Drop in supply/letdown - help!

[Loops81]

I’ve battled oversupply and a forceful letdown for four months and suddenly things have turned upside down. My letdown started taking ages to happen and the baby was getting frustrated, meanwhile I was getting more and more tense - so started expressing and feeding her with a bottle for a couple of days. Even though I expressed every feed I’ve noticed my supply has absolutely plummeted and I can’t feel the letdown most of the time - sometimes it comes after she’s been sucking for a long time. I’ve stopped the bottles now to focus on increasing the supply. I assume she’s getting some milk because she’s not screaming, but She is definitely not getting big satisfying feeds and I’m very worried. Has anyone else been through this and is t possible to get the supply back up?

Four months! Things change at four months. Babies don’t feed as long, they are distracted and fussy. Your supply settles down, and you may stop talking and having such obvious let downs/engorgement.

Don’t let the amount you express fool you about supply. Because your supply is settling down, it’s more demand led, and expressing doesn’t always mimic baby-demand very well. If your baby is growing, has ample wet and dirty nappies, then don’t worry.

I think it’s normal to stop feeling the let down after a while, I certainly recall this happening with DD1. And sometimes, in spite of my babies growing etc and not howling all day, I found I couldn’t even pump an ounce.
I suppose what I am saying is I am not sure those things are indicative of a falling supply. Can you contact a BF advice person to chat it through?

I prescribe a nurse in!

If you can, do lots of skin to skin, carry the baby as much as possible, let her nurse as much as she wants. Bet you a Chocolate Orange your supply will be fine in 2 or 3 days.

I found that even when I felt no let down there was adequate milk there for DD.

Also baby is much better at getting milk, much better at it than when you express.
This is my experience and I’m still bf. Hope it helps.

You're doing really well, try to keep going. I found that as soon as I thought I'd just about mastered the whole feeding thing, something would change and it felt all 'wrong' again. Your baby becomes more efficient at feeding, your boobs become more accustomed to how much milk baby needs, and often you can lose that 'full' feeling.

It sounds as if you're probably in that place right now. Your boobs will supply as much as your baby needs - they're clever like that. All you need to do is feed when she's hungry and try and keep relaxed about it.

Expressing milk only shows how much you can express, not how much is there - some days I couldn't express at all - and I had a baby 10lb 7 at birth, that continued on that centile all the way through, so there was definitely enough milk there.

Breastfeeding is difficult, it takes your time, energy and sleep - but you're not alone in the middle of the night, there's lots of you out there, and you really are doing well.