milk supply diminishing...!

[sk8scott]

hello, by baby girl is 12 and half weeks old and has been breast fed so far. However in the last fews days my milk supply has cut down so much and I have no idea why! Now she wants to be fed every 1-2 hours whereas before it was 3-4. She wanted to be fed almost constantly yesterday, i ended up topping her up with formula as my boobs were totally empty! has anyone else had this problem? Should I persevere or switch her to formula? Help!

[crimplene]

She's probably going though a growth spurt - and your boobs have got softer as they've settled down, so they seem to be empty, but as they make milk while she's sucking she just has to suck for ages on what seems like an empty boob to convince them to make more for her next time.

If there are still plenty of wet nappies, there's no shortage and you might find yourself in need of a good book/ video while she gets on with it, but she'll have upped the supply after a couple of days of it. Keep going and your boobs will catch up, they're never totally empty, whatever it feels like!

[SenoraPostrophe]

persevere: sounds like a growth spurt (I think 12 weeks is normally about the time for one).

a wanderphone is good.

[sk8scott]

thanks for advice, hopefully its just another growth spurt. She seems happy enough and there's plenty in her nappies, lol!

[moondog]

Sk8,breastmilk works in a supply/demand sort of way.
As long as the baby sucks,you will be making milk.
The more she sucks,the more milk they will produce (and not just at the moment of sucking.)

Lots of babies go through these furious feeding stages.

She doesn't need formula-your body will produce all she needs.
If you give formula the baby will suck less and your breasts will produce less and you may end up losing your breastmilk altogether.

Trust your body and put your feet up.
The hardest part of establishing breastfeeding has happened.
Give yourself a pat on the back!