how can i tell if i have low milk supply?

[thegingerone]

I have a very adorable but slow growing 7 week old bf baby. I'm expressing, taking fenugreek etc.

My question is this. The bf counseller I saw this week when demonstrating breast compression to me stated that she thought my supply was low because my boobs didn't feel very full to her. I had the "a feed is due and i must feed NOW" feeling for the first few weeks but it settled down. I thought at this stage that would be normal. This is bf baby no three for me. They're all on the lean side but dd (current feeder!) is in another league of slow growth!

How can you "diagnose" low supply? (My express ammounts are 110ml in morning and 50-60 with each feed whch seems ok according to kellymom)

Thanks

?Your breasts didn't 'feel' full to her? Was she definitely a BF counsellor, not some sort of support worker? I understand it is very very rare to be 'hands on' in any way?

Usually low supply would more be indicated by baby not thriving/gaining, dryish nappies, not much poo production. If you are feeding whenever you notice a cue from the baby, and not taking baby off before they are finished, they will likely be getting all they need Look for signs that baby is swallowing and seems pleasantly stunned after some feeds.

You are right that feeling full will often disappear as baby gets a little older. Why do you feel your supply is low? Is the weight gain a little slow?

she wees. she poos but she grows slowly.

not sure why i grinned. i'm losing my mind tbh!

Growing slowly is ok, there is a big difference between losing weight and not gaining very quickly Breast compressions, switching sides lots of times when the feeding has slowed a lot, lots of skin to skin and very frequent feeding are all good ways to boost supply.

loads on good info on here for you to have a mooch at]]

That sounds, um ... unusual, the grabbing. And the diagnosing.

Are you feeding on demand? How are your nipples feeling? What sort of shape are they after a feed? How about night feeds?

All the things Moaning Minnie suggests are good, too.

thanks.

ah the night feeds. she would go for ages (6 hours [ shame]at night without feeds. i've tried various things re waking her up but she's not interested. all it leads to is a very distressed windy baby who doesn't feed and is up for two hours min NOT feeding. i know prolactin is highest at night and did a stint of expressing during the night but that soon became soul destroying. i'd rather have a baby on my lap than a plastic pump. i've just had two weeks of not going upstairs to bed until 1am so at least i'm awake enough to feed her but as we're up again at 6 to get my other kids to school i needed a couple of nights of more sleep. she feeds two/three hourly with ebm top ups during day.she cluster feeds in the evening but that is reducing a bit. i feed her before she asks so have decided to hold off a bit til she seems keen and hope she is more enthusiastic and wants to wake up a bit more at night. (it worked last night!)

regarding the comments made to me. the counseller mentioned it and poss i latched (pardon the pun) onto the comment because i'm already feeling low and "at fault".

When you say slow growing thegingerone, how slow are you talking?

Can you give us an idea of an average weekly weight gain.

How does she seem apart from the weight gain? Fairly contented between feeds?

I think you're right to say that it's normal not to get the 'full' feeling at this stage as your breasts have worked out more precisely how much millk you need.

OP, my 3 breastfed babies all 'grew slowly'. Luckily they were big at birth so there was a bit of leeway for them. Eg DS1 was 75th percentile at birth and dropped to 25th over the first 12 weeks. All 3 perfectly healthy. I think some babies just do this! Agree that not feeling full at this stage is normal too.

thegingerone, that was not a breastfeeding counsellor you saw (or if it was, she was behaving most oddly). We never feel breasts. We never diagnose.

Low milk supply is a complex phenomenon. Are we talking solely about the 'ability' of the mother to make milk, or the baby's ability to take what is there, or both? Is the situation easily remedied by feeding the baby more often, or is there something with the baby that is preventing him feeding effectively?

A baby who grows slowly is not necessarily a sign of low milk supply. These situations are very individual.

Please reassure me this was not a breastfeeding counsellor!

thanks all. once again i start a thread then disappear. not worked out how to pump and feed as well as mn at same time, think i might train one of my toes to type!!!

baby ginger has only gained 30 or 40g per week in last few weeks. in fact i was very naughty and had her weighed twice lasr week to check she was still gaining. she didn't at all over weekend when stressing about implenting power pumping.eating the right stuff etc etc. i can pratically feel my boobs "dry up" ( i know they don't really) when i'm stressed so my plan is to stick to one plan and keep calm and breastfeed. my hv has convinced my gp to prescribe domperidone at a high dose for me. i am worried about my dd and whether anything is "wrong" but she's smilely and content between most feeds. gp said he'd refer us to paediatricain if her wt gain reversed. hv is doing a home visit on mon so guess we'll go from there.

i managed to top normal feeds up with an additional 955ml of milk (out of the estimated 2400ml i calculated a baby of 4kg needs on average.dd is 3.6kg) over the four days between weigh ins and she gained nada! i don't know where exactly she's putting it!

just going to keep the frequent feeding, ebm add ons and a calm head going and hope to post soon of a dramatic gain in weight. (like 100g)

It all sounds very stressed and time consuming, ginger.

The usual and very rough rule of thumb is about 150 mls of formula per kg of body weight - you're saying a baby of 4 kg needs 2400 ml over four days, which is about right, but of course breastfed babies tend to take less in volume (some of the calories in formula are needed to give the baby energy to digest the formula, but over 4 days I don't suppose it makes a huge difference. Babies do have individual intakes and needs, though).

The weight gain is slow, for sure....but it is only one part of the picture. Healthy slow-growing babies are usually ok, as you know. Frequent weighing is useless, clinically - small variations in weight up and down mean very little in a healthy baby. Twice a week weigh-ins - you'd find it hard to justify that except as some sort of reassurance for a mother and it's often not reassuring :)

Your own diet is irrelevant, you know.

Main thing is to offer baby ginger the breast at every opportunity, without fighting about it :)