Breast milk disappeared.....help...

[Brightongirllovesgin]

DS is now 7 months and is still being breastfed at least 5 times a day. But over the last 24 hours he's been sucking really hard and I can see he's given up after a while each time. This has happened from time to time before but never for this long. My letdown has gone too. Life is pretty stressful at the moment and I'm not getting much sleep. Please tell me my milk isn't drying up...Surely after 7 months of feeding it wouldn't suddenly disappear?
He wont drink formula but has 3 meals a day...what do I do?

Poor you, how worrying
. You are right: it's unlikely that the milk has gone, but you might have less or might come a bit less fast than your son is used to. Is it possible for you to take it easy today and perhaps tomorrow and to rest, eat and drink well and feed your son often?

My period hasn't come back yet and I was wondering whether that had something to do with it? It was only a few days ago I seemed to have a sufficient supply...
Will try and rest but have a 4.5 year old and useless husband to contend with too..

Your milk will still be there, but it is possible that stress can inhibit the letdown. This is offten what mum's sturggle with while trying to express. So maybe some seroiuse relaxation is need.

I know the feeling about the useless husband, can you maybe send him out with the older one at the weekend then at lest you don't have both of them to contend with.

I cant sleep - he's been sucking for 1/2 hour pulling off frequently as if he's not getting a thing...I'm now in a real state...
The only other milk he likes is cows milk and although he's only tried a little should i give him a small cup? He flatly refuses formula and my breasts seem to have become totally flat which isn't like them at all
Feel so upset...useless...

Please don't flame me for suggesting I give him cows milk, but I'm at my wits end...

Feeding habits change - your milk will not have dried up

Offer him the breast at every squeak. Agree get your dh out with your older child and relax

He may be teething - this can disturb their feeding

If he is eating some solids etc then this can also affect the amount of breast milk they want

I can imagine this is worrying - I have felt this way at points when I feel as though I have nothing to offer my DS. Perhaps your DS might take a bit more food (especially yogurt, cheese etc) and water than usual if milk supply is adjusting or down a little. But I would trust your body to adjust. Especially if you have noticed this happen before when you are stressed. Try to relax and get the rest it sounds like you really need - can someone help out and give you some down time?

Is he teething or has a cold? This may cause him to feel uncomfortable and pull off? Is he still doing plenty of wet nappies? This would show that he is still getting enough. After breastfeeding for a while your body produces milk when the baby sucks rather than storing it in the breasts so this would be why your breasts don't feel full.

He is teething but I know how he feeds now and its definitely lack of supply at the moment. he keeps trying and sucking then when i squeeze my breast to produce a tiny bit he gets really hungry and tries again. Hes a big boy - probably about 23 lbs now. I just feel useless. Have been feeling down for a while now and this really isnt helping

Have you tried switch nursing? This will both increase your supply and keep him interested.

sc2987 - what is that exactly?

Erm.. I'm sure there is nothing wrong with your supply but I was thinking... If you are worried and want to get something into him then what formula has he tried? They taste different. The HIPP Organic one is a little sweeter and tastes closer to my BM than the rest of them (yes, I've tasted them all and my own BM). Worth a try I guess - just for a feed or two.

You are obviously stressed enough, you don't need this stressing you too. Get yourself a decent meal down you and then a nice tasty cake to finish you off! I'm sure you're body will catch up with just a little help. :)

and...
In switch nursing, you let the baby feed on the first breast until the intensity of his suck and swallow diminishes. Before he drifts off into comfort sucking, sit him up and switch him to the other breast and encourage him to nurse actively again. When his sucking slows, go back to the first breast, and finally, finish feeding on the other breast. Burp him or change his diaper between sides, if that will help to wake him.

Source:Dr Sears- Increasing your milk supply

I second the switch nursing advice - around this age my dd got impatient too, particularly in the evening, she would pull off and fuss after 5 mins when before we would usually have 15mins each side. So I got used to offering 4 boobs!

But rest assured this phase only lasted a few weeks and we are still going at almost 1 year...good luck

Thanks for the advice about switch nursing. Will try it and hopefully my supply will return to normal soon. Just wish I didn't have to go through this so often - about once a month on average...

One thing I read a while ago was to semi wake the baby at night and put him to the breast. He should automatically start sucking and while you're in a relaxed state too, he may get some milk esp if you just lie back with him and wait for it to happen. Good luck.

ok firstly try not to stress about it, that can make it worst. always go back to basics, is baby positioned well? tummy to tummy, nose to nipple and make sure he has a good open mouth when latching. lots of rest for mummy, sleep wen u can (the house work will wait), lots of snacks and cups of tea. as for your let down try spending an hr alone with baby when hes hungry but not tired in bed doing skin to skin and when hes not feeding make him giggle, offer baby the breast as much as u can which will tell ur body to make the milk, u can also use ur breastpump even if u dont get anything off it will stimulate the breast. good luck. x