Getting over mastitis now supply is down - help

[humpydumpy]

Hi there. I'm just getting over mastitis which was quite nasty this time and I wasn't able to eat much over the last couple of days. As a result my milk supply has really dropped and I'm getting a bit worried. Is this right and will things get back to normal soon?

I'm making sure I'm eating lots now and letting DS have lots of time snuggling and sucking.

I'm sorry to hear you had mastitis. Were you/are you on ABs for that?

How old is your DS? And what leads you to believe your supply is low? If it's dipped, it's more likely to be due to the mastitis, than the lack of food (unless you are starvation-thin), and it will sort itself out.

A babymoon might not be a bad idea, too?

Thanks for your reply. Yes I'm on ABs at the moment. DS is 12 weeks and doesn't seem bothered at the moment but I'm just stressing as I've always had lots of milk.

I feel my supply is low as ds only ever finishes one side and never wants second side and now he is emptying both. Also usually I can hear him swallowing constantly for ages and now he is sucking and sucking with very little swallowing. Plus my let down usually drowns us both but now that's not happening.

Good to hear it should sort itself out.

He's doing all the right stuff to boost your supply, then - he's having both sides.

If you didn't have enough milk for him, he would be complaining pretty loudly about it, I promise.

Thanks NQC. Things are alot better today already so I'll just keep on doing as we have and relax about it all.

I think I was just feeling negative after two mastitis attacks in the last few weeks and then having my supply drop. It sent me into a bit of a panic.

Lots of mastitis attacks may indicate that you tend towards oversupply. Maybe your supply dipping a bit will mean you stop getting mastitis?

Have you looked into ways to prevent mastitis? Have you been getting blocked ducts before the mastitis?

I think you could be right about the oversupply. The main problem is he takes his last feed around 7.30/8ish (empties both sides as supply lower in evenings) and then sleeps till 7am the next morning where he only wants one side, as I'm so full. This means one side is not touched from the evening until atleast 10am the next day and for some reason it's always the same side, the one that got mastitis. I can't think of any way round this other than to wake him in the night to feed or to express but both of these options would only stimulate my supply even more.

I had noticed he wasn't latching on correctly and had started curling his lip under. So I've been popping him off and correcting it when it happens.

Hopefully this dip in supply is what I needed to level things out and stop the mastitis attacks as I don't fancy living of ABs for the next year.

Gosh, that's a decent sleep for that age.

Hmmm. Could you give him a dream feed on the dodgy side? I used to manage dream bfs.

Or could you always offer the problematic side first, first thing in the morning?

As time goes on, your supply will adjust and hopefully you will stop getting so engorged ...

Before the mastitis kicks in, are you getting blocked ducts?

He's a big baby so don't know if that's why he can go so long overnight. His birth weight was 10lb 4oz and he is sitting on the 98th percentile. My DD was a good sleeper too.

I think I'll make sure I'm offering the dodgy side first and trust that my body will regulate it's supply soon. I'll rethink if I'm still having problems.

I check for any lumps building up when I shower so I can try and massage them out before a problem starts. I haven't really noticed any though.

Ok - if you find lumps, the other technique that really works well is to feed with the baby's chin at the lump. Yes, sometimes this requires some acrobatics (i.e. baby lies on his back on a bed, you hover over him) but it really does work!

Never heard of that before but will certainly try it if lumps appear. Thanks for all your help.