Very low supply (hypothetical Q)

[Levanna]

Hi, I breastfed my DD for 14 months (at which point I let her give up - something she had been trying to do for the previous 12 months!). Maybe this sounds like madness, but bear with me! At about 2 months my DD started to 'fuss' when I put her to the breast ('scream and cry' might be more accurate!). From what I now understand this may have been a 'nursing strike', unfortunately there seemed to be no answer to helping my DD to be more happy about feeding from me, so for the next 12 months we struggled, and she dropped through the dreaded centiles. As she was feeding so infrequently (14 hours one day) my supply obviously felt offended, and left. I didn't dare express to encourage it, as I wanted to preserve the milk in my breasts in case DD did suddenly want a feed - I feared if she needed it and it wasn't there, it would only make matters worse. She would not take EBM from a bottle anyway (I ended up with a cupboard full of various teats and bottles). So, I was prescribed metoclopramide () to boost my supply. My supply would be suitably boosted, DD would go on strike, my supply would go down, I was prescribed metoclopramide, my supply would be boosted, .......you get the idea. So, 14 months later, this tearful, upsetting, tense, scary episode ended with my DD refusing one last time, and me not forcing the issue - this time .
If I posted here with the same problem this time, what do you think you might suggest? I have major deamons to lay to rest. Although I'm now a peer supporter, in hindsight I still can't find the answers - maybe catching the 'nursing strike' when it first occured...........I don't know.
I fully intend to breastfeed this time 'round. But, IF the same problem were to occur, would I continue struggling for as long? I just couldn't
.

[tiktok]

Levanna, there's lots I could ask you - and I think you are amazing to have continued, and your daughter's health will have certainly benefitted from this. I wish you could have enjoyed it more. But I would want to know what went on in the first 2 months...it is possible you had an over-powerful let down, and/or a case of over-supply (often, they go together), which led to your dd being overwhelmed and distressed. 2 mths is v. young for a nursing strike. I would not expect one then.

[Levanna]

Hi tiktok, thank you for your reply. I did have a very strong let-down and vast supply before all of this. But, prior to that point, at about two months, DD seemed to cope with it ok. It was obviously not ideal - but she managed. Do you think this could have been a factor? Why would she decide so abruptly that it was 'too much'? An early sign of her having her mums independence ?