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Infant feeding

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

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Original poster

My milk has gone!!! why?

36 replies

Helenemjay · 02/01/2006 13:18

My dd is 16 weeks and i have been breastfeeding her exclusively apart from a bottle i started giving her late at night in an attempt to get her sleeping better - this has worked well and the bottle was introduced about 6 weeks ago, so why has my milk gone? dd try feeding and within seconds she is squirming around and yelling her head off! i have tried on both sides and she does the same, i have tried hand expressing and with an isis pump and there is NOTHING there!! how is this possible? i havent done anything differently! i have tried persistently feeding her but she just does the same thing! im really confused by this, please can anyone help???

OP posts:

hercules · 02/01/2006 13:21

Your milk hasnt gone and expressing is no teller of how much milk you have.

hercules · 02/01/2006 13:28

perhaps a tooth coming through?

Tickle · 02/01/2006 13:37

Expressing can be really psychological - try a warm flannel on teh breast beforehand, and think hard about dd crying to be fed - you may find you let down more easily then!

Agree with hercules it could be something happening with her like teeth or a cold coming on?

Keep going - I'm sure you still have plenty of milk in there

notasheep · 02/01/2006 13:45

Agree with hercules and tickle,i couldnt express with dd as my let down didnt work.Keep breast feeding and youll keep milk coming.

Rach69 · 02/01/2006 13:46

I hate to be negative but I think it's probably the bottle, personally with all 3 of mine I have never been able to combine the two successfully without my milk diminishing. If you are giving it at night your body is going for 8+hrs (?) without stimulation. I don't think there is nothing there and you could build up your supply again but she needs to stimulate it (rather than a pump) and now she is used to it coming easily out of a bottle.

hercules · 02/01/2006 13:48

I cant see how after 16 weeks of bf your milk would suddenly stop.

Original poster

Helenemjay · 02/01/2006 13:59

Well this has been going on for few days now, i have tried so many things and nothing seems to work i cant even feel any fullness any more, i was worried initially that dd would get used to the easy feeding of a bottle, but se still quite obviously prefers the breast which is making life difficult. Normally she would have milk in the corners of her mouth during her feed and have dribbles of it all over her too but there isnt anymore, someone said to squeeze the nipple and there should be some then but there isnt!

OP posts:

hercules · 02/01/2006 14:01

You would expect your breasts to lose that fullness feeling by now anyway. When I was expressing for work sometimes I could spend ages getting nothing out for dd to come along and have a long feed.

It would take a huge shock ie bereavement for your milk to suddenly stop.

hercules · 02/01/2006 14:02

I've just squeezed my nipple and there's nothing there!

NotQuiteCockney · 02/01/2006 14:03

The fullness definately goes away, without the milk going away.

Your baby is fussing at the breast, that's normal, they're sometimes like that.

I do wonder if maybe you've decided your milk is gone, and that's stressing you out, and causing your let down to happen slowly?

NotQuiteCockney · 02/01/2006 14:04

Nothing ever comes out from me squeezing a nipple, except maybe on one side while a baby's feeding on the other.

If your milk had really stopped, and your DD was only being offered boob and one bottle a day, she'd be unhappy all the time, trust me. Also, unwell, not weeing, and generally off.

hercules · 02/01/2006 14:04

loads of info here

notasheep · 02/01/2006 14:04

Keep putting babe to breast to stimulate your supply

Original poster

Helenemjay · 02/01/2006 14:12

Thanku, im begging to think im wrong! id completely convinced myself my milk had gone/was going! but having no serious shock or stress in my life then it cant be the case!!?? but dd is REALLY REALLY fussy at the breast every feed is a physical battle and she acts hungry, even after we have 'battled' through 20 minutes of feeding and she seems ok aftert 10 minutes she is writhing and acting hungry, nothing settles her, have tried a dummy, have tried feeding her again only for the same thing to happen i have listened to her feeding and i cant hear her swallowing anything at all!! something is not right but i cant figure out what??!!

OP posts:

hercules · 02/01/2006 14:14

nursing strike perhaps? Look at my lower link.

tiktok · 02/01/2006 14:47

Your milk has not gone, but it is possible the amount you're making has reduced....depends how long a gap you are leaving between feeds because of the bottle.

In any case, it is reversible.

Just feed feed feed and keep her skin to skin when you can. If she does not want to feed, then that's ok, as forcing the issue will not help.

Just let her come back on her own terms.

thecattleareALOHing · 02/01/2006 14:54

It could be teeth. Or she could have a bit of pain with ears or something.
Your milk can't just vanish, really.
Who told you about the nipple squeezing? I have been feeding dd for ten months, have loads of milk for certain and I can't get anything by squeezing a nipple! Don't turn feeding into a battle. If she wants to stop after five minutes, let her. Then do something else, like go for a walk, and try again later if she looks keen.

PrettyCandlesAndTinselToo · 02/01/2006 15:12

I remember that my dd was a demon to bf, and from 4m onwards would thrash and flail violently while feeding. It hurt! My boob would get yanked this way and that while she arched and writhed, and if she lost the nipple she would get very distressed. As she felt the nipple slip away she would clamp down hard on it - which of course doesn't help the milk flow, and so she would get more frustrated. I never worked out why she flailed. It was very like what you describe: she seemed to want to feed, but wouldn't settle to it and got very angry.

The best thing I could do was to feed lying down. I know that advice is generally to have loads of body contact while feeding, but I guess I didn't have a 'general' baby, because if we fed lying down in bed, where she could flail as much as she liked without losing the nipple, she would end up arched away from me with only her mouth touching me. Then she would settle down to a proper feed. Weird. But believe-you-me, vastly more comfortable for both of us.

I don't think it was teething or wind (both of which can cause that sort of behaviour at feedign) at that time. Later on it clearly was, but not this early for my dd.

Original poster

Helenemjay · 02/01/2006 15:23

That describes my dd to a T PrettyCandles!! she is exactly like that!!! i have to say when we have layed down for a feed she arches her back away from me and ends up with only her head near me as she desperatley attempts to roll around AND feed (little madame!) dare i say it - it was our HV thats suggested the nipple thing and another HV at our surgery that suggested my milk may have dried up and that i should consider putting dd on formula - something i dont want to do at all!! i do seem to have gone from one breastfeeding battle to another since dd was born though!!???

OP posts:

NotQuiteCockney · 02/01/2006 15:24

Your HVs are being rubbish, I'm afraid. They're often rubbish about breastfeeding.

tiktok is a breastfeeding counsellor, listen to her advice and you'll sort it out.

(It's also worth remembering, sometimes babies are crabby. And they can't tell us why.)

PrettyCandlesAndTinselToo · 02/01/2006 15:25

Oh god - shoot the bloody HVs! WTF do they know?!

hercules · 02/01/2006 15:29

Please dont listen to your hvs. They really are talking crap and I would be tempted to complain about their incorrect information. I hate to think how often they tell other mums the same thing.

PrettyCandlesAndTinselToo · 02/01/2006 15:30

Don't sweat it (ha ha - easier said than done). Feed lying down whenever you can, and if she can't settle to feed at other times (if y ou need to feed upright) then don't struggle on for long, but try again later. Lots of short feeds if necessary. In general I find that the more things go well then the more they continue to go well. If she gets more comforrtable feeds, then the more likely she is to feed comfortably. Though dd did go on thrashing for months, I bf'd her until 23m. I think 4-9m was the worst, thrashing-wise. Then she transfered the thrash from her body to my clothes and would yank my shirt up and down as she fed. Embarassing, but much less painful .

thecattleareALOHing · 02/01/2006 15:33

Also, at this age babies sometimes become really, really nosy about the world, which is awkward when you want them to feed! DD can be quite acrobatic when she wants a feed and a good old nose about at the same time.

hunkermunker · 02/01/2006 16:56

Definitely complain about your HVs or ask them to go on some kind of breastfeeding training because they're talking crap

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