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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Original poster

Can I boost my milk supply back up after tummy bug or is this the end?

9 replies

LMonkey · 28/09/2013 17:26

Don't know if any of you can help but just wondering if anyone has any suggestions how I could boost my milk supply back up. DS is 9 months old, I have still been breastfeeding him although not a lot as I am now back at work full time Sad so have just been doing a morning feed if poss and his bedtime feed and any others that I am able to do, which works for us. However we all went down with a tummy bug this week and I didn't end up breastfeeding him for a couple of days, partly because on one day I was so ill and also I was advised by the doctor not to, as even breast milk wouldn't be good for his tummy, apparently. Since I have started breastfeeding him again, I have found that he is sucking very hard and for a very long time (painful for me too), and is still unhappy afterwards and I really don't think he is getting much out, especially as my milk supply wasn't huge before the tummy bug due to him being on solids and not being with him as much. My boobs don't feel like there's anything left in them! I wanted to breast feed until he was a year old really but it may be the end of the line now Sad. Any suggestions? Thanks

OP posts:
JugglingChaotically · 28/09/2013 17:40

Express regularly. Even if at work you have to throw it away. The medela swing is great but noisy..... So I had a hand one too.
when I had the same problem after appendicitis I expressed and dumped for days to get my milk supply bag up and even hired a double pump for use at home for a week too.
It is really hard work and everyone told me to give it up as the first weeks were most important (DD was 7weeks) but I didn't and fed her till a year.
Good luck!

Original poster
LMonkey · 28/09/2013 17:43

The last time I expressed (before tummy bug) I literally got a dribble out, so I didn't know if I should bother. I suppose I could give it a go as maybe just the pumping action could encourage the milk to come out, even if not much does come out?

OP posts:
WhispersOfWickedness · 28/09/2013 17:43

Drink loads of water, I'm sure that's what got my supply going again after I had a bug when dc1 was 7 weeks old. Think the GP was wrong about breast milk btw, it's the best thing for them to have during a tummy bug Sad

BinarySolo · 28/09/2013 17:49

Poor you. I also think the gp was wrong about breast milk. One of the great things about extended breast feeding is that you can provide comfort and get nutrition into your child when they are ill. I bf ds1 until he was 2.

Drink plenty of water and maybe express when you're feeding so you stimulate both sides at once. Good luck.

justwondering72 · 28/09/2013 19:01

Terrible advice from the gp. Breast milk is the one thing they can keep having through stomach bugs. Even if they do puke it up, they well have absorbed some fluid and the anti bodies to help fight off the bug.

Your supply hasn't gone anywhere. If you have bf for nine months then your ability to produce milk is well established, and it did not disappear over night. The main thing to do is to feed your baby often and avoid offering alternatives. You don't say if he's getting bottles as well? When he's with you, offer to nurse often, and don't push the solids, bm has way more readily available nutrition than any solids you could offer him.

Doesn't have to be the end, but you need to persist with bf to keep it going.

Original poster
LMonkey · 28/09/2013 19:46

I know, I was surprised when the doctor said that, he said that even breast milk has stuff in it that the stomach can't tolerate if it's unwell, then another doctor I spoke to said she would breast feed if it was her, so I started again when I heard that. DS is bottle fed as well justwondering72, but only when I'm not with him.

Thanks for all your help, I am going to try and carry on!

OP posts:
SheldorAFK · 29/09/2013 02:40

Just FYI, my GP once told me the same thing - not to bf during a terrible vomitting bug I had. He said the bug would be passed through my breast milk to baby and make her vomit also.

DeathMetalMum · 29/09/2013 09:33

I agree about the advive from gp terrible. We all had a tummy bug when dd2 was about 3 months and old and ebf I just about managed to continue bf between trips to the loo and exhaustion, dd2 was the only one not to have the bug. Sleep and lots and lots of water kept my supply going.

MoaningMingeWhingesAgain · 29/09/2013 10:25

so sad to read what poor advice several of you have had from the GP. If you have a bug the baby will be exposed to it anyway but continued bfing helps them to produce antibodies to fight it off so they may not get it but if they do its likely to be milder and recover quicker.

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