Milk suddenly gone

[fluffyguineapigs]

Hi i have bf my ds for 8 months and was hoping to continue as long as possible. Over the last month my ds has gradually reduced his feeds over the day until for the last few weeks he has been having no milk during the day - from 8 in the morning till 12 at night - I wake him to dreamfeed at midnight as he does not have enough to drink otherwise.

I have tried to coax him back to the breast during the day but he is adamant that he does not want to know. He cries, arches away and turns aside. Because I don't want to give him unpleasant associations with bf I don't force him.

Occasionally if he is feeling unwell he will have a bf or several during the day, but as soon as he is feeling ok again that's it. He will take a pretty lengthy feed at midnight, around 30 mins when he is usually drowsy, and he has another 30 mins first thing in the morning when he awakes at around 8 (he sleeps through). Although he is wide awake in the morning he always wants milk and really guzzles it.

He does't really have any other fluids apart from breast milk. We offer a little water with and between meals in a cup and he will take max 2 - 3 oz total a day. If he seems thirsty during the day he may take 5 mins of breast milk but only if it is unusual positions (such as standing up supported by my knees)/ kneeling on my lap. But really most of these times he will literally have a few sucks then start playing with my boobs by chuckling at them, twiddling the nipples or nuzzling between my breasts, so they get put back away again.

I have presumed that he gets enough fluid from me despite not drinking during the day as he usually has three dirty nappies a day, and very heavy nappies during the night.

However in the last couple of days my milk seems to have dried up. I usually pump a few times a week and can get 5 oz in around 20 mins with a medela swing, however when I came to pumping yesterday I could barely get 1 oz. It's been the same today even though I have been pumping every three hours and nothing seems to be coming out. Last night for the first time ever, I didn't have enough to feed my son. He awoke early at 10.30pm as he was thirsty after not having any fluids for over 12 hours and after a few sucks he started crying as there can't have been enough for him. We luckily had 2 oz of ebm for him and he had that but he still took over an hour and a half to settle .

Have had a really stressful week re work and a lot of arguments with dh. That's settled now and have been taking it easy today and just been pumping and sitting down, eating and drinking well.

I have phoned my doctors and asked if I can be prescribed domperidone (they have said never heard this we will get back to you - they haven't).

I have got my dh to get some fenugreek tablets and am religiously pumping and pumping and am setting my alarm to get up at 3.30 to dreamfeed my ds. It is early days but my supply feels like it is diminishing further and my boobs feel completely empty all the time.

Can your milk just suddenly go? Is there anything more I can do or is it time to let it go?

I don't want to stop but it seems my body is ready to but am worried what my ds will do - he will only take a cup or bottle under protest and only then an oz or 2 at best.

Would love to hear from you if you have been in this situation and can offer any advice.

many thanks

Is there any chance you could be pregnant?

Stress is unlikely to have affected your supply but it can effect letdown - making it difficult to pump.

Hope someone more well informed can help. x

Are you sure your milk is going, or just your ability to express? as in my experience they are not the same thing.

Is your DS filling up on food rather than tking milk? 2 bf a day sounds like quite little for an 8 month old. Have you tried feeding him before giving him solid food at meal times? Reducing the solid food on offer? The only way to up supply is to feed regularly - having a 16 hr gap between feeds is not conducive to this.

Having said that I fed DD1 to 20 months - at that time she was having 1 feed a day & managed fine like this for several months.

I feel like I am wittering - you sound like you need to speak to an expert, give the NCT or one of the other BF lines a call, this is what they are there for!!

Sounds like things are very complicated when it comes to feeding your son.

There could be several issues that need addressing, it is hard to tell.Two feeds a day seems very low for this age baby.

The way he cries and arches away from the breasts might be a nursing strike. This could fit in with being more willing to nurse when sleepy, at night and first thing in the morning.

Maybe ring one of the BF helplines and talk out your options to boost your milk and encourage your baby back to the breast, if that is what you want to do.

Hopefully Tiktok will post soon

you can buy motillium which is domperidone over the counter. its expensive and I'm no expert as to whether its appropriate but just thought I would let you know! I hope it works out for you

Hi thankyou for your posts, so desperate to have ppl to talk to as most people in rl really think it is no big deal to call it a day with breasteeding (Mil, mum etc) but it really does mean soo much to me, although rationally I do know there is life after breastfeeding.

I managed to persuade the duty doctor to prescribe domperidone - hurrah! Although thanks mspotatochip, I didn't know you can buy it over the counter. My GP will only prescribe 2 weeks, so will def look into buying some if it works.

Had to face a LOT of negativity from the [male] doctor who was really dubious that it is possible to get my supply back on again despite the pumping and the tablets as quote '8 months is a long time to breastfeed and you just don't have the hormones to keep going after a certain point'

Have also got the fenugreek tablets and have taken both the tablets so will wait to see what happens.

Hi Bertiebotts; I took a pg test last night to rule it out as there was an outside chance but it was neg (phew).

Hi imaginewittynamehere [love the name am def sure the milk is going down and not just the expressing ability as my ds really didn't seem to get anything from me last night which has never happened before.

My ds def fills up with solids. He absolutely loves food and will eat and eat until he goes pop . I do try to breastfeed before meals but he hardly ever wants to take any. I haven't thought to reduce the amount of solids, but will try tomorrow - no more two desserts - it's boobs or nothing my son!

Babiesareeverywhere; he went through a nursing strike when he was 5 months old - it only lasted a day but he arched his back and turned away in a really similar way. He will breastfeed during the day but only sporadically and it has been just getting less and less. If he doesn't feel very well and is not up to solids he will willingly feed.

In the last day or so he tends to latch on for a few seconds, then pulls away crying; I presume that it is because I haven't got anything for him or it's not fast enough for his liking.

On the plus side, today before dinner he was showing some interest in nursing by latching on for a few seconds, pulling away, then coming back, and for the first time in two weeks having a feed before bed. He started by fussing but he did then settle and suck for around 10 mins. Not very big sucks, as he fell asleep, but still, every little helps.

I will take some more fenugreek and domperidone and do the midnight and 3.30am feed so will let you know how it goes

Sorry haven't got much advice, just wanted to say it helps sometimes to see breastfeeding as separate from solid feeds - so don't stress about making sure he has milk every time he eats, but offer milk feeds in between meals.

Also try teething gel just before you latch him on - might be completely unrelated, but might be having an effect if he has teeth coming through.

Good luck!

My milk suddenly dried up. I tried but I couldn't get it going again. Saw 2 HV (quote: don't worry about it, you're only doing it for your own self gratification anyway (ds3 14mths)) and phoned a help line, but to no avail.

A year later my GP ran some blood tests as among other things I was getting increasingly tired. Came back I have an underactive thyroid. GP reckoned it must have been underactive for ages. ASked me if I had had any other symptoms in the last year. Which I did, but as I talked about them I mentioned that my breast milk had suddenly dried up about a year previously. Apparently that is a sign too. She said if I had gone to GP then she might have been able to help, taken a health history and run some tests. She reckons she would have spotted the underactive thyroid and could have helped me maintain my supply or maybe helped reestablish it if it took time.

Guess what I'm saying is if you have symptoms of an underactive thyroid too, go to your doctors. Eg increasing tiredness, dry hands feet and hair, low mood, low libido, weight gain, constipation, heavy periods .... I hope its not this and that supply is reestablished. I'm only posting really as I wish I had spoken out about my other symptoms and someone had said oh maybe its your thyroid. Would have saved me a year of feeling not so well. Good luck.

It's unlikely your milk has dried up - far more likely that your ability to express has gone. If you weren't making milk, your baby would get cross when you were trying to feed him.

It sounds really frustrating and difficult for you - babies are often random, and hard work ...

Well it may be beginning to work; ds had a good feed this morning when he woke up and almost three hours later my breasts are slightly engorged and def not empty anymore.

To my shame I completely missed the feed in the night. Waking up this morning I had some vague memory that my dh switched my alarm off, but it turns out that my alarm did go off and I informed my dh that it was time to get up, then switched it off myself and went back to sleep. Have absolutely no memory of this so must have done it in my sleep!

Bertiebotts - thanks will keep offering between feeds. Just would love it if he would take more in the day. Am going to check with HV if he should be given follow on milk if he is only getting 2 breastfeeds a day.

He may be teething too (no teeth yet!) so will try that on his gums too before feeding.

alottolose - so sorry to hear that your milk suddenly dried up and your Hv were really unhelpful. It is interesting that you mention thyroid problems as I do have autoimmune thyroid disease although haven't had tests since pregnancy. I do feel very tired (even though ds sleeping through), have been very grumpy for a few months and have suddenly (and inexplicably) put on 5lbs - so I will ask if they can test for this.

NotQuiteCockney - it happened really suddenly but I found I could not express and did not seem to be making enough milk for my ds as he was for the first time ever getting frustrated when trying to feed and one night refusing to feed after a few minutes as nothing was coming through. It does look as if more milk is coming through now though as the last two feeds have been ok and my boobs feel really full... yep babies are sooo frustrating sometimes!

Definitaly get yourself an appointment with the doctor to arrange a blood test. It may all be unrelated, but at least that is that box ticked. My GP did say though, she has had ladies presenting to her with sudden loss of milk who subsequently turned out to have an underactive thyroid. As I said before, if that is the case, don't worry, as she said it would have been surmountable if only I had seen her about it at the time.

Hi just thought would let you know that the milk is BACK - hooray! For the first time in a few weeks it's actually a relief to express or have my ds feed. And, wierdly my ds is now back on daytime feeds and having at least 3 - 4 10 min feeds a day. I offer him the breast before solids and he almost always feeds

Strangely and a bit worrying though I have started to bleed quite a bit today. It's not a period as have been on the prog only pill since birth and it's one that is taken without a break. I did do another preg test which was still neg so who knows - obviously my hormones are just all over the place atm so just maybe it was connected with a sudden drop in supply?

Anyway thanks for your replies, it just helped to talk and I didn't realise how much extended bf meant to me until it didn't work anymore.

I wouldn't worry too much about the bleeding. Even with progesterone only pill you can get an occasional period even if you never normally do. Glad the feeding is easier for you and your ds.