milk drying up?

[hw7342]

I think my milk is drying up. Does anyone else have any experience of this at 4.5 months and if so how you knew it was happening? Many thanks

As long as you're BFing exclusively and feeding on demand then it's highly unlikely that your milk is drying up. When you reach this stage of BFing you milk supply automatically adjusts to your baby's demand so it can feel like you have little left. Sometimes your breasts will even feel empty but trust me, it is not the case. It's perfectly natural to feel like this but I can assure you that as long as your baby is removing the milk, then your breast will keep on producing it.

Hi I breast feed till my little one til she was 10mths, it gets easier as they become weaned but you wont be there yet. I know it seems simple but you do need to drink lots and eat well and often - your baby will be getting bigger by the day and is just drinking more of your milk, so you will have to up your intake. I started back at the gym when my daughter was 3 months - only one day per wk - but god did I notice my milk almost dry up - I have to make an effort to drink and drink to make my fluids back up. I noticed as she would keep stopping feeding and seemed grumpy and it was always the last feed at bedtime (about 7pm) which was before I would have my meal at night. Hope this helps?

Hi sjb,

Milk supply is rarely affected by a normal, healthy diet. You would have to be severely malnourished and dehydrated before your milk supply would be affected.

3-6 months is usually the time when your milk becomes more supply and demand so it sometimes feels as though it has dried up when it really hasn't, it's just changed to meet your baby's demand.In the beginning everyone makes too much milk, after a period it settles down.

Usually the feeds in the evening are harder due to you having less milk in the evening then in the morning and babies usually have a fussy period at around this age, moreso during the eveings so I would attribute all the things you've mentioned to normal supply and demand and infant fussiness rather than you going to the gym and your supply drying up.

The more you feed your baby, the more milk your breasts will make, so if you are feeling a bit 'empty', you can increase your milk supply in a few days by offering your baby more feeds and/or using a breast pump to express more milk.

Forgot to add

There is nothing wrong with increasing your fluid intake though, women tend to feel quite thristy when BFing.

Hi thanks for the above but it wasnt me that asked for the advice so am a bit confused as to why you have responded to me I was only sharing my BF experiences, but will keep it in the bag for next time!

because you were giving out incorrect information?
i can't word this without sounding harsh, so apologies in advance, but breastfeeding women in this country have enough to contend with without people spreading false information about milk drying up and what you need to do to prevent it

as TBOM says, your diet really plays very little part in breastmilk production. your body will starve the mother before the baby, and so you would need to be severely malnourished before your milk suffered... if the production of milk was using lots of fluid from the body then the mother would feel thirsty.

lots of people believe their milk supply is low/going, but the "symptoms" this is based on are very often something else entirely.

I responded to you, sjb, because I wanted to give the op, and you, the correct advice. I know you were sharing your experience but I didn't want the OP, or anyone else thinking that your milk supply dries up at 3 months, or that not eating and drinking plenty will affect your supply. I also wanted to explain the causes of fussiness in the evenings. Are we cool?

It appears so, thanks me well and truely told I will stay away from any more BF queries, good luck to the original mum it appears you have all the advice you need!

your milk isn't drying up, its just your boobs wont feel as full as before, but there is plenty milk there. just keep feeding your baby on demand and you will both be fine

they do turn into hungry little gannets at this age but that's just normal I'm afraid . You'll probably have to settle down on the sofa for a feedathon some evenings

and i agree with everyone who says that normal eating, drinking and exercise wont have any effect on your milk supply so try not to worry about that. its an evil rumour put about by formula manufacturers to persuade mums that is they have the odd coffee/glass of wine/choccie bikkie/fast food meal they are not "eating healthily" and should switch to formula

Thank you all for your advice.

DS feeds every 3-3.5 hours in the day and sleeps from 11pm until 7 am. He has 20 mins in at first feed, 15 at second, around 6 at third and only a couple of minutes each side at fourth feed. The length of the fourth feed of the day (6.30pm) has been decreasing for a while- he sucks and sucks but doesnt drink after a couple of mins and where i used to be able to express i can't anymore. The fifth/last feed he has around 150ml of formula.

It might be possible that he only needs a couple of minutes but it seems very little to me? I have noticed this big drop in the evening feed and afternoon feed since i started menstruating again a couple of weeks ago. I am also very anaemic and this is why i wonder if my body is giving up a bit?

bumping for you until an expert comes along

i am not one, but four short feeds a day seems very little to me - is he having plenty wet nappies? why are you topping up with formula and not feeding him more often? and why were you expressing?

sorry for all the questions