Running out of milk after 2 years??

[TheBigZing]

I breastfeed my 2.3 yr old dd. I've never had an issue with supply, but once or twice lately she's come off the breast to declare "it's not working". And I haven't really seen my milk for months and months, although I was never a squirter / leaker and never needed pads.

Is it possible for my supply to dwindle at this stage? I went back to full time work in September but she still feeds every evening and every morning.

[tiktok]

Are you perhaps pregnant, Zing??

[MoonFaceMamaaaaargh]

That was my first thought too.

[TruthSweet]

DD2 3y/o) does this all the time (saying there's no milk) and I KNOW there's milk as I'm feeding DD3 as well.

I think sometimes they can't be bother to work to get it so give a few token sucks then say 'no milk' (just a personal theory you understand) so we go and get them a juice/cows' milk/water instead. But sometimes you can hear DD2 swallowing and then will say 'no milk' so I 'check' and there is milk which makes DD2 laugh to see the milk come out

[TruthSweet]

Or you could be pregnant

[TheBigZing]

I just told DH that you all think I'm pregnant and he looks REALLY worried now

But I honestly don't think I am.

It's only one side she keeps saying doesn't work.

[MumNWLondon]

I think if she is only feeding twice a day the supply has probably dwindled a bit and although there is milk its quite slow - she proably would have to suck quite a lot to get a decent amount. Squeeze yourself to see if any comes out.

[duchesse]

Maybe she's losing the knack? Aren't babies supposed to lose the ability to suck the right way eventually or did I imagine that "fact"??

[TruthSweet]

Duchesse - You didn't imagine it but that usually happens later on, most children self weaning wean because they no longer want or need to nurse not because they are unable to.

Of course like any skill if not practiced regularly can be forgotten, so even if a child was bfing for years if not allowed/able to bf for some time they may forget how to do it.

DD2 is the exception to that rule - she didn't bf for 2 weeks at 18m (nursing strike) and wouldn't bf each time I was in hospital this year (1w+ each time and I was in twice) she's still nursing happily at 3.

DD1 was unusually early in being physically unable to bf (3.6y/o) in that the space for her 1st set of adult molars appeared early. This had a knock on effect in changing the shape of her jaw making it difficult for her to latch on and she was unable to position her tongue to suckle.

She got all her baby teeth at 22 m/o (inc. 2nd set of molars) so I think she was just unlucky in that whilst she still wished to nurse, she was physically unable to at such a young age (comparatively speaking of course given that bfing at 7+ is not unheard of).

[otchayaniye]

This has happened to me too. My daughter is 2 and 2 months and feeds once in the early hours. She's told me 'no milk comes out'.

She still does it though!

I also was a non leaker and never ever felt engorgement.

I am not pregnant.

[duchesse]

Oh dear, DD3 is heading that way. She has all but her second molars to come and is only just 15 months old. That would be sad. Especially as she really hardly eats anything but my milk.

[TruthSweet]

Like I said DD1 was unusual in that the gap for the 1st set of permanent molars came early. She still hasn't got them at 4.8y/o (~6y/o is the norm) so it maybe the gap was just an anomalous thing for her rather than what happens to all children who get teeth early (her first tooth wasn't until 7m but then she got a further 6 in 3 weeks).

Hopefully it is just DD1 being abnormal and your DD continues to nurse happily for as long as you both want. I could have retrained her to latch but as I was 8m pg with DD3 and was nursing DD2 as well I didn't want to

[duchesse]

Oh, it was the gaps she got, not the teeth! That does seem unusual.

[MumNWLondon]

Do they really loose the ability to BF?

DD (aged 7) tried some of DS2's milk when he was born. She managed to extra the milk effectively (according to her) despite having big gaps at the front due to baby teeth having fallen out.

7 months later DS2 has finished BFing but DD still likes occasion feed.

[whomovedmychocolate]

They forget how to breastfeed once they stop - I tandem fed mine for quite a while, DD self weaned at 3yrs 4 months I think.

You should go see a GP and ask for a breast check. Refusal to feed on one side can be a sign of a lump.

[TruthSweet]

MumNWLondon - It may be your daughter is just good at remembering things. Is she a Kinetic learner? Or maybe my daughter is not so hot on the memory front. I think though it is the space made for the 1st set of permanent molars at the back of the jaw (the jaw grows bigger and moves forward to accommodate those molars) rather than the gaps left by baby teeth falling out.

The ability to latch or otherwise is not set in stone it's a continuum, as don't forget the normal age of weaning is somewhere between 2.5-7 y/o and there will be outliers on that continuum.

If she can still nurse and you and her are happy to then why not. DD1 would have at it in a heart beat but I'm mean and won't let her (though if she were to get really ill I would).