I think my milk has dried up!!

rickman · 2006-06-20T06:56:30+00:00

:( Ds is 20 months old and last night and this morning, he has tried to feed but just keeps breaking off and crying. His feeding has been erratic for ages and I was still very much feeding on demand, which might mean loads of feeds some days and hardly any the next. Is there anything I can do to get my supply back or is this just natures way of telling me it's time to stop. I might not be back on line until late this afternoon, but wanted to post this now so I didn't miss any advice from the daytime people.

NotQuiteCockney · 20/06/2006 08:03

Unless he's been going without feeding for weeks at a time, it's unlikely your milk has dried up. (Particularly if he normally feeds at least once per day - after 20 months, once/day is definately enough to keep your supply going.)

I'd just offer more, if you want to make sure nothing's wrong. I suspect he's teething or otherwise ill. Or maybe he has a mouth ulcer or similar?

Miaou · 20/06/2006 08:07

Have you tried expressing a little to see if there is any there? Even a drop?

Have to agree with NQC, my first thought would be teething/cut in his mouth etc.

trinityrhino · 20/06/2006 08:09

does he want just comfort and not milk, for whatever reason, and is getting annoyed with the milk coming down?

maybe he has a sore tooth or mouth and the sucking isn't comfy at the mo

I wouldn't have thought that your milk has dried up at all

tiktok · 20/06/2006 08:17

rickman, there's no reason for your milk to dry up and it really doesn't happen like that. There's something affecting him, but it won't be lack of milk. Hope it gets sorted.

honeybunny · 20/06/2006 21:17

My dd gave me up at 10mo because of a depletion in supply. She'd fret so much for her last night time drink that I made the mistake of introducing a bottle and after a couple of days she'd scream her head off if I even tried to lay her at the breast. So I guess I'm saying does he have beakers for water, could he be frustrated that the flow is much slower than that, or am I just speaking form my own experiences. Tiktok is the expert, I'd listen to her!

honeybunny · 20/06/2006 21:17

My dd gave me up at 10mo because of a depletion in supply. She'd fret so much for her last night time drink that I made the mistake of introducing a bottle and after a couple of days she'd scream her head off if I even tried to lay her at the breast. So I guess I'm saying does he have beakers for water, could he be frustrated that the flow is much slower than that, or am I just speaking form my own experiences. Tiktok is the expert, I'd listen to her!

honeybunny · 20/06/2006 21:18

My dd gave me up at 10mo because of a depletion in supply. She'd fret so much for her last night time drink that I made the mistake of introducing a bottle and after a couple of days she'd scream her head off if I even tried to lay her at the breast. So I guess I'm saying does he have beakers for water, could he be frustrated that the flow is much slower than that, or am I just speaking form my own experiences. Tiktok is the expert, I'd listen to her!

Original poster

rickman · 20/06/2006 22:10

Thanks for reassuring me. I guess I thought that milk could have gone because it doesn't feel like there is anything there anymore.

He did finally have a feed at about 6.30 this evening. He definitely prefers one side to the other and I offered him the least favoured side before he went to sleep and he wasn't interested.

Maybe he is weanign himself off. I don't know really, he doesn't seem to be ill or teething. He normally feeds more then. If he has decided that he's had enough then I'm happy with that. It was my decision to feed as long as I could this time after being torn up with guilt when I stopped feeding dd at 6 months. That was part of my reason for having another baby, I wanted to get it right this time. I may have succeeded with the breast feeding but I have certainly cocked up in lots of other ways though. :o

OP posts:

lazycow · 15/08/2006 10:28

Is it possible he is in pain? sometimes a sore throat/ear can make sucking painful - so although they want to (because it usually works to alleviate pain) they find that the sucking makes things worse so they get upset. Just a thought.

lazycow · 15/08/2006 10:31

Sorry - I am always doing this I get confused as to where the top of the screen is (don't ask) and end up posting on really old threads - This is an old thread- ignore me - Hopefully Rickman has this sorted now.

Will go off and do something useful now