BF for nearly 6mths, now losing milk supply - help!

[ZamMummy]

Can someone help me?
My DS is nearly 6mths old and I've been bf with few problems up till now, though I've always suffered with a drop off in supply in the evening. He breastfeeds usually 4 times a day, then has a 200-240ml bottle of formula for his last feed which he takes over about an hour and a half, between 6 & 8. He then sleeps all the way through till 6 in the morning! So I am incredibly lucky.
My problem now is that I had an ear infection last week and have now got Bell's Palsy (temporary facial paralysis). I have been taking antibiotics (Cefalexin) for a week (nearly finished now) and have also been prescribed steroids (Prednisolone) and Diclofenac anti-inflammatories. I've checked with my doctor and they are all safe to take while breastfeeding, but ever since I started taking this cocktail my supply has been drastically down, DS empties both breasts (he normally just feeds from one side, or one and a bit) but is still frantically hungry afterwards so I have started topping up with formula.

Is there any way I can increase my supply without taking him to bed with me? He's now SO active that I can't see that working, plus I'm really not feeling well. Or can I stick with the supplementing for now and go back to fully bf again once I'm recovered?
BTW, he's not on solids yet, and I'm eating oatmeal porridge every day.
Sorry for the overlong post!

can you just feed him more often for a while until your supply kicks in again ? Usually supplementing with formula means you are not getting the stimulation and you get a downward spiral.

Don't know how helpful this will be but it's a site by a pharmacologist who advises on interactions between meds and b/f - think Mears recommended it originally - may have some alternative meds you could suggest to your doc?

dr hale

I would say put him back to the first side once he's finished on the second rather than topping up. He won't have emptied it - not possible.

I think it may be that your DS is having a growth spurt - and that's coupled with your understandable anxiety about the meds you're taking having an effect on your supply and his increasing activity meaning he's not that fussed about feeding.

If you want to keep bfeeding, you need to work on giving him less formula.

Good luck with it - I'd stop the top-ups, personally.

ZamMummy, try putting your baby back onto breast no. 1 after he has been on both sides. There will be milk there. You can put him back on breast no. 2 after he has been on breast no, 1 again, too....'switch nursing' like this boosts supply.

4 feeds a day are not enough for most women to build up and maintain a supply, especially with that long gap in the evening.
I can't comment on the meds you are taking, but none of them is associated with a drop in milk supply, as I understand it, and I think the drop is more likely to do with the large bottle of formula, the gap in the feeds, and the small no. of breastfeeds, coupled with you being ill which may have had a small temporary impact, as well.

Good luck with this.

Should add - feed more often in the day and reduce the formula a bit, at least, if you can, and top him up after with a breastfeed.

Thanks all for your advice and support. Definitely seems a bit better today so will keep going. It's such an emotional thing, breastfeeding - once I'd decided not to feel guilty if I ended up stopping, back came the milk!

DS has also just learned to stand and won't do anything else (sitting is just so last week....and as for sleep, well that's an evil plot designed by adults specifically to prevent standing!) so I think all feeding's going to be a bit of a battle for a while!

You should also just recheck your diet. Are you still drinking plenty of water? I've always found oats work well at increasing milk production.