Can I increase supply at 22weeks?

[DeeBeee]

DS1 is over 5 months. I have had a difficult time with breastfeeding; he lost a lot of weight initially, I struggled to increase my milk supply. For the past 3 months we've settled into a pattern I am happy with - I give a bottle of formula at the 7pm feed as I don't have enough milk, the rest of the feeds I breastfeed. He was tracking a curve at just shy of 50th percentile.

In the past week or 2 I feel my milk supply is reduced. My breasts feel less full (by now I know exactly how full they get) and he is hungry after feeds. When I top up formula after the feed he guzzles it. It's not a growth spurt as it's going on 2 weeks now. I did go on a pretty strict diet as I am so fed up with my baby blubber and now I am wondering if that is to blame.

My question is - is it possible to increase my milk supply this late in the game? I was hoping to continue breastfeeding until 9 months but now I am worried I won't have enough milk...

Yes, it's always possible to increase your milk.....it works the same way as it does at any other time, regardless of the baby's age :)

You have had a difficult time and it can be hard to keep feeling confident when you have been through worries like you have.

Your diet will not have affected your production of milk in any way so you can file that away under myth :)

If you think your baby is hungry after feeding, then put him on the breast again (swapping sides). Feed him more often, switching sides in the same way. This might well be all you need to do, to boost supply and intake.

What do you think?

He may of course be just fine and his fussing may be a stage of behaviour. Giving more formula makes you produce less milk so it's not an answer.

Thanks tiktok, I was hoping for a reply from you!! It's a relief to know my dieting won't affect my milk. I'd like to try increasing my milk (again). At the moment I feed DS from both sides at every feed, so I think I'd need to spend the day continuously swapping sides. I have tried swapping sides twice - ie feeding from '4 breasts', but that still leaves him hungry. So I think I'd need to literally spend the whole day with him on the breast. Do you think a couple of days of doing that will be enough? I'd be worried to go for longer as I had him weighed today and he's slipped down to nearly the 25th percentile from 50th, over one month period.

Many thanks for your support!

Yep - coupla days of intensive switching should do it :)

A drop from 50th to 25th is not significant at all, though - well within normal.

Thanks - I'll give it a try then