HELP - Milk supply has dropped siginifanctly

[Pennies]

I have noticed a definite decrease in my milk supply.

Last weekend when I expressed (DH does the late feed) it took no time at all to get the required 3oz. I had a strong let down and produced enough milk that DD would only take one boob per feed.

Since then (first noticed it on Wedensday) it has dropped and it's a real struggle to get 1oz out - that is all my let down will produce and I can't get any more out even if I continue expressing for an hour. My let down is weaker and DD is staying on the boob (both sides) for ages and ages to try get what she wants.

I have been ill with severe diaorrhea this week (again, from Wedensday) but have been really careful to keep my fluids up, eat as much as I can, rest and to keep nursing.

I've been putting DD to the breast more frequently and she always takes it so she definitely hungry. But the reduced supply is having a knock on effect of making her wake more at night (5 times last night as opposed to her usual 2 times) and this is really getting to me.

What is going on and what do I do about it?

(DD is 7 weeks old).

Just wanted to add that there's also no feeling of fullness at all and my boobs have definitely shrunk as my nursing bra is not fitting well (v. baggy).

Pennies - the increased waking at night is a baby's way of increasing your milk supply. Try and go with it if you can. Babies at this age have a growth spurt anyway so are looking to boost milk supply. I personally would not waste time expressing to give it via a bottle at the moment. Just let her feed as she wants. It may well be that when she feeds directly she gets more than the 3 oz she is given by bottle. May well be that she will then go longer before looking for another feed. The problem with expressing for late feeds is that you then dictate how much milk baby gets rather than the baby IYSWIM?

Offer her both breasts at each feed - do not assume one is enough even though it was before. Let her finish herself, wind her and offer second side. She may not want it or you may find she takes it and looks for more! When babies are boosting milk supply it is not unusual for them to want to go back on a third or fouth time.

Also, when you have a problem expressing, confidence in your ability to make milk goes down and the increased worry affects let down which makes you think there is a problem when there isn't.

The way to make milk is to feed more often. Keep doing that and you will see an increase over the next few days.

Forgot to add that often around the six week mark women think their supply has gone down because the fullness goes. That is normal as the breasts get very efficient at producing milk and the swelling/engorgement of the first few weeks goes. You then only get 'busting' boobs when you miss feeds or baby goes for an extraordinary long time between feeds.

I dont think its so much of a reduced supply as your lo having a growth spurt and wanting to feed more to increase your supply for the growth spurt (there is a quite big one around this age). You dont need to have full hard boobs to be producing enough milk and expressing is not a good indicator of how much milk you produce either. I would keep feeding your lo when she is hungry and your boobs will start producing more milk. It should calm down again in the next few days.

pennies - I think the experts here have said it all.

Just want to say that I agree that your breasts will feel less full over time and that is normal. That doesn't mean you are producing less, just that your baby is better at removing your milk.

I remember my DS waking literally every hour at night for a feed when he was having a growth spurt (at around 3 weeks old and then again at around 6 weeks old). Very tiring I know, but it is the baby's way of getting more milk and increasing your supply.

Good luck and be assurred that it will get easier soon when your baby settles back to her usual feeding pattern. I found growth spurts absolutely exhausting, but it passes very quickly

Thanks for the replies. HOw long does it take for milk to catch up with demand then? If it is a growth spurt then we've been at it for 5 days with no increase in supply - surely it would have improved by now?

pennies - see kellymom.com

Here is the link for growth spurts and there are other pages on frequent feeding. It's much more thorough than anything I have to say:

have a look atthis

Pennies - it is probably taking a bit longer because you have also been unwell. I also suspect your supply is better than you think - try and avoid expressing for a few days. That will not help. Better for baby to feed direct. How ofetn are you feeding during the day?

I'm feeding her 8 times (every 1.5 hours) between 7am and 7pm + whatever night feeds she demands (up to 6 times)

Hi Pennies, with a new baby at 7 weeks, do not count anything before 12 mn as a night feed

Make sure that when you are feeding her during the day she isn't just lying there latched on doing nothing. Count the tiimngs of feeds as the start of one to the start of the next, not the spacing in between. Feeding 2-3 hourly throughout the day, along with night feeds will bosst your supply. Sounds as though you are certainly feeding often enough but you need to make sure they are productive. Sometimes babies just lie there after sucking for 5 mins.

Have confidence in your ability to produce milk. Try a feeding fest where all you do is relax in bed and feed. make sure someone brings you regualr meals/snacks. You will see a response soon.

Well done for feeding your baby throughout your illness. You are passing on antibodies that will protect her. Hope everything settles out for oyu soon

hi penny. all i will add is trust your body to make all the milk your baby needs. you didn't make this little miracle and then not be able to feed her yourself. at nine months I look at mine and think wow, i have fed her!

I similarly got very ill when my dd was 2 wks old and the feeds were very exhausting. At around 6 wks she went through an incredible growth spurt I think it must have lasted 2 weeks. my dh was away for 5 and was shocked at the difference when he came back.

Well, hanging in with exclusive breastfeeding by a very fine thread. DS fed at 7pm, 9.30pm, 11.20pm, 2.20am, 5.20am, and 7.30am. I have his cold and am absolutely banjaxed.

He is as happy as larry and producing poo & wee by the bucketload. I'm back to considering the F-word, as sleep deprivation is taking its toll on my health and sanity...

Off to bed for a kip whilst he snoozes in a milk-induced stupor...

Smellen - I could have written your last post, except it's jabs day today for DD and she's def not happy as larry about it.

it gets easier, it gets easier, it gets easier, it gets easer (repeat ad nauseam to fade...)

Smellen (and Pennies) - it does get easier. This time seems to take forever when you're in it (particularly with your first baby) but after it's gone, it seems so short.

If you want to keep bf, you can. It sounds like your supply, and your babies, are fine.

One thing that really helps with the sleep deprivation is cosleeping. If your baby is next to you, you don't have to get out of bed to feed them, you can even fall asleep mid-feed. I think I started feeding without even waking, eventually.

Well, at least you can put a boob in her mouth after the injection and it will cheer her up pretty quickly. Another benefit of breastfeeding!!

Managed to get DS to kip in pram and have grabbed an hour's shut eye myself. Hope you manage to get your head down too at some point.

I look at some of the other posts in this section and ask myself if I'm being a tad selfish complaining that my baby wants to feed... but by heck, it's hard work, innit?!

BTW, when DS had his jabs, we gave him 2.5ml of Calpol in the evening as he seemed out of sorts. Perhaps you'd want to ask your doc first, as it might depend on baby's size - Calpol not usually indicated for baby's less than 3 months, but if you have a wee porker, might be OK.

All the best

Thanks for your support/advice NQC.

I have tried co-sleeping, with limited success. I pop him on the boob after the 6-7am feed and try to get an extra hour of snooze that way. However, I'm not particularly over-endowed in the breast department (even now, dammit!) so practically have to hold baby in position during the feed, then sneak him back down to lying position when he drifts off... When I want to swap him to the other boob, I get out of bed and get in on the other side. It's a bit of a palaver!

After the feed I spend the next hour dozing on & off, terrified that I will roll onto him. It's not quite the cosy sleep-in I hear about from others.

Do you think it would help to shock horror give him a bottle of f&@*a at 7pm? That is when my milk supply seems to the most scarce. I could still wake him and give him a full double-barrelled shot of mummy's milk at 11pm. Have you or anyone else tried this? Will it help DS settle a bit?

If I don't cave in, is he likely to continue this feeding frenzy indefinitely, or might he return to his good old 7pm-11pm-3am habits? He is a big boy, 12lb 10lb at 8 and a half weeks. Part of me wonders whether he is just a little more hungry than I can handle on my own. (I appreciate that physically I can produce enough milk, but I'm not sure if I can handle the lack of sleep that the constant feeding entails. I'm feeling run down. I fear he will need to be on the boob almost constantly given his size).

What do you think?

It's funny, I've always thought smaller-breasted was easier for cosleeping. I'm certainly far from norktastic, myself, and have always found cosleeping really easy.

I lie on my side, with my bottom arm out, around the baby (over, as in, around the top of his head). This also keeps me from rolling over onto him, iyswim. You can change the angle you lie at, to ensure your nipple is at a good height.

I think all the people who rolled over on their babies died out, iyswim. I know lots of very happy, still alive, children who coslept when little.

I don't think formula helps with sleep. I think it can lead to tummy upset, as it can be a shock to the system.

What I used to do, when desperate for sleep with DS1, was express milk first thing in the morning (while he fed on the other side), then give him that bottle at bedtime, with boob afterwards. I don't know if it helped.

If you drop the 7pm feed and replace it with formula, that will reduce your milk supply, not increase it.

Yep, see what you mean about diminishing milk supply at 7pm, but I should maintain it for the other eight or nine feeds each day, shouldn't I?

God, I am so beating myself up over this!! Like I said to my mum, if he starts smoking as a teenager, I will be so cheesed off.

PS. NQC - DS takes both boobs per feed, so can't express off one for later consumption. Also, how did you manage getting your baby latched on the left boob (if you are on the left hand side of the bed and facing inwards, IYSWIM?)

Am I making this more complicated than it need be? Afer 11 weeks of this breastfeeding lark, one becomes slightly obsessive / mad!!

I would move the baby from one side of me to the other - get up on my knees, shift baby, lie down again. If baby ends up on the outside of the bed, I'd put my bf pillow between him and the edge. If the bf pillow fell off the bed, that would wake me.

Your boobs don't know what time it is. If you stop feeding at 7pm, they don't say "oh, ok, don't make milk for then", they say "ok, we don't need so much milk".

Also, it's worth noting that emptier breasts = fattier milk. So yes, your baby might be snacking like mad in the evening, and your boobs are soft, but that doesn't mean you have a supply problem, that means your baby is filling up for the night. I remember DS2 going through phases of eating a lot in the evenings.

You can feed off one side, express off the other, then give baby the side that's been expressed from. Your boobs are never empty, and baby is better at getting milk from them than any pump.

you get better at co-sleeping, even with small boobs as you practice. I after much worry I can now roll dd across me from one side to the other with hardly waking up. if you feed both boobs per feed, you can still pump one while baby feeds and offer the 'pumped' one second. Your boob will not be empty and it is by you baby working away at the hind milk that your baby will get the message to make more milk. I can't pump while I feed so I pump afterwards with a double pump and still get some out of the 'empty one'. its your baby sucking on soft breasts that tells your body to increase supply.

The other thing to do is to pump halfway between your next expected feed. Your body will learn to make that extra feed at that time. For example, I feed dd at 7pm and pump at 8.30 pm. as I leave ebm at nursery for her. By 10.30 she wakes for another feed.

Be warned, pumping is a skill your brain and body have to learn so don't be disheartened if at first you just get drops.

When I co-slept with DS I placed a pillow behind my back so I could lean back slightly & be supported so my nipple was the right height for him. I also took the legs off the bed & placed a pillow on the floor in case he rolled off..he never did, one slight movement & I woke up.

It does seem frustrating when your breasts aren't as full in the evening when you want to be filling them up. But as someone said, this milk is high in fats which will make your baby feel full for longer.

Do really want to be farting about with bottles & sterilisers when its on tap 24/7??

Thanks for all the tips. Will keep practising!! DS still up every 3 hours overnight for a feed, but both our colds getting better, so feel less miserable 'bout it today. Getting him weighed this afternoon, so hope that he has been stacking the pounds on - will make the sleep deprivation a little more bearable.

Does anyone know if and when BF babes might start sleeping for longer at night?

Anyway, thanks for the support. Hope your little one coped alright with the jabs, Pennies. All the best.

Thanks for all the tips. Will keep practising!! DS still up every 3 hours overnight for a feed, but both our colds getting better, so feel less miserable 'bout it today. Getting him weighed this afternoon, so hope that he has been stacking the pounds on - will make the sleep deprivation a little more bearable.

Does anyone know if and when BF babes might start sleeping for longer at night?

Anyway, thanks for the support. Hope your little one coped alright with the jabs, Pennies. All the best.