How would I know if my supply drops?

[Caz10]

back to work very soon, won't be able to express, so planning on feeding once before I leave, and hopefully twice before dd's bedtime (and possibly through the night too unless things on that front improve...)

Dd is 8mths so supply i presume should be pretty well established and hopefully will cope - but if it doesn't, how will I tell?

[WilfSell]

Hi Caz,

You might find a bit more fussiness in the evenings and night?

I find this but particularly at the end of the week: I think that this is because supply has built up again while he feeds a lot over the weekend, so Monday and Tuesday my boobs are bursting by 5.30pm!

But by Thursday he gets crankier in the evenings and I end up doing more 'cluster feeding' again.

But i've had no problems doing what you're doing. All you do is offer the breast again if he's still crying or crying again even if only an hour later...

Or alternatively you could express to build up a supply in the freezer and give a bit of that when cranky?

[Caz10]

Thanks!

Have you found his bedtime has become later then, to accomodate more cluster feeding?

Are your boobs sore during the day?!

Glad you are able to do it, I'm worried this will be the end of it for me, but fingers crossed that won't be the case

[thisisyesterday]

caz how come you can't express at work?
I think you should be fine, though as wilf says, you may be bursting by hometime!

[WilfSell]

Hi again... No - he now tends to go to bed around 7 but then often wakes about 8 and sometimes again at 9 for feeds. He goes straight back to sleep usually.

But we've never really had any kind of unbroken night yet TBH so i'm not a good role model!

Boobs not really sore now - they seem to have adapted. I sometimes get a little bit full and sometimes leaky so I wear thin breastpads at work.

I often feed him at nursery when I pick him up - they don't mind - and it means I can squeeze in an extra feed and keeps him happy till we have some food later.

You really will be fine I think. Presumably he is having bits of other food also? My DS doesn't really have much milk at all during the day though I send a bottle of formula in. He tends to have water in a tommee tippee cup and as he's almost 1 we're moving over to bits of cows milk also.

It works really well and but for the sleeplessness I'd like to carry on like this. Will be trying to cut down some night feeds soon though as utterly utterly knackered and would like one full night's sleep in a year. Soon.

[Caz10]

Thanks again!

thisisyesterday I could express at work, and still might, but it would have to be at lunchtime and I just think it would make more sense to use that time to do marking etc, and therefore get home earlier and just feed dd myself.

That said, if supply becomes an issue I might need to express to keep it up. A BFC told me that even a v quick hand express squirted down the loo would be enough to give my boobs the message that milk was being removed, so might just do that, although the thought of EBM going down the loo is a bit sad!

WilfSell she is eating solids quite well now, and drinks water too, so I hope we'll be ok. No sleep here either so that'll be no change then!