BF expertx please read - is exhaustion affecting breastmilk?

[Messing]

Hi, hoping someone can help or advise as I'm getting desperate...

I seem to have developed bad insomnia in the last few weeks - I would say I am averaging about 4 hours sleep a night. I normally sleep ok until the first night feed (around 3am) then can't go back to sleep after that. On some horrible nights I haven't slept at all. At the moment I am trying hypnosis cds and variuos other things (from the SLEEP forums)to deal with this.

My question is - does the lack of sleep/exhasution affect amount of milk I'm making? I have noticed that I am not engorged in the mornings like I was when I slept better, I find it really hard to express nowadays when I used to fill a bottle easily, and also (10 week old) DS's weight gain has slowed considerably in the last 2-3 weeks (although he is still gaining). This of course makes me nervous that he's mot getting enough which in turn keeps me awake at night....vicious circle.

Can anyone offer any words of wisdom?

I only get about 4 hours most nights, and I've never noticed problems.

Expressing isn't a good reflection on how much milk you're producing though. I can very rarely get more than an oz or 2 through expressing but I'm obviously producing enough because my little girl is 5 months and thriving.

Obvious questions - are you drinking tea, coffee or fizzy drinks that would keep you awake at night?

Beware of clock-watching. I used to find that the more I looked at a look when I was awake, the more it would keep me awake. We moved the clock so that I couldn't see the time and I suddenly had no problems falling back to sleep.

Thanks jemjabella.

I am avoiding caffeine, yes.

I guess if you're getting 4 hours sleep and it's enough for you, and you're not stressed about it then that doesn't affect your supply? In my case I am knackered and very stressed, which surely can't be good.

Good point about the clocks - I do have a tendency to keep looking at the time and working out how many hours of sleep I have 'lost'.

Hi Missing -

To answer your question, exhaustion doesn't affect milk quality or quantity. It does make you miserable and I hope you get more sleep soon!

Yes laura is right - it really doesn't affect supply so that's one less thing you can worry about!

Probably the reason you're not engorged in the morning any more is because your supply is now perfectly balanced with DS' needs, so there's none 'left-over'. That would probably also explain why you're not producing as much when expressing. This is all a good sign!

I think it's normal for weight gain to slow at about that age (my BF DD did exactly the same) - but in any case, your HV would tell you in no uncertain terms if there was genuinely anything to worry about.

I had exactly the same as you - insomnia in the middle of the night - the stress nearly killed me, but definitely got better when I managed to relax, stop clock-watching and also getting the hang of feeding lying down.

Thanks all for the reassurance - feeling better today after a better night's sleep (nearly 6 hours - woohoo!)

Appreciate it.