Is this the beginning of the end of breast feeding?

[germum]

Will try to keep it brief.

Background - 3 kids. Older two - ebf for 5 mths,went back to work and mix fed for over a year. No probs at all with supply.

Now - dd3 is nearly 7 months. Did same as above. Bf morning, bedtime and 11pm. She has not been settling well after 4am and crying a lot.

Last night, gave her a bottle after bf at 11pm and she drank 4 oz. She also slept through until 7.30am when I woke her up.

My boobs feel flat most of the time. Does this mark the end of bf for me as she is my last.

germum - hard to say from your details.

But not all women will maintain a breastmilk supply on 3 feeds a day from age 5 mths. For some, it's just not enough. You've done it twice before, but maybe this baby is different and needs more.

It doesn't matter, really, because the answer is easy enough - if you think your supply might need to be increased, you can feed more often. This might have to be at weekends when you are at home, but it can also be on weekdays at tea time, in the evenings and in the night. You won't have to keep this up forever.

(Soft breasts are normal with established bf, so that's not really significant.)

Hope this helps.

tiktok - thanks for your speedy reply.

I feared you were going to suggest this. Unfortunately the reality is that it may not be possible.

I am away from home from 7.30am until after 6pm in evening. dd3 goes down at 7pm so no real time for a feed before bedtime. I don't have much milk in me during the day for weekends but of course I could do this first and finish her off with a bottle.

As for the nights, I'm afraid I just can't do more than one feed overnight with my very heavy work schedule. I just would not be able to function.

On the plus side, I offered her a bottle after her bedtime breastfeed tonight and she didn't want to know so clearly I had enough at bedtime.