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Weaning

Find weaning advice from other Mumsnetters on our Weaning forum. Use our child development calendar for more information.

Reduction in expressed milk

1 reply

Sunca · 27/04/2024 09:22

Hi,
My little one is 9 months old. We started weaning at 6 months and it's going pretty well, he usually eats a good amount 3 times a day. During the day and into the evening I breastfeed him and then just before he goes to bed we give him a bottle of expressed milk (around 80-100ml). During the night he (usually!) wakes only once between 3am-5am and gets another bottle of around 80-100ml expressed. What we've done for months is I express when he wakes in the night while my partner feeds him (I know it may seem crazy we're both up but it has worked for months!).

Up until recently I was expressing between 180-240ml each time, meaning there's usually more than enough to use for the two bottle feeds + occasionally freeze some. But over the last few weeks the amount I'm expressing has been reducing, to now about 100ml. I wonder if it's because he's weaning, but since I've always expressed at roughly the same time I thought my body would just keep producing the same amount? It's annoying because previously I was producing enough to sustain the two small bottles but now we're having to use up the frozen/substitute formula. Formula is not the end of the world by any means and we've given him it at various time before, but if I can continue to express enough for him then I would prefer that.

Is it normal to for expressed milk to reduce so much like this when weaning? Or is there something I could do to up the amount again? (I can't face expressing more than once a day so I'm not doing it during the day as well!)

Thanks!

OP posts:
MollyRover · 27/04/2024 10:06

Yes it's normal. Unfortunately the pump is just not as efficient as getting milk as a baby is so production will inevitably drop as time goes on. Do look at other things such as getting enough protein and fluids in your diet and Google "galactagogues". I would need to pump twice or 3 times to get enough for one feed while desperately watching videos of baby.

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