Boosting low supply at nighttime feeds

[PinkFondantFancy]

My DD is almost 2 weeks old and during the day feeds and sleeps beautifully. My supply drops off across the day (apparently normal) but am ending up with very little by the evening and night which is potentially what causes weird feeding behaviour in the little one overnight-on and off boob, still crying after a feed etc. MW told me to express after feeds during the day and give expressed stuff to DD as a top up overnight. Only prob is it's a mission to get any extra in her-syringing into mouth makes her choke and dribble, using a cup doesn't work because she's too stressed and thrashing about.

I am drinking fennel tra and taking fenugreek, and waking her to feed 3 hourly during the day. I think we're running out of options though :( does anyone have any ideas? I can't carry on with having no sleep at night for much longer.

I'd feed her more often in the day - 3 hourly is fairly infrequent so she's probably making up for it at night.

Are you swapping back and forth between boobs during night feeds? Co-sleeping and feeding lying down is also a godend when the baby just wants to be close to you at night.

the non-stop feeding during the evening and through the night is completely normal - can you lie down to feed her?

one thing - three hour intervals during the day sounds a bit long for such a tiny baby. Maybe try feeding her every 2 hours.

She still doesn't know the difference between day and night, and you have a growth spurt coming up at 3 weeks which will mean 24 hour feeding marathon for a couple of days.

YOu have to try and sleep when she does - the "no sleep at night" thing goes on for quite a while yet

feeding at night is the best way to boost supply as hormones are stimulated during the night to make more milk.

Forget the housework etc. Nap when she is sleeping during the day, and lie down with her at night. It won't last forever, promise you are doing GREAT!

Mmmmmm I speak to a BF counsellor not a MW about this.

Your baby is building up supply at this very young age so it will seem like you've run out but actually they need to feed as much as possible to make your boobs make more milk. I remember DS feeding for hours but by 6 weeks it calmed down a lot.

yes, the expressing is just a waste of energy for everyone! just increase the number of times you put her to the breast, and that will stimulate your body to produce more milk.

I would agree it is a bit early to be expressing and faffing about - you need to see a bf counsellor. I do think what your baby is doing is completely natural and normal and it will pass.

How do you know your supply is dropping off through the day? I would also agree that every three hours is a bit infrequent when she is so little.

Is she cluster feeding? If so, that sounds really normal.

Lots of babies are unsettled at night at that age irrespective of feeding issues. They really just want to be close to you and to your breast.

I agree that expressing is counterproductive - a baby stimulates your supply much better than a pump.

I'd agree with suggestions upthread to feed more in the day, see a proper bf counsellor and co-sleep.

Thanks all. Will be back again to respond properly soon but in the meantime, I have been doing cosleepinh and feeding lying down at night for last couple of nights but the prob I've been finding is that she falls asleep after a feed v happily but then seems to get trapped wind-do I still need to sit her up/put over shoulder to wind? Also I find it hard not to be obsessed about her breathing patterns if im cosleeping, for some reason more so than if she's in her basket.

Really appreciate advice, back later cos have more questions/detail for you

Only thing with more frequent than 3 hours is that she feeds for about an hour so by the time she's settled again it's hard to get any sleep at all.

I had a look at the cluster feeding link but she's like that from about 10pm all the way to 6am so that doesn't seem to link.

On the supply thing, I find earlier in the day she can be satisfied from just one breast, or with a little top up from the other. By the evening my breasts feel empty and when offered the other breast she goes for it as hungrily as she did the first.

She has been doing lots of wee and poo so I'm assuming she's getting enough to eat.

At night she roots like crazy, I put her on, she feeds a bit halfheartedly for max 5 mins, falls off asleep. She then wakes up almost immediately and won't settle again unless given the breast again. So it really is NO sleep. During the day I actually have to wake her to get her to feed three hourly.

One more thing, my mum is being fab and is staying with me to look after the house and give me moral support at night but I am getting NO sympathy off anyone else and MIL says I'm just 'fishing for sympathy' and apparently I should be more than happy to receive guests for whole afternoons at a time. But that's another story.....

I suspect because she's in the basket at night, that's why she's fussing - as Angel says she wants to be near you. Same in the day - dont put her down after a feed, keep her with you and she's likely to feed more often if she can smell you.

I found co-sleeping easier as I couldn't hear DS when we tried to put him in a cot. In the end, I had to sort out bedding and move DH to the spare room so we could do it properly and I didnt worry when he was right next to me. I'd never quite know how much he fed as I'd feed lying down half asleep.
Also feeding isn't just about food - it's comfort too. At night it's quiet so more unsettling for a baby.

Sounds like normal new baby behavour to be honist. Often mum's feel like they have less milk in the evening, this is totaly normal. What is actualy happening is that there is less volume but what is there is higher in fat content. Your hormon level's for making milk are also higher at night so it's important in the early day's to do those night feeds to establish a good supply.

You never actualy stop making milk, so just keep putting baby to the breast. Even during the day offer both side's, doesn't matter if she doesn't take both but always offer.

I would also seconed seeking some help just to get the latched checked to make sure there is no issue there as that would cause longer feeding time's. The best thing to do is find out if there is a local drop in group near to you or ring one of the helplines.

Helplines

National Breastfeeding Helpline
0300 100 0212

The Breastfeeding Network Supporterline
0300 100 0210

NCT Breastfeeding Helpline
0300 330 0771

La Leche League Helpline
0845 120 2918

Association of Breastfeeding Mothers
08444 122 949

my standard advice - make sure you are eating and drinking plenty and try to get some rest during the day to boost supply for the evening.