boosting milk supply for 13 month old

[Evita]

My 13 month-old daughter has been having just 2 feeds a day for a few months now, morning and bedtime and we've both been very happy with this. Just recently she's been in hospital on a drip and unable to feed and I couldn't manage to pump while there so my milk supply has really dwindled. Now she's on the road to recovery and wants her normal feeds but she's sucking and sucking away for ages before I get a let down and then the milk runs out very quickly. I'm leaving her to suckle on the breasts for as long as she wants even if she's not feeding, in the hope that this will send a message to my breasts that more milk is required. Do you think this will work? I feel sad at the thought of stopping feeding until it feels right for both of us. I know I could pump but I hate it and have always been lousy at it so if I can do it the natural way it would be much better.

How can you tell milk has run out? I never could. they a lways say that the breasts are never empty..

Hi codswallop. I can only tell by the way she's drinking. There's a total difference in what she does with her mouth and the sound of her swallowing when she's feeding than when she's just sucking or stimulating a let down. I've been doing it so long I really do know the difference now.

Can you put her at the breast more often ?

Pupuce, that's an idea but at 13 months during the day it's really difficult to get her to sit still long enough to bf, especially when the milk's slow in coming.

She can BF for 2 or 3 mins .... it's the fact that she is stimulating your breasts more often

Well, I'll definitely give that a go. Nothing to lose! But do you think that letting her suckle for long times even when there's no milk might also help a bit?

yes I do.... it's supply and demand....

Cheers mate. it's sad to see her little body which has been so ill sucking away and getting nowhere.

I know and she is lucky to have a mum like you.... lots of cuddles will help too

She is cuddled and adored every second of the day!

GF book 2 had detailed suggestions for increasing supply. Can't remember exactly what it entailed, so dunno if it would be suitable for you.

Evita - agree with pupce - lots of feeds, even if they are only short ones will increase your suppl. Worth a go.

Evita, my dd2 is much smaller but I wanted to let you know that I've been feeding pretty much constantly over the w/end - was faintly concerned because my supply was dropping after a week of expressing - and lo and behold, I'm sporting two rocks again at 9.45 am.
HTH!

Not sure whether my comments helps: but my milk supply stopped completely just after I got pregnant but ds continued sucking till I was about 7 months pregnant. He enjoyed the comfort of it despite not getting any milk.

Evita - wanted to wish you lots of luck. Your dd is a lucky girl. I was really interested to see this thread, as I've also been a bit concerned about my milk supply - my dd is 15 months, generally feeds 3 times a day, except on the 3 days I work when she just feeds twice. And what with various things like working full time for a couple of week and then going out a couple of evenings I've experienced a similar situation to yours. My dd has to suck for as long as 3-4 minutes to trigger the let-down and she often gets bored / frustrated and just gives up. And when the let-down does happen she only feeds a very short time. I wouldn't mind, but this morning she kept coming off the breast and then saying "more", and going back on and then coming off again looking mournful! So I know she'd like there to be more milk! I'm at work for another 3 days, but after that I'm going to follow the suggestions here to do a bit of intensive feeding for a few days.

Thanks everyone for your replies. I've been letting my daughter suck for as long as she likes in the hope it will stimulate a bit more of the white stuff. So far no real change but we'll see!