My milk has gone!!! why?

[Helenemjay]

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???

They (the HV's) need to do the BabyFriendly Initiative course by Unicef, lots of HV's do it. You could write to their Supervisor and suggest it?

Thanku i did call our Dr's today and made a complaint about it, hopefully something will be done - they have given me crap information too many times now! I spent all day today determined to feed dd none stop in a hope to boost my supply, although im pretty certain you are all right and that my supply cant just stop, im sure its diminished greatly for some reason?!! so i spent the day feeding her and feeding her and feeding her! she has, as a result just gone to bed zonked out and had no formula feed!! (hurray!) so im hoping she has had enough to eat and that she sleeps well too (im nackered!) I really really want to feed her myself for as long as possible, but im finding it difficult to get a good understanding of where i go wrong sometimes, i have read lots and lots and lots of info on that kellymom site and it is really really interesting i possibly need to spend ALOT more time on there and get myself sorted im beggining to think i spend too much time moaning and worrying about my breastfeeding relationship with dd and not enough time doing something about it!

16 weeks? growth sprurt? distractible? i found walking around & shushing while feeding and switching boobs helped while telling myself to stay calm - no use both of us getting wound up. try feeding in a quiet, darkened room. I also remember giving a bit of gripe water before the feed too as the arching and pulling away reminded me of them feeling windy.

I think you are doing really well. Don't let your breastfeeding become such a source of worry to you! It shouldn't be that way, it really shouldn't. Your dd sounds as if she is absolutely thriving on your milk and that is all that matters.

Helen my dd is a couple of weeks younger than yours and my fullness has also gone. Some days my boobs are like envelope flaps! I am exclusively feeding. I often have days when it feels like I am not making milk and dd isn't sick at all (which makes me worry she's not taking much in) and seems frustrated. I think that a lot of the time she DOES need more milk and is going through growth spurts but the only thing that can make my body make more milk is for her to keep sucking! So even if she spends the whole day sucking and screaming (like christmas day - MIL kept saying she should be on formula and wouldn't be hungry) that's just what I have to do! I've exclusively breastfed one baby for 19 months and I know my body can do it again, even if some days it feels like it can't. As long as your baby is mostly happy and looks healthy, then things are undoubtedly okay. Have faith in your body and in your baby. Good luck. xx

Helen, I gave up bfing at 8 months due to this thrashing about thing. I was really depressed at the time and had had enough but soon regretted it. Am due again in March and am determined to bf for longer (at least until cow milk time!).
By the way I never had so much as a drop of milk appear ever and despite having huge boobs they never felt full! Despite this Tilly is no longer 5 and a 1/2 pounds and is a robust 22 month old so we must be doing something right eh???

Helen, you don't need to understand everything about breastfeeding and babies....your daughter will behave and react iin ways that are not very understandable, but it doesn't matter. You will be fine, and she will, if you just feed her.

I think you were a bit like this at the very beginning - wanting to understand every squeak and movement of your baby and relating it to breastfeeding in some way. It sounds exhausting and it really doesn't help

It sounds as if things are ok at present and well done for sticking with it!

Laundrylover - no two babies are the same, and you may not have a thrasher this time around. My ds was such an easy feeder that I couldn't understand what all the fuss was about sore nipples, bleeding, engorgement, and so on. Then I had dd, and she educated me!

Awww - you are all so great, im grateful for all the advice, i think to be honest im beggining to realise maybe my dd is ok with the breastfeeding - i think she is just a little madame! I have introduced a little solids into her diet and she STUFFED herself i thought she would mess around with the stuff at first but she never spilt a drop and ate about 10 spoonfuls!! as soon as it had gone i breastfed her for half an hour and she still screamed and yelled when i put her down!! My poor mum had her for 2 hours yesterday while i took ds1 to the Dr's and she screamed and screamed the whole time - as soon as i came in and picked her up she took one look at me, giggled and went to sleep ! so i will keep going with the breastfeeding as if she has half a bowl of baby rice and is still yelling it cant be feeding thats wrong - little sod! And your right tiktok i dont need to understand everything about breastfeeding i suppose i thought the more i knew the better i could sort my problem out but maybe the problem is just that dd is a little toad!

Glad you feel a bit better today, Helen

She's too young for solids, though.

She won't benefit from anything other than milk at this young age...truly.

She does seem to have a strong personality and to love being with you - the only way she can express this at the moment is to yell when someone else is there and you are not. It will get better

Thanks tiktok! i will try and stop my moaning on the subject now! - like aloha says breastfeeding should not be a stressful 'effort' it should be enjoyable! - so im off to get myself a good ol' grip!