Maintaining supply with reduced night feeds

8 replies

lullaby23 · 15/12/2015 07:35

DS is 7.5mo and we have been working with a sleep consultant to improve his nights as he was waking/feeding 7 or 8 times a night and I wanted to stop co-sleeping and get him in his own room.

It all seems to be working well and he is now waking at 3 for a quick BF then back down til 6.30 which is perfect.

Obviously going from so many feeds to just 1 is a big drop and when he first started getting in longer stretches I would feel very engorged throughout the night and into the morning especially in the side he didn't feed on. But now it seems to have settled down - is that normal? Will my boobs have learned to adapt so quickly? This doesn't mean my supply will tank?

After a rocky few weeks when he was first born we both got on so well with BF and I never worried about supply, he was EBF til 6 months when he weighed in at a dainty 9.6kg and I want to carry on til at least a year.

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ingenvillvetavardukoptdintroja · 15/12/2015 07:39

They should just magically adjust. When he got his own room, mine reduced overnight to one feed from 4! After a couple of nights, the boobs got the message and stopped being massive rocks. I did nearly drown at night in the meantime....

Diddlydokey · 15/12/2015 11:17

He probably wasn't actually taking in that much milk as he wouldn't need it (as you can tell!!) so yes they should readjust to the new schedule.

daluze · 15/12/2015 11:50

Yes, they readjust very quickly. It's like magic :)

Original poster

lullaby23 · 15/12/2015 12:12

Thanks all, it really is magic! I have a new found respect for my norks.

I haven't been leaking much either only need the nuk ones which are really thin. Super!

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daluze · 15/12/2015 14:07

Hope you get more sleep now! Sleep is also magic :)

boredwithfoodprob · 16/12/2015 23:01

Do you mind me asking how you managed to stop co-sleeping/bf through the night? I also have a 7.5 month old who wakes up many times a night to feed. Desperate to get him into his own room or at least his own bed! 😁

Trickytricky · 16/12/2015 23:32

I was coming on to ask almost exactly the same thing. My DD is 10 weeks and now sleeps through so my supply has dropped. DD is EBF but I'm going away soon so need to express enough milk to keep her going and now supply has dropped this is proving tricky. I used to express quite quickly (4oz in about 15mins) but now 1oz takes about 10mins. Any suggestions?

Original poster

lullaby23 · 17/12/2015 13:53

bored I went down the sleep consultant route (Ann Caird at Nurturing Sleep, often recommended on here) as really wanted some guidance through it. Not finished yet but we have made great improvements and DH fully involved and her methods don't involve CC which I wanted to avoid.

tricky I am no expert on BF but I imagine 10 weeks is quite early not to be feeding at night and your supply might not be completely established. Sleep is so changeable though at that age things may change in the coming weeks. How long are you away for? What time of day are you expressing? Is it between feeds? I think supply is meant to be highest at night can you set an alarm and pump over night? (A real pain if your DD is sleeping through though!)

My DS won't take a bottle any more but when I was expressing regularly I would feed him on one side and express on the other first thing in the morning. Amounts expressed varied though. Can you up your water intake, eat oats, try lactation cookies, fenugreek all that? Good luck!

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