Breastfeeding milk supply

[Lol85]

Hi, I've got a 5.5 week old baby (6 weeks old on Monday). She has always had quite short feeds - rarely more than 5 minutes - and I think she's been quite efficient from early on.

She has still been sleepy in the day up to now but the last couple of nights she has slept for ages - 9pm to 7am on Wednesday night and 8pm to 4am on Thursday night. I've noticed over the last couple of days that my breasts don't feel full and aren't leaking. I'm also not getting the fast let downs I've had up to now.

I'm worried about whether my milk supply is just settling down naturally or whether it's dropping because she's having short feeds and going so long at night. She has lots of wet and dirty nappies. I had her weighed at 4 weeks and she was up from 9lbs 13ozs at birth to 10lbs 11ozs, so gaining weight but dropping from the top centile to 75th. I will get her weighed again at 6 weeks but don't think she's looks/ feels like she's gaining much.

I've been quite anxious up to now and am worried the stress may have affected my milk supply but am not sure if I'm just getting myself worried unnecessarily because of how I'm feeling.

Does anyone have any experience of whether milk supply does settle down this early or whether I may have damaged my supply by being stressed and maybe not feeding her enough? I am offering as much as possible but she just seems to want short feeds every few hours.

Thanks 🥴 x

Congratulations on the birth of your baby and well done for navigating those exhausting early weeks establishing feeding. Anxiety is so normal when adjusting to motherhood and I don’t think for a second it will have impacted your milk supply - certainly if it did I would never had had a drop as I was intensely anxious and stressed after both my babies were born. It is usually the sort of intense, acute ‘shock’ type stress than can impact milk production, so providing you are not so stressed that you are not eating / drinking normally I think you can be reassured on that front. Six weeks is often the point at which breast supply settles and the leaking, intensely full breast stage stops so it may very well be that this is just a naturally evolving change rather than a drop in supply per se. Likewise many babies are v efficient feeders and can get all they need in 5 minutes (mine certainly did) so again no cause for concern on that front. More indicative of reduced supply in fact would be your daughter wanting to be on the breast more frequently than normal and this would certainly be the case at night time when supply wise they put their order in for the next couple of days so to speak. I would get her weighed again next week (presumably you’ll be having a six week check?) and as long as she is gaining roughly 6 ounces a week and is producing regular wet and dirty nappies then you can be reassured she is getting what she needs. Healthy babies of this age and size (ie not a tiny sleepy newborn with jaundice for instance) will not suffer in silence if they aren’t getting appropriate volumes.

The long stretches of nightime sleep are unusual in a young breastfed baby (I’m still waiting for stretches like that from my toddler!) but not a concern in and of themself assuming she is making up for it in her feeds during the day and is not showing signs of illness. How many times does she feed in a normal 24 hr period?

Hi thank you for replying! She is actually my second so I thought I was going to be less stressed this time but I actually think I've been worse! I think it's the extra stress and tiredness from also having the older one. I'm worried maybe I haven't spent the same time establishing breastfeeding as I did first time round because I haven't spent all my time just sitting on the sofa like I did last time because I can't! But I do think the feeding came more easily this time round so maybe it has settled quickly because of that. It's just so hard to know!

I know they say babies should feed 8 to 12 times in 24 hours and I definitely think she's closer to the 8. Every day is still so different that I'm finding it hard to judge how often she's feeding. I'm also not sure I'm reading her hunger cues correctly. Whenever she wakes I change her nappy and offer a feed. And if she seems at all unsettled I offer a feed so it's not like I'm trying to make her go without. Sometimes she seems as if she wants to feed then comes off quite quickly and pushes away, which I think means she is tired so I either put her in the sling or take her for a walk if she doesn't fall asleep on me. And then she is normally settled for a few hours after feeding. I'm worried I'm missing feeding cues but also I'm offering her feeds regularly when she's awake so I'm not sure what else to do!

I agree it's not usual to go so long at night and that is worrying me. I know it may be completely different again tonight but I wasn't sure whether to wake her if it does? I don't think she's ill and again was wondering whether to take her to the doctor but am not sure what they would say except to ask whether she has wet and dirty nappies and is gaining weight. She is also fairly alert when she's awake.

Sorry for the rambling posts! X

How has she been as the day has gone on? It sounds like you are doing everything that you should be and certainly not ignoring feeding cues. It is always a different experience establishing feeding with second and subsequent children as the luxury of ‘bedding down’ for hours on end just isn’t there, but from everything you describe you are on the right track and have yourself an efficient feeder. 8 feeds in 24 hours is fine and I would guess that the long stretches at night won’t be a permanent fixture (if they are you will have to publish your secret!) so I wouldn’t worry about your supply being affected by that unless she a) does it for a sustained period and b) doesn’t make up for it in the day. Increased sleepiness can be a sign of illness but would be unlikely to occur in isolation - ie not accompanied by other symptoms such as irritability, reduced alertness, high or low temperature, reduced feeding etc so as long as your mummy instincts tell you she is okay I would be inclined to enjoy the rare rest and wouldn’t wake her to feed overnight.

Thank you, yes I don't think she's ill. She went from about 9pm to 430am again last night. The health visitor said just to leave her because she's not a newborn any more. She had a feed at 830am this morning then I had to go out and she's pretty much been asleep in the pram since then. She just doesn't seem to feed much and its worrying me but surely she would cry if she was starving?

I don't think my brain is working very well at the moment so I'm getting myself worried about everything! X

If you're not sure, then go back to the basics. Are you getting wet and dirty nappies? Is her skin pink and soft? When shes awake is she alert and aware? Is she gaining weight, and tracking her percentile? If yes to all that, then I would not worry at all. I have a 5 week old, and the last couple of days shes gone some quite long stretches without a feed, I'm offering but if she says no, then that's fine.

Thank you, I hope you and your baby are well. I'm pretty sure all those are true. I'm taking her to get weighed again on Monday so at least I'll know if she's roughly following her growth line.

I think I just need reassurance all the time because I'm definitely very anxious at the moment. So thank you both for that! I appreciate it!

With each child had my breasts and let down etc are settled much more quickly, mine also slept long stretches overnight from early on. Oh yes and speedy feeding!!

So long as there are plenty of wet nappies, she's gaining weight then all sounds good?

I would wake her up in the day if you need to fit another feed in?