Milk supply drying up - want to build it back but how? Is it worth it?

[oysterpots]

Having had long, tedious and drawn out problems (documented elsewhere on mumsnet) with bf for the first 6 weeks I switched to mixed feeds, doing 5 bottles and 3 bf a day.

DS now 14 weeks and down to 6 feeds (2 bf and 4 ff) per day, and I think my supply is drying up.

I've grown to really enjoy the feeds I do so feel I'm at a bit of a crossroads - do I accept that bf is over for this LO, be glad that have managed to give him some breastmilk every day for over 3 months? Or work hard at building my supply back up and maybe carry on for another 3 months or more? Think I would like to take this option...

And if so, how do I do it? Any help at all would be amazing.

I love breastfeeding, so I say keep going, particularly since it keeps getting better. Remember that it's a law of supply and demand, so the more demand, the more supply. When I was having supply issues, I got into bed with my baby and nursed around the clock and rested for 24 hours, and that really increased my supply. I've never had to reestablish after such a long time, though, so you may have to stick at it for a little while.

Obviously getting into bed with baby for a week isn't possible, I mean, we do have lives to live, but if you increase a bf, and drop a bottle feed, per day, then two after a week, then gradually continue dropping bottle feeds and adding bf you'll get there. Boobs are amazingly adaptive.

Hi Oyster, you can definitely build your supply up with a bit of determination. You will need to offer the breast as much as possible. even if your ds is not getting a lot of milk at first, the sucking will stimulate milk production. So put him on the breast as often as he and you can bare, and definitely offer him breast before bottle and then just top him up however much you need after.

also in between his feeds if you can express by pump or hand, do it. and then you can feed him this instead of the formula. the more milk you take from your body, the more it is signalled to make. so feed feed feed. and if you can then express express express.

also talk to someone on the phone about what you are doing as they will be able to give you some great guidance.
i help out in a breastfeeding clinic and have seen women do this before. so stick with it and you will be able to BF as long as you want to.

Breastfeeding Network Supporterline 0870 900 8787

NCT Breastfeeding Line 0870 444 8708

La Leche League Helpline 0845 120 2918

Association of Breastfeeding Mothers Hotline 08444 122 949

another things worth mentioning is that around 3 months, most mothers' supply calms down a bit, so you would not experience as much engorgement and leaking as in the early days. this doesn't mean you don't have enough milk, it just means that the milk supply is more in synch with what LO is taking.

if you call a helpline you can talk through whether this is the case or whether you need to build up supply, or whether you'd like to do that to drop some or all of the formula feeds.

best wishes.

Thanks so much for the good advice. Guess I should be drinking lots of water too?

My breasts will eventually be able to make enough for him won't they? At the moment each formula feed he has is 7oz which seems like such a lot!

Water is irrelevant, oyster - just drink to thirst.

Yes, it is a lot - 7 oz at each feed is virtually full ff. you'll need support and a good pump and lots of time and committment

eventually you'll make enough love. just make sure you nurse that bubba as much as you can and get loads of support. also nurse as much as you can at night (sleep be damned! ) do you know if theres a bf dropin near you? that could be very handy to drop by there every week for support.

sorry, i realised that 'eventually' could be implying it will take ages ... didn't mean that at all.

thanks again - all good advice.

so if I want to continue doing mixed feeds do I boost my supply up this way every so often (when I think the supply is going down?)? Or should it stay the same as long as I do the same feeds every day?

how long do you think it will take??

just about to call one of those helplines

oyster, it's not as flexible or calibratable as that, sorry...you'll need to aim at a full supply (expressing at least 8 x over 24 hours inc at night, and keeping the baby close 24/7) in order to get what you can. I think it's realistic to have fairly modest expectations to be honest - I have only seen a few women restore a full supply after 8 weeks of bottles, but that's not to say it won;t happen with you. You will deffo be able to get some milk back though.