At six months, period started and milk supply dwindled - is this normal?

[klm1970]

After months of good milk supply, leaking all over the place, I am suddenly having to formula-feed my DS several times a day! Period started day before yesterday, and yesterday I barely managed two feeds! DS is six and a half months, so I guess it's ok to stop, but it's all rather sudden.
On the plus side, last night I slep w/o a bra for the first time, no need for bra to keep pads in place to catch leaks ;-)
has this happened quite so suddenly to anyone else?

I'm not an expert, but my understanding is that even though your leaking has stopped you should produce adequate milk supply in response to your baby's demand.

They typically have a growth spurt around 6 months so may bf more frequently to increase your supply.
If you supplement with formula your supply won't keep up.

My leakage (although it was never loads) also settled down around this time and I continued to exclusively bf for another 3 months until he started eating food.

Hope that makes sense

Why did you give formula - because he didnt seem satisfied or because you werent leaking?

I found that when my period came back my milk supply dropped for a day or so before and then during my period. I just didnt seem to have any milk but they seem satisfied still. It then came back once period had stopped - must be hormonal.

Its normal to stop leaking though - I used to leak and spray everywhere then from about 6 months ish I suddenly didnt have to worry about it anymore.

I stopped leaking really early - about 2 months iirc - but have always had ace supply. Didn't get a period until 7 months or so, presumably when DS was eating more solids and therefore my supply dropped a bit to compensate. Never had a prob satisfying him though.

I wouldn't FF unless you want to stop BFing coz then your supply really will dry up.

can you give a bit more info? you say you barely managed two feeds - what happened that meant you couldn't do more feeds? were you giving formula before as well?

wouldn't have thought your milk supply would just dry up overnight like that - never heard of that happening anyway - but I did always find that it was a bit more painful to feed during my period and maybe also that they wanted to feed a bit more often.

did you want to stop bf btw? (just to pick up on a comment in your post and not at all saying you have to do this but it is recommended to bf for at least a year - or two. I only mention it because there is a common misconception that it is recommended to bf for the first six months)

My supply always has a bit of a dip when I'm on and I think this is quite common, but not noticeable enough to have had to give formula, I just fed more.

As others have said it's usual for leaking etc to stop as your supply gets more established and it could just be a coincidence. I also agree that it could be due to a growth spurt, or a combination of your period and a growth spurt at the same time. Giving formula will, as others have said, hinder your supply from keeping up with the demand however at this stage you should be able to get it back on track with the BFing over a day or so should you want to; there's no reason to stop until you both want to.

Hi, thanks all for your comments. Supply is now better again, so it was just a dip, although quite dramatic. Two days of about only 1/3 normal supply, coming back up, today seems almost normal, not expecting to have to give extra formula.
Yes to those who said their supply had settled down, I did have that, too, from about 4-5 months, less feeling engorged, but I would still leak at night (longer gap between feeds plus lying on my side leading to "self-expression"). So back to wearing bras at night, sigh ;-) (not a big deal, but it felt so liberating without!!!)

As to why I had to give formula, I could tell that DS was sucking but not drinking, which is not like him, and by the way he laid into the bottles when offered it was clear he was still hungry. I guess my body decided it could either menstruate or lactate, but not both at the same time ;-)

What with going back to work soon, I had planned to move to formula, but am relieved not to have to do it as suddenly as I thought I might have to, particularly early morning feeds would be good to keep BFing and not having to mess with bottles. This way I can make the change gradually.
Thanks again for your comments