Milk supply when baby is sleeping through

[twinmummy2]

My baby is 9 weeks old and has been sleeping from her last feed (7pm) through to 7.30am for about a week (seems a bit too good to be true but am not going to knock it whilst it lasts!). She also feeds at 11am and 3pm. She is breastfeeding but at 7pm I give her a bottle of expressed milk so my husband can feed her whilst I spend time getting our twins to bed.
When I express in the evening once the twins are down, I am getting less and less milk, I express in the morning to make up enough for the evening feed. I am worried that I will reach the point where nothing is coming off when I express in the evening...will only feeding my baby three times a day, with a long gap from 3pm to 7.30am cause my milk to dry up? I really want to continue breastfeeding but don't want to have to spend hours expressing in the evening when I am pretty tired! Any advice gratefully received!

Can you just clarify that you are only feeding your 9 week old 3 times a day?

I really don't think that's enough, tbh I would be looking for at least 6-12+ feeds a day at this age (and 6 would be at the very low end). Is she producing enough wet and poo-ey nappies (6 wet disposables/8 wet cloth and pref. 2 liquid poos) and is her weight gain okay?

Can you get more feeds in her, keeping her close as possible during the day to get her feeding as soon as she signals that she is hungry or just offer at every chance you get?

The worry is some very laid back babies will be quite happy on minimal feeds and just not ask until it's very important they get more milk in them, by which time it's a hard slog to recover mum's milk supply.

expressing milk is never a good indicator of what your baby can actually suckle directly from the breast, but you can try and maximise your expressing through using different techniques. there's a section on kellymom HERE that may help.

I'm not sure the sleeping through will last (sorry!) Baby's sleep patterns change with their development, so she may be back waking in the night again.

How much are you feeding during the day? You could try to increase your day time feeds (every three hours, instead of every four, for example), or express on one side whilst feeding from the other as well.

Thanks very much for the replies. She is feeding four times a day (roughly 7.30am, 11am, 3pm and 7pm), with only the last feed being expressed and all others from the breast. She feeds for around an hour off both breasts, and is putting on weight well, and staying awake and alert for longer periods. Her behaviour does not indicate any problem with milk supply during the day, i feed her til she refuses any more- but obviously I don't want to risk jeopardising that if I can no longer get much off at 7pm and she is only then feeding three times a day from me.

Thinking about it my twins started sleeping through at 13weeks but they were born at 37 weeks and she was 8 days late so it works out kind of the same timing - as they were bottle fed I have no experience of the breastfeeding which is why I feel a bit uncertain about it all!

Thanks especially for that link on expressing which is great.

It may be worth a call to one of the bfing helplines to discuss expressing options then as I can't see 3 bfs and 1-2 expressing sessions at 9 weeks as long term sustainable (9 months yes it would be) though that may not be an issue for you if you were planning on winding down bfing soon.

I wonder though would she feed for shorter periods if she fed more frequently? Just a wonder!

I feed on demand, and my DS is much older than yours. But I think that at 3/4 months my DS was feeding more regularly than every four hours and sometimes they were mammoth feeds!

you know your baby best of all, but it might help to increase your supply and help to keep up with developmental spurts to try some demand feeding, or feed more frequently.

you could either keep expressing (if you manage to get enough milk) for that last feed, or swap with your DH so he gets the twins to bed instead.

Thank you for the great tips -think I will give one of the helplines a call too :) I definitely want to keep the breastfeeding up as it is such a lovely experience and very convenient when trying to juggle my twins too!

DD3 is 7 weeks and has started sleeping through too. I feed on demand and she probably only has 4 or 5 feeds a day. Can I ask why you don't just feed the baby yourself and let DH put the twins to bed? Seems like you're making extra work for yourself.

or feed the baby while you do some of the bedtime stuff with DH helping?

i know the feeling of not wanting to neglect your older one(s) but it does sound a lot of work!

DS2 is 10 weeks and we sometimes just kind of pass him back and forth while getting DS1 to bed. i often feed while reading his story or while DH does his nappy and gets pjs on.

if DS2 happens to be fed and settled, DH does take him to the living room, while i spend the time with DS1.

(DS2 feeds on and off all evening so i just have to work round it.)

My DD slept through from 8 weeks and luckily still does now at 7.5 months. I was worried about my milk supply and apart from being uncomfortable and leaking a lot the first few nights it was fine.

Having said that she had six breastfeeds in the day until a few weeks ago when she really started to eat 3 meals a day. I'd drop the expressed milk at bedtime if you can so you only go through the evening and overnight without feeding her.

Thanks everyone- it is really reassuring to hear others have continued the breastfeeding despite baby going through the night early on. The reason I express instead of feeding her in the evening is because I want her to be happy also taking a bottle so I know if I need to leave her for any reason someone else can feed her, and the evening feed is the only one where I generally have help so I don't have to both feed her and then express.