Am I drying up?

[Christelle2207]

DS is now 12 weeks. Really struggled with bf initially before realising I just don't have enough milk for him. Since he was about 3 weeks old we have been in the routine of me expressing at lunchtime, late evening and c. 3 am, roughly at the same time as him having a bottle of formula. He still bf in the mornings and early evenings, this is topped up by up to 150ml of expressed breast milk in a bottle each time. Complicated system, but works for us.

For the past few days I have noticed that I can express almost nothing (10-20ml instead of 100-120ml) at 3 am and I have less milk for him in the mornings (he gets frustrated). Expressing at lunchtime and late evening, and his bf early evening seem unaffected at the mo.
Am worried though that I can no longer express at 3am and have less milk later in the morning. Am I drying up and is this a losing battle?

I use medela swing pump.

I have previously used fenugreek to up my supply, the first two bottles did help a bit so have ordered a third bottle in the hope that my morning milk will come back. I ideally want to continue to bf at much as I can till Christmas at least.

Any advice much appreciated, thanks

The thing with BF is that it is a supply and demand system so the more you BF, the more milk you make, and the less you BF the less milk you make. Expressing helps maintain supply but it is not nearly as efficient as your baby feeding and ultimately it is very challenging to maintain a steady supply through expressing.

How would you feel about BF more for a few days? As frequently as possible. Frequency matters more than length if feed for upping supply. Always offer both sides.

You cannot run out of milk so expressed top ups are not necessary, you need to feed longer instead. Have you tried swapping sides twice, by which I mean, feed on one side, then the other, then go back to the first. Milk is made as baby suckles so please don't be concerned about running out or being empty.

The best time to feed to up supply is the early hours of the morning (I know its so tiring!) so I definitely BF at this time rather than express.

It will take a good few days of pretty intense, frequently offering the breast and not a lot else. Do you feel able to do this? Put your feet up and enjoy the cuddles with your baby. Try lots of skin to skin as well and lovely bonding time. BF is linked closely to your happy hormones.

May I ask why you originally thought you did not have enough milk?

You've done great to get to 12 weeks when it's been challenging and I think having a goal of Christmas is a really good thing.

Thanks a lot for this. I feel I don't have enough, or rather my flow is not fast enough for a hungry baby because in the early weeks he was attached to my boob constantly 24/7 and was always cranky and frustrated and never satisfied for more than 2 minutes. And I was constantly changing breasts. As soon as I introduced bottles I had breaks! And after a decent break he could get a better feed from the boob. He lost weight until we offered bottles. I thought he may have a problem with his latch but a consultant ruled this out and said that it was my flow that was the problem.

I can certainly increase the frequency with which I offer the breast and will try that, thanks, but I think I will still need to supplement these feeds with bottles.

Curious about what the consultant said about slow flow. I'm in the process of trying to get from mix feeds to ebf (13 wo ds and have been trying for 12 weeks!)
I've read on kellymom about ways to speed up let down, which I've found really effective, but are there ways to increase flow? Satisfy a baby that it used to a bottle? I may still be thinking about this the wrong way, so is it a case of shortening the time between successive let downs or increasing the amount of milk in each one ?

As for drying up, by feeding more, especially at night, I've noticed increased supply, so I'd say it isn't too late and nothing is irreversible.

I had to pump exclusively for 2 weeks when DS was the same age, and saw a great lactation consultant who gave me the confidence that you don't need to breastfeed exclusively to maintain supply, so mixing is possible!

That said, it does sound like you might need to either pump or feed more to keep up your supply - this is one of the reasons that so many mixed feeders end up drying up. When I was pumping exclusively I found that my supply started to dwindle unless I pumped every 3.5 hours, including at night - not everyone finds this, but if your flow is already a bit low then you might need the boost.

Could you do a few days of staying at home with your feet up in front of the TV/kindle (or with a calm and chatty friend or relative) and suckling whenever DS gives a peep? It can help to bring supply back up. Also, I found that the bf helplines and LLI were great resources for expressing and more information.

I don't think there's much doubt that if you've been giving only two breastfeeds and expressing 3 times in every 24 hours, this will have a very negative effect on your milk supply. To build and maintain a supply you would need to feed/express a minimum of 8 times every 24 hours really. Do you feel this is something you can do?

I think it is probably worth discussing with someone who really knows about Breastfeeding everything here from the start so you can put a plan in place to achieve what you want. One of the BF helplines maybe or a good Breastfeeding support group, perhaps a la leche league one?

Just to add, the return of menstruation can cause a temporary dip in supply and if you're 12 weeks post partum, it's not unrealistic that your periods may be returning if they haven't already, so that could be a factor here too.

The more you feed, the more you will produce - literally. I came back from zero once - it's very possible.

Also, I've been mixed feeding using a nursing supplementer. A homemade one as they are very expensive. It means there's more time stimulating the breast and less chance of nipple confusion. Although they still expect the faster flow like a bottle gives.

Thanks for all of this. Although I have only been bf twice a day it's always been for 2-3 hour stints so I thought a fair bit of stimulation. Anyway going to try and bf as much as I can for the next few days, also drink loads because in the past have noticed that less drinking= less milk. With the weather gone cold just realised I've drunk very little other than tea and coffee last few days.
Yes my periods could be returning, an interesting theory.

The behaviour you describe in the first 2 weeks sounds like normal behaviour from a BF baby to me, they have very different feeding patterns to FF babies. It's incredibly hard work those first weeks. FF gives you 'breaks' because it takes longer for a baby to digest and makes them feel full and sleepy. It does not mean they are getting a greater quantity of milk.

The first 2 weeks are the most important for setting up your supply so you've already put in the ground work and should be able to increase your supply with more frequent feeding fairly simply. It will just be very time consuming for a few days, and an adjustment because they do have different feeding habits (less routined, more frequent). You're right about having plenty of fluids and they say BF takes an extra 200 calories a day only but it makes me RAVINOUS so have plenty of healthy snacks available. It won't effect your supply but you will feel better in yourself.

I hope that helps and good luck!