Experienced bf mum really struggling

[holeyguacamoley]

Hi , despite following all advice and feeding at least two hourly day and night, ny five month old is hungry and I seem to have little milk. I have previously fed three babies to eight months or so and given up through choice, having some engorgment prblems weaning off. Things seem very different now, do you think your breasts wear out? are they tired? What causes prolactin levels to drop? I am at my wits end desperate to carry on but will not have my dd hungry and I'm really not providing what she needs. please help !

holey - hi there! certainly not an expert on bf but -- dd (5 nearly 6 months) went through a real hungry phase a couple of weeks ago - always on the boob. i think they go through another of those notorious growth spurts around this time. She seemed to be hungrier more often. we have stuck with it and the supply seems to have increased to keep up with it. i keep thinking that weaning is just around the corner...

hopefully someone (tiktok?) might be along for more expert knowledgeable advice??

are you on to little bits of baby rice / fruit puree yet? my third was at 5mo, starving creature (still is). Don't panic! don't feel you have to meet the "standard" you set yourself with the others, they are all different. you know that really, don't u
You sound exhausted so do whatever makes your life easier for a bit, by way of taking all offers of help with other children, leave the house in a pickle if needed, try to chill and get your energy back. OK this is the real world, but try!! U on multivitamins?

Poor you! How long has this been going on for? Is she definitely hungry and not comfort sucking? Is she growing?

Mine went similarly crazy at about that age but it turned out to be a (longish) growth spurt and sorted itself out without any specific actin from me. Was tres gnackering though.

mighty big coincidence going on here, isn't it? 5 month olds are hungry and demanding peeps! straw poll says!

Wow that brings back memories! my dd2 is 10 now but I well remember her feeding at least every 2 hours day and night for months so join the clib!!
If your dd's weight is as it should be, it could be other things such as comfort feeding, not that she's necessarily hungry. What age do teeth come through-is it teething-it seems so long ago.....
Also, I never drank enough fluids which I think didn't help matters - you're always much busier the more kids you have and that can definitely affect your milk - and diet of course.
Hope this helps...

thanks all! she is sleeping now but previously had slept 8 - 4, has in the last week done 8-11-1-3-5-7 I feed every time she wakens because she takes it and I'm too tired to consider any alternatives, also other children i don't want disturbed! But also I used to express because I had too much , even just incase, now I am unable to produce enough to leave her for four hours, this only happens once a week, incidentally she sleeps no better following that!
She does feed briefly, only a few minutes at a time before losing interest, I have tried to re engage her but not interested.
???

Ahhhh, now my guess would be: not hungry, but teething.

How about trying whatever you usually use for teething when she goes to bed the first time?

When she wakens i don't know if shes hungry. I just attach her because it's all i know and I am so zonked I am on primitive mode. But she does eat( quite hungrily) so I think my instinct are right. What I worry is... Why isnt my supply increasing after a week of this?

if she's only feeding for very few minutes then she's only getting a drink - the foremilk, which is designed as a thirst-quencher. The nourishing stuff comes later in the feed. (sorry if i'm telling u what u already know here)
logic to me suggests yes - let her have the short feed, but then express a "whole" feed whatever that may be for you/her ?6oz or am i forgetting what they have at that age? anyway, gist is when the 'drink' she's had wears off you give her the expressed milk which might fill her up a bit better and give you some peace (we hope). When i did the la leche training the midwife there made me think...she got us to write down how often each day we have anything to eat or drink - for me that's pretty much constantly - (get the kettle on,now) so we shouldn't expect babies to wait 4 hrs or whatever between eats/drinks. Food for thought as it were. I agree tho, it would be a help if she'd get a decent kip in one go at night. At the point where mine started to wake in the night after sleeping thru, i took that as a cue to start some baby rice at lunch, but you know where you're up to best. Just don't feel you have to stick it out that extra couple of weeks to reach the almighty 'six months for weaning' thing.
sorry post longer than intended HTH

I've had something similar with a couple of mine. I'm not sure why. Have you tried feeding from one side only for a couple of feeds and seeing if the other side builds up? That's one of the things I did and then baby would get a tummy full. Also, try to have an hour or so where all you do is relax,sit and feed. I would do this once all the other children had gone to bed. Also, once you get to 6m maybe start to introduce solids?
Your breasts don't wear out but I do think that milk production can vary for some reason. I think that running around after your other 3 children and not getting much rest can have an effect and it would help to snatch that rest whenever you can.
I have fed 9 babies, 6 of them to around 14m.

9 babies ????????

Good heavens, all yours ? Wow, and to 14 months too....

my 6 mth old is doing the same thing atm and he is one 3 lots of proper food as well, but tstill2 hrly bf too
He had previously been 4 hrly and had done 9 hrs at night. He only ever has fed for max of 10 minutes
Firstly it was teething, so quick 3 min feed to resettle at night.

Lately it has been dd and ds1 have had chest cold and ds2 shows little signs of snotty nose and light cough - as other kids also complained of headches and sore throats... I am guessing he is a bit that way.

Are you feeling let down? Is she sounding liek she is swallowing milk ok?
I am loathe to mention one sided feeding with supply issues (if that is what it is) as frequently offering both breasts is important.
I think it could also be a growth spurt, they do go through a very hungry phase at 5 mths for sure....

holey, not sure that anything in your posts indicate a problem with supply, honestly

There are a few misconceptions in the replies, too, which may be a bit confusing. Your diet and fluid intake will not make any difference to the milk you make, though eating to hunger and drinking to thirst will be good for you. I don't think there is any issue at all with the length of her feeds - it's a myth that short feeds are somehow inadequate and that the baby 'only' gets a drink (this comes from books like the Baby Whisperer, I think). Feeding for a few minutes at a time is on the normal spectrum for babies of all ages (as long as they are the ones deciding to feed for this short time - taking them off after a few mins. is not good of course) and especially so for a baby of this age.

It's the same with expressing. It is normal for expressing to yield less milk as time goes by. Most women expressing longer term will confirm this. It is absolutely not a sign that milk is disappearing.

Breasts do not wear out

Prolactin levels are not really relevant five months postnatal. They are more or less back to pre-preg levels, with only a slight elevation. Milk supply is driven by demand at this stage, not prolactin - you can check the text books for this if you want, or I expect there will be something on line.

Your baby may be waking up for many reasons - teething, need for comfort, emotional needs, growth spurt. I can't see that solids would help, but by this stage, it's no big deal to give a bit of finger food to lick/play with.

Hang on in there - your baby is healthy, you have the milk, and you just need some sleep

yeah ,still feeling let down reflex but less often, and when she has longish sleep (from 8 in evening till 1am or whenever she starts the night time antics)i try to express to stimulate supply but with very poor results an ounce or so, prevoiusly could manage 5 or 6? i'm really puzzled and so tired not thinking straight. have her to myself today i think i will mush her a banana and then lie down for a couple of hours with her.

thanks tiktok, you are right my breasts are not worn out but I am! she certainly has the look of a healthy baby, has always been a big 'un! reading back on my own messages i'm thinking get to your bed at 9 oclock u silly mare instead of pondering the problem into the wee small hours. Thanks for everyone's suggestions, will let u know how I get on.