Will I dry up?

[Newatthis]

At 5 1/2 mths, I have started giving my DS bottles rather than breastfeeds as my milk was not sustaining him and amount available was decreasing. I am now only giving him one breastfeed at 4/5am. If I only give this feed will my breasts dry up completely as they are not being used inbetween?

Your milk supply will start to dwindle over time but it may well be that you are able to sustain this feed for quite a while. You can re-establish breastfeeding at any time though by increasing the number of feeds. The more you feed, the more you make. At 5 1/2 months it is unlikely you did not have enough milk, you have obviously done a grand job so far. It is more likely that you did not have enough confidence in yourself. Babies behave in all sorts of ways that can be misread as hunger at this age. If you are happy with your decision then carry on. However, if you are disappointed it might be a good idea to speak to a local breastfeeding counsellor. You have done really well to have fed this long.

My dd is 5 1/2 months also and has had nothing but bmilk. Mears is right it's about confidence. If you want to carry on breastfeeding and dont want to supplement then you dont have to. My neighbour fed triplets for a year no problems. My dd is doing very well and I have no idea how much she takes but she is v happy and has lots of nappies. I cant feel whether my breasts are producing loads but there obviously are cos she manages so well. It really is supply and demand and if you cut down how often you feed then you're not stimulating your breats to produce as often iyswim.

He used to take 10 minutes to empty a breast and that dropped to 4mins and he was crying afterwards. He certainly seems happier now, sleeps better at night and in the day. After the newborn stage, I fed him more to a routine than the demand feeding of when he was little, so maybe that was the prob. Think I will improve chances of returning to a sex life with DH if I carry on the path I'm on now though..