Are my Breasts running out of milk?

[Becks88]

Advice please! I am breast feeding my 8 week old DS but during the day he wants feeding every 2 hours and at night every 3 still. He also has had growth spurt days where he wants to feed every hour! He normally feeds for between 20 and 40 mins so this is getting pretty knackering! I decided to express some milk and managed to get 3ozs which he drank but then wanted more so ended up BFing him as well! After this he then slept for 5 hours!! We are now thinking that my breast milk might be running out and my DS keeps sucking but then gets bored and stops but is not full up so wants more shortly afterwards. Not sure how I can tell when breast runs out of milk or what to do to get this lovely 5 hour sleep again!

Congratulations on your baby.

Firstly: Your breasts are not running out of milk.

Secondly: 2 hourly feeds during the day and 3 hourly at night is completely normal and in fact quite good for an 8 week old. The 5 hour stretch of sleep after the expressed bottle was probably just a fluke.

You could always try breast compressions when your DS starts getting bored. It is quite common for babies of this age to start getting a little bored or frustrated when the initial let-down slows and breast compressions can help to increase the flow of milk a bit. There are some excellent videos on you tube too.

Absolutely, completely, utterly normal!

your body is amazing - trust it to make enough milk to feed your growing baby.

you are doing FINE! its tiring, but you are doing a wonderful job

Congratulations and well done so far :)

Firstly, breasts don't run out of milk - they make more all the time! They are not like buckets which could be emptied - more like rivers which flow.

The feeding pattern which you describe is really, really normal. Babies have such tiny stomachs that they can only manage small amounts so they feed often instead. If he is gaining weight, settled between feeds, and of course producing lots of wet nappies then it's likely that he's absolutely fine.

So that's good but there's a problem and that's you feeling tired. So you need more help around the house maybe, or to have a go at safe cosleeping, or perhaps some time to yourself for a bath or a haircut. Would any of these things help?

I found that once dd fell asleep if I changed her nappy and woke her up abit she would feed more. Ds seems to follow the same pattern so far (fingers crossed)

Also are you offering the other breast? I've pretty much always done single side feeding but know the advice is to offer the other if you think they need more.

As the others have said it is quite a normal feeding pattern though. Your doing a brillant job.

Just wanted to add that although it's tough it will get better quite quickly - feeds will become shorter as he gets more efficient, and he'll space them out a bit in time. :)

Thank you all for your advice and reassurance. I will perservere!

Glad to hear that you are reassured. Echoing all of the comments above. This does sound very normal to me.

If he stops feeding and then wants more shortly afterwards, I found it helpful to start on the breast he had just finished feeding on. The first few minutes gives him thirst quenching sweet foremilk. The creamier hind milk, which comes through afterwards is more rich and satisfying in terms of filling up his tummy. Once he has really finished on that breast, you can offer the other side afterwards . . .

Best of luck, and well done for getting so far!

Definitely normal! DS fed 2 hourly until 4 months. But he did get more efficient and so feeds were taking 5-10 minutes instead of an hour. I also used to pop him back on the same breast when he came off. Well done and keep going!

Also, maybe have a look at Kellymom for how breastfeeding works. It gave me complete confidence that my body knew what it was doing and as long as I continued to feed on cue my supply would be plenty for DS :)