Down to Birth · Cynthia Overgard & Trisha Ludwig

#338 | Breastfeeding Q&A: How to Night Wean, Delayed Milk Production, Breastmilk & Cavities, Biting the nipple, Strong Let-Downs, Oversupply

October 15, 2025·41 min·3 clips

Separating a mother from her baby after birth causes the body to secrete grieving hormones, directly blocking the oxytocin and prolactin needed to bring milk in.

1. Down to Birth hosts Cynthia Overgaard and Tricia Ludwig answer a listener breastfeeding Q&A covering night weaning, milk supply, biting, and letdown issues. 2. Cynthia Overgaard is a birth educator and postpartum support specialist; Tricia Ludwig is a certified nurse midwife and international board-certified lactation consultant with over 18 years of clinical experience. 3. The episode centers on equipping breastfeeding mothers with specific, actionable techniques for common challenges in the months after birth. 4. Cynthia and Tricia open by sharing their own weaning experiences: Cynthia's children each self-weaned around 2.5 years; Tricia's three children weaned between 14 months and 2.5 years with varying levels of natural versus prompted transition. 5. In discussing night weaning, Tricia recommends involving a second caregiver if possible, citing that the nursing mother's presence signals milk availability and makes infant resettling harder; 44% of their Instagram community said a partner handled night weaning. 6. A listener example describes using 'milkies go to sleep' language with toddlers at 18 months, pairing the explanation with morning light triggers and celebrating the return of breastfeeding in daylight hours. 7. Cynthia describes a woman in her postpartum group who was severely sleep deprived because her husband insisted on full sleep nights, calling it a power dynamic — intentional or not — that leaves mothers compounding exhaustion to avoid the partner's bad mood. 8. Tricia argues that fatigue on the job is categorically different from parental fatigue, drawing on her corporate experience: at work, she could manage her own schedule and go home early; parental exhaustion compounds daily without reprieve. 9. For a listener wanting to night wean a 14-month-old without losing daytime breastfeeding, Tricia explains that by 14 months breasts are efficient enough to go 8-12 hours without milk removal while maintaining daytime supply, and recommends dropping one night feeding at a time rather than all at once. 10. A caller asks why her friend's milk didn't come in; Tricia lists hospital-related causes including IV fluids, epidural medications, narcotics, cesarean delivery, separation from baby, early pacifier introduction, and formula supplementation as the most common disruptors. 11. Tricia explains the hormonal mechanism in detail: cortisol released during mother-baby separation blocks oxytocin, which is required for letdown; prolactin receptors must be stimulated early and cannot easily be recruited later if the critical first days are missed. 12. Cynthia adds the emotional dimension: the mother's body is designed to anticipate skin-to-skin contact and breastfeeding, and when that is disrupted, the body begins secreting grieving hormones — an insight she calls heartbreaking. 13. A nine-month-old biting caller is advised by Tricia to say nothing and remove the baby from the breast for 10-15 minutes, because any maternal reaction — even a surprised expression — turns biting into a cause-and-effect game the baby will repeat. 14. Cynthia shares that her middle child bit her once and it caused mastitis, confirming that the behavior has real clinical consequences and must be addressed promptly. 15. For overactive letdown at 11 weeks, Tricia explains the physics of laid-back nursing: when breasts hang down, gravity and muscle compression force milk out faster, but when lying back, milk must travel uphill and the flattened breast contracts harder — significantly slowing flow. 16. In rapid-fire quickies, Tricia confirms that beer historically increased milk supply because of hops, which raise prolactin; she now recommends hop water (hops-infused water) as a non-alcoholic alternative, noting that alcohol itself is counterproductive to milk production. 17. Tricia corrects a pediatrician's advice that night weaning is required at nine months to prevent cavities — breastfeeding at night does not pool milk in the mouth the way bottle feeding does, so it does not cause cavities. 18. The episode has a warm, conversational tone between two long-term collaborators; questions are read aloud from a community Instagram call-out and answered without scripts in a flowing discussion format. 19. Breastfeeding mothers at any stage — from newborns to toddlers — and new doulas or birth workers seeking practical lactation knowledge will get the most from this episode. 20. Listeners who are not pregnant or breastfeeding and those seeking birth story or pregnancy content rather than lactation mechanics will likely find the topic focus too narrow.

As heard by us

A practical breastfeeding Q&A about night weaning, strong letdowns, biting, and keeping daytime nursing intact.

Cynthia and Tricia keep this conversation grounded in the day-to-day strain of breastfeeding and night weaning: strong letdowns, biting, delayed milk coming in, and the way sleep deprivation can wear a mother down.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

You need sleep, but you do not want to lose breastfeeding.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from Down to Birth