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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

please help, really struggling

6 replies

iccarus · 04/03/2011 10:13

Hi, please help if you can. I have a 5 month old little boy and we have had our ups and downs with feeding but the last few weeks had been good. Overnight though my milk seems to be drying up,he is crying and pulling off the breast all the time because he can't seem to get anything. He then screams because he's hungry. I feel so bad I'm tempted to give him formula but I know that will make the milk problem worse. I've tried expressing with elecrtic and manual pumps and hand expressing but the pumps dont seem to work because my boobs are so soft and hand expressing gets a little bit, but less than an ounce in an hour of trying last night. It's so strange that it has happened so quickly, we haven't started weaning or anything yet so he hasn't missed any feeds. I don't know what to do. :(

OP posts:
moaningminniewhingesagain · 04/03/2011 10:22

If you have been feeding til now with no formula it is very unlikely that your supply has dropped.

How long have things been tricky? It may well be a growth spurt, he may be on and off a lot to stimulate more milk.

Any thing else changed? You haven't starting taking the pill/become pregnant?

I think you are right not to give formula at present, if he is having a growth spurt then within a couple of days things should improve as your supply will increase to meet his demands.

Sounds like you are doing a fab jobSmile

iccarus · 04/03/2011 10:30

for a couple of days now. He isn't constantly feeding like i'd expect with a growth spurt and my boobs just don't seem to be filling back up, usually they will get quite firm after an hour or so from a feed but they stay soft even for a 3 hour gap whilst he was asleep last night, he's crying himself to sleep hungry at the moment, I feel so mean like he thinks I'm refusing him or something. Nothing else changed that I can think of other than I've had a bit of a cold and lost my voice the last few days but i didn't think that could affect your milk. Thanks for your reply moaningminnie.x

OP posts:
RitaMorgan · 04/03/2011 10:35

Maybe he has a cold too and a sore throat?

thisisyesterday · 04/03/2011 10:36

yes, it's really highly unlikely that your milk would have just gone. expressing is NO indication of how much you are making, your baby is far more efficient at milking the breast. some mums can never express anythiung, but still breastfeed successfully

i think there are a few possible reasons for his behaviour:

teething- this can cause a lot of fussiness at the breast. you could try giving some painkillers and seeing if it helps

your period- has it returned? if not, do you have any symptoms of it? sometimes women find their supply drops a bit when they get their period, and increases again afterward. this normally results in baby simply wanting to feed more, but could also be a cause of frustration

other pain- does he have a temperature? pulling at his ears? sometimes when little ones have ear infections it's uncomfortable to lie in a nursing position

distractibility- sometimes they are just so nosy they simply can't get down to the business of feeding, so hungry, but can't help wanting to look around. feeding in a quiet, slightly darkened room may help

I think teething is the most likely, but I'd also advise speaking to a breastfeeding counsellor, or seeing one if you have a group locally

Albrecht · 04/03/2011 10:46

When ds was around that age my boobs stopped getting hard, still feeding him at 8 months - doesn't necessarily mean yopu don't have any milk. Milk is not stored in the boob itself. Is he having as many wet nappies as normal?

Around that age ds started crying when I tried to feed him during the day. He was getting interested in the world and couldn't look about and feed at the same time - he can now.

Could be screaming as he is ill or getting frustrated trying to master a new skill?

iccarus · 04/03/2011 11:08

Thanks everyone, his cheeks are a bit pink so maybe he is a bit under the weather.He is teething off and on but his mouth looks fine at the moment and it doesn't often stop him eating. He does often get distracted too, any little noise and he's straight off trying to find out what it was. Hopefully it will sort itself out if i keep trying, it's just heart breaking when he's looking at me like i'm the meanest mummy in the world,lol.

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