Help please - low supply

[Katy44]

I have a 17 week old who is breastfed.
I was in hospital on Monday and discharged yesterday. While I was in, I tried to feed as much as possible and he had ebm the other times. I also tried to express but had to hand express and can't have got more than 2 or 3 oz in 24 hours.
When I was discharged yesterday everything seemed fine, until his breakfast this morning. Last time I fed him he seemed to not be getting very much, kept pulling off and crying, and my breasts feel empty. Finally I gave him my last oz of ebm which he guzzled, then tried to feed him again straight away, he did seem to get some. I'm now trying to express to get my supply back up.
Is there anything else i can do? can someone reassure my my milk will come back? How long will it take?

forgot to say plan to just feed feed feed today to get supply up and to keep him topped up

bump for tiktok and to say that there is often little relationship between the amount you can express and the amount your LO can get direct.

the usual advice is to spend a day or two in bed with the baby and feed whenever you can.

Demand will boost the supply again soon.

Would try putting him to the breast instead of expressing. Is it possible for you to go to bed with him? Combination of rest for you and demand feeding for him should help. Remember to keep your fluids up and eat well too.

Hi Katy, it sounds like you are doing exactly the right thing.

Just wanted to post to keep this bumped for you, but it sounds as if you know what to do. Feed Feed and MORE Feed. Just make sure you eat and drink properly too and theres no reason why you'll have to stop.

Good luck x

I remember spending most of a day apart from my ds at about this age ( he had ebm with his granny) and I was amazed how it affected my supply.

However after a day or 2 of frequent feeding, it got back to normal, so in my experience, it won't take long for your supply to come back.

HTH

Katy

Same advice as the other posters - just keep feeding and this will boost demand.

Nothing to add to the excellent bunch of suggestions here

You will find this glitch is no more than temporary.

get your cheeks to waitrose or sainsbo's... buy lots of yummy food and juice, scof out take t to bed and RELAX!!!!

Thanks for all the advice
Going to bed's not really an option as we'll both be bored stupid but can definitely wander round with top off and feed every half hour - what a pleasant image
Also have to go and get him weighed this afternoon to see if he's put weight back on that he lost last time we were ill
Will let you all know ho I get on, feeling more positive already

katy - let u sknow how you are getting on and at you dandering round home with the top off

Well I think slowly but surely my supply is coming back. It's horrible when he's screaming in hunger but isn't getting anything, luckily I've always had about half an ounce of ebm to offer which has satisfied him enough to give him the patience to bf.
Also notice he didn't sleep at all yesterday, wonder whether that was because he never felt all full and satisfied?
Had him weighed and he's lost another oz

Katy - how often is he being weighed? What do you mean by 'another ounce'?

If breastfeeding has been going well and he has been thriving up until you went into hospital for just one day at the beginning of the week, then truly, everything will go back to normal if you just feed often.

But the weight loss of 'another ounce' and the fact he's being weighed at all makes me wonder what else might be going on....but if the only thing is that he has lost an ounce since the last time he was weighed a week or two ago, then that's no big deal, honestly.

He was gaining really well, sticking to the 25 line until about 3 weeks ago. He was 13lb1. Then we all had D&V, and a couple of weeks later I got him weighed, he was 12lb13. No big deal, after all he'd been ill. I went the week after (i.e. yesterday) and he was 12lb12.
So on the 9 line now I think.
HV was fatastic, she said she wasn't worried as he's alert, happy, sleeping & feeding well (apart from blip yesterday, which I played down as I was worried she would suggest weaning or supplementing with formula) but wanted me to go back the next week to check. She said if he still wasn't gaining they would check him for a urine infection as this can cause an otherwise healthy baby to stop gaining weight. Does that seem reasonable or am I worrying over nothing?

Not that I'd have a problem with weaning or supplementing with formula but would like to try to bf to 6 months, so don't want supply affected if there's no need after only one day of problems if you see what I mean. Plus I know from MN that milk is better for weight gain than carrot!

Katy, HV sounds as if she knows what she is talking about. Her explanations and advice sound fine. You're doing the right thing, feeding him up

I was really surprised as she was the one who suggested feeding him every 4 hours at 10 days old But she is very pro-bf
Thanks for the reassurance
Right off for another feed

Just a quick update on this I think my supply's finally back to normal as I had a leaky night and have just squirted him in the eye! SO feeding does work but it took longer than I thought. Only downside is I have to wear breast pads again