Evening supply

[nectarina]

I'm ebf my 7week old DD, and although there is no problem with my supply in general - she's gaining lots of weight - the drop in supply in the evening is causing her to fuss and chomp which is making my nipples very sore. From what I've gathered I have a normal supply rhythym, leaking everywhere in the morning and then things slowing down over the course of the day, but I wondered if there was anything I could try to make more milk just in the evening. I've tried mother's milk tea and this works very well, but it just gives me more milk overall. Any ideas?

I have the same problem with my 4 week old. However I've read that it's normal for fussier and more frequent feeding in the evening as the baby's topping up for the 'longer' night sleeps. My DD is also usually a bit more tired then too which can make her fussier as well.

So far as I can tell, we make milk as long as they're feeding - it won't 'run out' but it might be coming through slower. That's all mostly from what I've read though so I may be wrong and I can't help with the increase request except to say keep drinking lots! Sorry!

Flow may be slow in the evenings but production doesn't slow down as well (luckily!).

Cluster feeding (lots of feeds with short gaps/no gaps between them) is very very normal and is not indicative of low supply. You do not need to engineer more milk to be produced in the evening, but rather feeding as baby requires, for as long as baby requires will help them get as much milk and nursing as they need. Don't forget babies bf for reasons other than hunger too.

If you are getting sore, then getting your latch checked may help as sometimes a tiny little tweak to the positioning can make all the difference to how comfortable it feels when feeding. Also, if baby is fussing whilst on one side, switching to the other or trying breast compressions can help.

This may help too.

I agree fussy evenings are unlikely to be due to supply issues and are completely normal. Just feed, feed, feed and keep switching sides. TruthSweet's kellymom link is useful (there is loads of other helpful bf advice on there too). 7 weeks is very young and this will settle down eventually, honest. :)

Evening fussiness is unlikely to be due to lack of milk, even if flow is slower. It's just something to ride out as they grow out of cluster feeding.

Ok thanks for your replies. Breastfeeding is teaching me patience on a whole new level, i'd be able to be more patient if it wasn't for the soreness. I think i do need to return to the lc...

Ok thanks for your replies. Breastfeeding is teaching me patience on a whole new level, i'd be able to be more patient if it wasn't for the soreness. I think i do need to return to the lc...

I agree with everything above and my daughter was like this for about 8 or 9 weeks (still is sometimes, at 11 weeks). She would go a bit frantic by the end of the evening, clamp her little mouth down and twist about - it was sore for me too! On a practical note, I quite often used to plan a walk in the middle of the evening with her in the sling or pram as she'd drop off to sleep and my poor nipples would get a break for an hour or so (and a bit of milk would build up to keep her happy when she woke up), and it really helped me regain a bit of sanity - might be worth a try if she sleeps on the move as well?

Kellymom.com has some good articles on evening fussiness and cluster feeding. If you can try other ways of setlling LO, you may find she copes better and your nipples get a break - e.g. try getting Dad to put LO in a sling and walk around the house.