Help. Suddenly unable to Breast feed

[mumwhatnothing]

My DD is 12 weeks old. For the last couple of weeks, my boobs haven't been 'filling' up. They are now running almost empty. Until a couple of weeks ago, I would have more than enough to feed her. 3 weeks ago I had the contraceptive injection. Can this be the cause?
Also, no matter what I do she won't take a bottle, from me or DH. I am reaching my wits end. I feel so useless at not being able to feed her.

More info please?

What do you mean you are running on empty? Is she latching on? Feeding? Weeing? Pooing? Alert?

Your body adapts to the baby you have and you stop becoming engorged. It works on supply and demand. You body makes milk as your baby sucks and stops making too much milk after a while. Your breasts will feel soft, this is normal.

Sometimes, her nappy is not that wet even after a whole night.

I keep trying her on the breast and mostly she seems happy enough but at times she is still hungry after trying both sides.

She is my second baby and don't remember any of this with DS.

She still poos for england.

About this time it is normal for your breasts to adjust to what your baby is taking, without producing loads of 'extra' - so breasts can feel soft and empty.

Does baby seem happy/well? Plenty of wet and dirty nappies?

If not, I would speak to one of the BF lines for further advice, as it is possible that the injection may make a difference to supply but doesn't tend to, IYKWIM.

FPA link here

Its normal at 12 weeks for your breasts to feel soft and not "full" anymore. Mine are only "full" in the morning (DS is 10 weeks old) and thats because he sleeps for 8 hours.

Is she weeing/pooing/alert? How long is she going between feeds. If your breasts really are empty she'd want to suck on them the whole time - that would stimulate your body to make more milk.

re: contraceptive injection - the combined milk can reduce amount of milk but I thought the contraceptive injection shouldn't affect things.

I'd advise seeing a bfc. Mainly for your peace of mind.

But you can offer more than 2 sides. It's probably a growth spurt. The more she sucks, the more you produce. Just offer, offer, offer. It's normal for them to want more when hot too. I'd allow unfettered access to your breasts. The milk does not run out. That's not how bfing works at all.

Even if there was a supply issue then the way to deal with it in the first instance isn't to introduce a bottle but to bfeed more.

Ring the breastfeeding helplines. Do you have the numbers? Read the kellymom site and allow your dd to latch on as often and for as long as she needs.

Are you sure you're running on empty?

At 12 weeks, your DD will be having a growth spurt and will be feeding more than normal to fuel this and to indicate to your body that she wants more. It might take them a few days to catch up with her.

Also at 12 weeks, your body is also getting used to the demands your baby is making of it and so you won't be getting as engorged as you did in the first few weeks as your body begins to make just the right amount for each feed.

Demand feeding will ensure that you make enough milk as suckling encourages the breasts to make more. Remember, boobs are never empty, they're constantly making milk so while your DD sucks, she will always be getting something. If the flow is too slow and she's getting bored, try switch feeding. When she gets bored and comes off one boob, swap her straight to the other, when she's bored of that one, go back to the first boob etc. I could go between 5 or 6 swaps when DD was that small (she's 6 months now) to keep her interested. It works by giving each boob a little time to fill and increasing the flow of milk for those first few sucks.

Make sure you're eating well and drinking plenty. I know Tiktok (MN BF Guru) says water makes no difference but I've always felt like it helped me if I'd drunk loads.

If you're still worried, you could try getting hold of some Fenugreek tablets too which will help improve your supply. Be careful with them though, they made my DD a little sick when I took them when she was tiny. She was OK when I tried them again last week though.

OMG. You are all awesome. I will be trying all you have suggested and stop stressing about it. She does seem happy and alert except when trying to bottle feed her. Will keep up the effort and I am sure she will let me know if she is hungry.

Also, DH might be less worried now too.

Hmm, there could be a couple of things going on here.

First of all, it could be that your body is just getting better at supplying milk, so your boobs aren't getting full, in the way they used to.

Or it could be the depo provera. Data on this is rare, to put it mildly.

Does your DD seem unsettled and unhappy?

My DD hates bottles too. I think it's the teat that she hates. I've just resigned myself to no nights away until she's a bit bigger

Thanks all, I think I just got so stressed and worried that I wasn't making enough for her. But what you have said makes sense. She seems really happy but as you all know with breast feeding, it is impossible to tell how much they are getting, so when the outward sign of engorged breasts disappeared, I got worried that I was going to starve her. Panic over, I will try to only worry if she makes a fuss about it. Thanks all.

Glad the panic is over. Just another thought in case you feel concerned again: at around 12 weeks my little one would fuss after the second breast as if still hungry. So I just put her back on the other one again. Like magic more milk would appear. Sometimes she'd switch sides up to 7(!) times. This went on for a few weeks. Maybe it was her way of getting my milk supply up. Seemed to suit us though, whatever it was.

Sorry, didn't get round to making my point, which was- you could try switching her back and forth like this, if you feel your milk is drying up.

Oh also, when my milk feels low I eat loads and guzzle water. Not sure if it that's scientifically proven to help, but it's a good excuse for another piece of cake

Errrm, no explodingbosoms there's been research that says that what you eat, drink, or how much you rest has no effect on the milk supply. It's a myth that needs to be dispelled.

But you're right, you can't eat too much cake when breastfeeding.