Totally gutted about my supply vanishing after being poorly.

[everythinghippie29]

DS is 14 weeks and has been EBF he has the odd expressed bottle but we have been feeding really well and if anything I've had a very heavy milk supply.

I've been poorly the past few days due to Tonsilitus. I'd also had a massive allergic reaction and so had been taking antihistamines to keep itchy rash to a minimum. DS has been a bit under the weather as well.

DS dropped a few feeds with being poorly and slept through the night and quite a lot during the day. As I was ill I slept quite a lot too and didn't express. I woke up this morning and my breasts feel saggy and totally empty. I settled in for the day and have had lots of skin to skin and I've tried to put DS to feed every hour but he will not latch very well at all. He gets frustrated as I assume there isn't anything coming out. After every feed I've been expressing and over the course of the day (from around a total of about 8 hours expressing across the day have manged to get about 7oz off which is about a quarter of my usual production ) DS seems ok but has only had 3 wet/dirty nappies all day which is about half of the usual.

Its been such a stressful day, I was hoping to see a difference by this evening after feeding/expressing all day but if anything I'm expressing even less now and am not experiencing even a little bit of let down.

I've got my alarm set to express/feed through the night but am worried I won't be able to get my supply back and continue.

Has anyone else had been able to regain a good supply after a sudden and significant drop?

Soft breasts aren't a sign of low supply and also the amount you express doesn't tell you how much you're producing.

Your supply might have been affected during illness, but nothing you've said suggests it definitely has.

DS might just not want to feed every hour at the moment. :) I'm not sure about the nappy output, it might be a one off day?

Hopefully bumping this up will get you some expert advice, but it really doesn't sound definitely worrying on what you've said. (as a non expert who spends to much time round here )

Try Kellymom.com as it might have some reassuring info too.

Hope you all feel better soon.

Also all the expressing sounds like a lot of work if you're feeling under the weather, are you needing to do it for a reason, or just for your odd bottle you mentioned?

Kepp on feeding - it sounds as though you are doing all the right things.
I ebf DTs for 10 months and always found expressing a struggle, even if I missed a feed for some reason (so there 'should' have been milk there, if you see what I mean).

SOunds like you know what you are doing - give it a few days of loads of skin to skin and lots of feeding / expressing if he's not interested and DON'T reach for a 'top-up' bottle ;)

I had the same issue with DS when we both got a nasty cold for a week - he was too congested to feed properly, I was exhausted and was gutted that it seemed to have dried me up :-( We got back to normal, after lots of skin to skin, cosleeping and night feeding, and masses and masses of tiny feeds (even when it seemed like he wasn't super keen, I figured a few sucks was better than nothing, and would use this as the start to a pumping session). It actually only took a few days but it felt like forever.

In the meantime, be sure you aren't taking decongestants (they can dry up supply), and don't worry too much! If your baby is really thirsty and needs some formula, it doesn't have to mean an end to ebfing, I know plenty of people who have had some formula and gone back to full time feeding, so long as you are really keen and have support. The most important thing is that your baby is healthy and that you are healthy, hope you feel better soon!

It might be the antihistamine causing a problem - can you get advice from the pharmacist?

this link may reassure you.

Thanks gunpowder that'd the bit I was thinking of!