Help! Surely I can't have lost my supply in a day?!

[MrsCog]

Hi helpful bf people. I've had a terrible day and I'm struggling to stop crying :( DS is 2 weeks old tomorrow, and after a rocky start with bfding (for the first week I expressed and gave it him from a cup) we finally got him established (using medela nipple shields) last Monday, a combination of him having a very small mouth and sunken chin and me having flatish nipples makes it very very difficult for him to latch without them.

Anyway, yesterday I felt very fluey and my left breast was hot and lumpy - I saw the midwife today and she confirmed what I though in that I had blocked ducts. So I've spent much of today expressing/hot compressing etc. However, having spent the last 7 days continually leaking milk everywhere and having to change top constantly, I now feel as though my supply from both sides has dried up! I am trying to express both sides now to get the supply boosted - is this the right thing to do?

I have got some formula I can give DS via a cup if I think he's not fed enough from me (which I don't think he is at the moment - the flow from the blocked side is very slow and he keeps falling asleep on the other side....) but I'm so :( especially after our difficult start. I keep wondering if I should just give up and ff, but this will be really difficult for me as I'm very pro bf, and had dreamed of feeding him until 1 when I go back to work. I also haven't factored in the cost of formula into our budget or the hassle of all the sterilsation which I really don't want to face!

Anyway, DH says I'm being silly and need to be more positive as up until this morning I had loads of milk and also I'm doing the right thing by expressing straight away.

Has anyone got any advice? Thanks.

How often are you expressing? It usually takes a day or two for your supply to adjust and make more. Your ds will let you know of he's not had enough, f he's having a good feed from one side then offer the other side, if he falls asleep then it's prob cos he's taken what he needs and is very comfy. Don't give up, you've both worked very hard to get established and it does get easier! one of my boobs got blocked and I just used to massage it with my finger tips before feeds and used to sort of tap my fingers all across it, it helped a lot.

MrsCog, sorry, I can't really tell what's going on from what you say - you need to call the maternity unit or whichever no. your midwife has given you and speak to someone. Early tomorrow, call any of the bf helplines as well.

I wouldn't want to speculate - you give no info about your baby's weight and well-being and while it is unknown for mothers to dry up in a day, you are right to be concerned about things...I suggest you make a phone call tonight rather than leave things up in the air.

Sorry - hope all is well, and there's no suggestion you should switch to formula.

Sorry, I should have mentioned, DS is slowly getting back towards his birthweight followuing a 15% loss which was purely due to bad advice/misunderstanding rather than there being anything wrong with him. He seems well in himself, and is a good colour and we have lots of wet and dirty nappies throughout the day.

I've been expressing 1-2 hourly since lunchtime when all of this seemed to register on my radar, but even this morning I had to throw out two sopping wet breast pads from the night and put another tshirt in the wash as it was covered in milk, so I'm just at a loss as to why I've lost so much in a day.

I have managed to express around 100ml today, and DS has taken some milk from the side that's 'working', although he seems to fall asleep at the breast very easily at the moment - I have to keep waking him up.

MrsCog, still can't assess what's going on, sorry.....you don't say why you think you have dried up. A baby who is not feeding vigorously and enthusiastically aged 2 weeks, and who needs waking up a lot to feed is a concern, especially with the history you describe, and you need professional input, I think.

It does not sound like an emergency, but I still think you need to speak to someone tonight if your baby is not feeding well, so you can get an idea of what, if any, intervention you need to put in place.

I agree, speak to someone who knows more about these things.

But just to offer consolation, I find that if I try to express when I'm really exhausted, I struggle to get half the amount I'd usually be able to produce. So supply can vary from day to day - for a number of reasons - and it may not be a permanent issue.