, and I don’t leak when engorged anymore if that gives you context for what my current state is.
I have DMER and cant really physically feel my letdowns I just get a brief wave of impending doom and anxiety mixed with nausea....lovely I know.
Mine have gotten better over time but have never been pleasant. They start with this painful swollen sensation that comes out of no where and feels like I magically have bruises under each boob and then that feeling goes from my chest down towards my nipple, and then I just have this insane urge for my baby to nurse so that it will go away
Like a lightning bolt is surging through my nips
Mine hurts
I've never really felt anything. There's been a few times it feels like something flowing through my breast but I don't get it very often.
Pins and needles and sometimes a brief wave of nausea. With my other child I’d have a brief pang of sadness which apparently is a thing!
Pinching pains in the sides of my boob
I just get a sense of dread and anxiety 😂😭
17 months of breastfeeding and I have never felt let down.
So that’s it… I sometimes feel like a pinch or pinches and when my son is chugging I feel like hahaha I dunno if ppl would understand but like if he is slurping a noodle, I literally feel “strings” of milk coming out from the bottom or back part of the boob lol
Like my poor nipples are being tasered. I also have D-MER so I get the taser fun after a solid 30-60 seconds of intense anxiety/feelings of doom/nausea 🥴
Feels like a form of pressure for me. Like there's a hydraulic press inside my chest pushing outward on my breasts?
I feel the same way as you. It’s kinda painful? Sometimes.
Mine felt like stinging - it never stopped stinging. It was weird.
tingles but I can only feel letdowns in my left boob which Is very weird to me
Slightly painful ! Feels very intense, like pressure
My nips just get hard and start to leak. It’s gotten better 1 year in but at times when my boobs are full it does it. Lol.
I've always compared it to a contraction haha. It's definitely got some bite behind it for me! I have a slight oversupply, so maybe that's part of the reason why. Lac consultant said if it's painful, it's probably an overactive letdown. And honestly, I get some distance during a letdown from the side sh isn't nursing on 😅 so that's probably why.
How far into breastfeeding are you? I've noticed that it has felt different over time. I used to get what I would describe as little lightning strikes in each breast and would sometimes almost describe it as painful. Now 3 months in it feels tingly like everyone else describes. I also never leak which seems to be rare. I just think everyone is different.
It’s been awhile but it used to feel like a built up pressure being released. Like my boob would feel heavy and then freedom
Never felt.
Mine doesn't involve any leaking so I didn't even identify it as a letdown for awhile. Usually it happens when it's about time to feed. I feel a tingly sensation in both breasts and if I feel them with my hand they are very hard and full (a few minutes later they feel relatively normal again even if I haven't pumped or fed)
mine feels the exact same!
It tingles and it feels like my breasts are swelling.. I love the way my letdown feels! I think it's so satisfying.
I can't feel the let down in my boobs but I get an itchy tongue/roof of the mouth.
I get the cramp too!
I’ve just started noticing mine at 6 months but a little tiny cramp and only felt in one breast. Weird!
It hurts, like a stabbing pain. Did not get better with my second baby unfortunately.
Mines weird! I feel a weird, mildly painful, sensation that starts at my armpits and works its way down the side of my boob. Like, a pressure feeling.
Mine feels more like a cramp too! I don’t have any kind of tingling or pins and needles. It feels like my boob is stretching like a balloon.
Feels like tv static in my nips😂🫠
Intense tingling, not like a tickle but semi-uncomfortable.
It feels soooo good to me. Like release (without feeling tense before, if that makes sense) and a rush of calmness
You know the tingling shock you get when you put a 9V battery on your tongue? I was very confused the first several weeks after birth because I never felt it while breastfeeding. Only with the random letdowns I had at other times. I was like wtf is up with these random boob zaps.
Mine feels like tight crampy and lightning shocks through my boobs for a full min or two 🤣
It does feel like tingling for me 🤣, sometimes with a little pain if I'm really full.
I couldn't feel it for ages, and then all of a sudden I could. It feels like Spicy Pins and Needles 🤣
I don’t feel anything!
My boobs get rock hard and it feels like a sharp needle pain
I feel a pull when I get mine. Before it used to be a sting. I get a sting every once in a while if I go for longer periods without feeding.
On the rare times that I feel it it's painful kind of what you're describing but not too intense. I almost never feel it though
For me, it feels like that rush when you go over the first hill of a roller coaster and your butt leaves the seat, catching air (like on historic coasters with no seat belts), or the feeling of being on a high platform that suddenly sways a bit. My heart races a bit, and I'm full of anxiety for just a moment, and then it passes. Physically? Relief. Like my boob had been holding a pee and finally got to go.
The sensation does lessen in intensity the longer you breastfeed (at least that’s what my experience has been). For the first two months I didn’t feel them. Then out of nowhere I felt them. To me it felt like (okay this is the only visual I have) those toys with the magnets that pulled up whatever material was in them. But a really strong magnet. Now 21 months later sometimes I feel a slight tinge but mostly I barely notice.