Teething, low appetite, supply

[jaffa19]

hi, I hope someone can help!

DS is 6.5 months, has been end, never supplemented as always refused bottle. Have never questioned my supply before.

He cut first two teeth over christmas and now looks like a top incisor is coming through. He's totally miserable, as are we as he is waking hourly :( I feed him everyhing he wakes, but he's not taking very much. His appetite for milk is slightly down during the day and we've just started solids too which he's not hugely interested in. I'm sure it's the threshing bit I'm worried it's affecting my supply, particularly at bed time.

He used to take a huge 40 min feed and sleep really well, going down awake. Since he's been under the weather, he has started falling asleep on the boob after about 10 mins, then waking hungry at 11 and through the night. Tonight he hardly drank anything and started getting really frustrated at the boob. I had a meshed 20ml i'd expressed for his porridge in the fridge, we gave it to him in a cup and he took it. So now I'm worried I just didn't have enough milk for him and this has contributed to the cycle of night wakings.

I'm now expressing and not a lot is coming out :(

Desperately don't want to give up bf- I'd planned to cut down soon and just do morning/night feeds though. Have pnd and thought of giving up bf makes my cry.

What shall I do!

Meshed = measley. Whoops!

Threshing = teething!
Bloody iPhone...

Expressing is not indicative of supply - especially when you are staring at the pump on your breast willing milk to come out (been there done that - it doesn't work!). Plus, it can get more difficult to pump as baby gets older as your body gets to know how much baby wants so makes that much and not any extra.

Putting baby to the breast when they want, as you are now, when they are unwell is the best thing for him. If he isn't hungry or is nursing for comfort then he won't take much milk (this is fine BTW) and at 6m your supply is stable enough to have a few days where he doesn't eat much (however lots of comfort nursing keeps supply up because the hormones are still released with comfort nursing).

If really doesn't sound like there is anything to worry about in your baby's behaviour but you try a few things to help with the teething - using teething powders/gel before feeding can help, freezing a damp clean flannel/cloth so baby can gnaw on it, chilled teethers can work well too, and some people swear by amber necklaces for relieving teething pain (no personal experience but I have heard it works). If it's really bad then there is always the fall back of Calpol/Baby ibuprofen.

Are you getting any help for the PND? I had PND-OCD and found CBT really helpful, plus I got prescribed a bfing compatible Anti-depressant which worked well too. There is lots of help out there now for PND, but you do have to ask for it (just when you are at your lowest ebb you have to be persistent and ask to get the help you need!).

There has been some great research done recently that showed that bf babies of mums with PND were protected against the effects of her PND (unfortunately ff babies of mums with PND showed the same brain patterns as adults with depressions - so there is more work needed to be done to support ffing mums with PND) so you are doing a great job bfing with PND. I know I felt at times it was the only thing that I could do for my babies (I have 3 DDs and had PND to one extent or another with all of them) and it save me if I am honest, as it was something they needed me for, something that only I could provide.

Thank you TruthSweet

Good to hear comfort nursing keeps supply up (he's doing a lot of that during the night!) We've tried powders and gels but more often than not resort to calpol before bed and again in the night. He seems to be really suffering :(

He really didn't want to feed this evening and I wondered if it hurt him to suck.

Thanks also for the advice re PND. I am having CBT although do not seem to be getting a lot from it, I have been referred for a further course with a more specific postnatal therapist.

I started taking anti depressants over Christmas that are suitable for bfing (sertraline) but I did wonder whether that might affect supply. Or, more likely, the stress/anxiety/depression/eating poorly could be affecting it?

Really good to hear that evidence about bf babies. I worry so much that he'll be affected. I love breastfeeding him more than anything (except when its hourly in the night - the exhaustion is making the depression worse) but I also worry that I'm too emotionally attached to bfing and will be devastated when it comes to an end/he rejects me! He's rarely fed for comfort and I often think he's not that bothered about it and will self wean very early :(

I take sertraline (I have OCD as well as having PND-OCD) and have been taking them since 2006 and have nursed 3 babies and had 2 pg since then. Whilst my children aren't the healthiest in the world (asthma/eczema/arthritis/allergies) all their illnesses are inherited as DH & I have rubbish genes! It does take a while to find the right dose (and for it to work) so don't worry if it doesn't work straight away or you need to tweak the dose. I'm on 150mg a day but started on 25mg.

Funnily enough I was sure my DD2 would wean before DD1 did (I tandem nursed them DD1 is 20m older) but strangely not only did DD2 not wean before DD1 did, she has now gone on longer then DD1 did. So don't be too sure about your DS weaning early

Stress/anxiety can have a slight effect on the let down (inhibiting it) but relaxation exercises during the beginning of bfing can help that (you may do 'mindfulness' exercises during CBT and they could be used instead). Depression as far as I know has no effect on how much milk you can make.

Plus unless you are really not eating anything for weeks on end (I mean on starvation rations and are skin and bone) having a lower cal diet will not affect supply but it will effect your body. Women from around the world make very similar milk regardless of diet (or lack thereof). Eating well can help you feel better but it might be worth having a check for folate/Vit B12/iron/Vit D levels as being low in those can make you have a low mood/depression just to rule those out (all easily treated with supplements).

It's very easy to 2nd guess every parental decision when you have PND - everything takes on such a huge significance and you can feel so responsible for everything even things out of your control.

I used to worry that if DH stayed a few more minutes at home before driving to work that would mean he got in an accident and it would be ALL MY FAULT or that if walked a specific way into town I would obviously let go of the pram and obviously it would roll into the road ALL MY FAULT as I had gone the bad way into town I was not the most rational of people in the depths of my PND.