Milk Supply Decreasing

[jenmcadams]

I had been basically exclusively breastfeeding Abbie (5 1/2 months) until last week. Abbie's feeding pattern had been pretty constant since she was about 2 1/2 months old when she started sleeping through the night:

Feeding #1: Abbie get's up around 6AM and I breastfeed her
Feeding #2: 8:30 - 9AM Breastfeeding
Feeding #3: 11:30AM Breastfeeding
Feeding #4: 2:00 PM Breastfeeding
Feeding #5: 5:00 Breastfeeding
Feeding #6: 7:00 - 7:30 DH does Bedtime Bottle of EBM

I've never actually tried scheduling Abbie...she just seemed to settle in to this pattern. I normally pumped at bedtime (Medela PIS) and was always able to get the 7-8 oz I needed for her bedtime bottle for the following night in that one pumping session.

About 6 weeks ago, pumping at bedtime didn't seem to be working (only got 3-4 oz), so I started getting up at midnight to pump. After six weeks of getting up in the middle of the night (while DD slept), I was looking for a solution, so that I could go back to pumping at bedtime. Also, Abbie had started powering through her 2PM and 5PM feedings and typically started crying like she was hungry making it seem like I wasn't making enough. I would try to hand express and it seemed like she had emptied both breasts. DH and I decided to try changing the 5PM feeding to a bottle of formula to see if I would then be able to pump enough at bedtime for the next night's bedtime bottle. She's been taking 6 oz of formula at 5PM and still taking 7-8 oz of EBM at 7:30, but (as I should have expected) my milk supply has decreased and I'm back to only pumping 4-5 oz at 9-10PM. I also am feeling like my overall supply is just down...even after her AM feedings, Abbie will cry and I'm not able to hand express.

Any suggestions or comments from others who have tried supplementing? I really want to keep primarily-BF for as long as possible (at least until 1 year), but I also want to be sure Abbie's getting enough (and I'd like to be able to sleep given Abbie sleeps through the night so well).

Any help/comments are much appreciated.

Thanks,

Jen

Mom to Abbie 8/29/02

[Zansu]

Jen,

Sorry you're having supply problems. BTDT, so I know how hard it can be.

My suggestion would be to add a pumping session in the morning, either between Sessions 1&2 or 2&3, depending on when you shower. Many women find that the heat and massage of the water helps with let down, and most women have a larger supply in the mornings.

Any changes may take a few days to affect your supply, so don't give up.

The other suggestions I can give are:
-drink LOTS of water
-eat as much oatmeal in whatever form you like
-try fenugreek or blessed thistle. These are herbal supplements available from most healthfood or vitamin stores.

Good luck!

Suzanne
W&P for Benjamin 5/1/02

[jenmcadams]

One other thing I forgot to mention (I know ... it doesn't seem possible I left anything out after the long message above :))...

I've tried adding in an additional BF session... I actually used to only have 4 daytime feedings + night-time bottle of EBM (and no formula), but I added in one more morning feeding about 6 weeks ago. I'm not sure where else to add in another feeding....Abbie naps for 2-3 hours in the afternoon b/t 2:30 and 5:00. So, short of waking her up to feed her, my only option in terms of adding a feeding is to go back to a 5:00 BF session which doesn't seem to satisfy her.

Thanks again for any insight,

Jen

Mom to Abbie 8/29/02

[egoldber]

Here are some ideas:

Many babies have a growth spurt around this time. How long has this been going on?

Also, replacing her nursing session with a bottle, while less stressful, is probably not helping your supply since the pump is not as efficient as she is.

Also, have you started solids yet? If breastmilk alone is no longer satisfying her, then she may be ready to start solids.

HTH!!

[sparkeze]

The best way to increase your supply is to nurse as much as possible! When I was looking at your DD's nursing schedule I was kind of surprised! My DS who is 10 mo has a schedule somewhat like this:

7AM - nurses
9AM - nurses
10AM - solid snack
11AM -nurses
1PM - nurses
2PM - solid snack
3PM - nurses
5PM - nurses
6PM - solid snack
7PM - nurses
8PM - nurses, bedtime
9PM - nurses
10PM - nurses
11PM - nurses
1AM - nurses
4AM - nurses

So as you can see, he nurses a lot! Each nursing session is only about 3 minutes on average, but he's pretty efficient at nursing. He doesn't eat a lot of solids, but I haven't made any effort to replace his nursing with solids, just as add-ons. My DS may nurse a lot, but it's not unusual for babies to nurse this often if you allow it. Since your baby sleeps well at night, try nursing her ever 2 hours during the day. You may find that she gets enough that way so she doesn't wake up at all during the night. One problem that a lot of babies your DD's age have is distraction. If you think she's getting distracted and not nursing as much as she could be, try going into a darkened, quiet room to nurse. The thing with nursing is that supply meets demand. She may nurse very frequently for about 3 days (maybe even at night!) but then your supply will have caught up with her demand and she'll slow down her nursing because there will be enough. This happens from time to time whenever your baby has a growth spurt, so whenever it happens just remember that the frequent nursing will only last a couple days! A lot of women think that they don't have enough milk but it's rare that a woman will not be able to produce enough milk for their baby! The more you nurse, the more milk your body makes and supplementing with formula makes the milk supply go down because your body thinks that the baby doesn't need that much milk so it makes less.

[spu]

I'm glad to see such a busy nursing schedule. I've always heard 2 schools of thought about how many times per day a baby should nurse so it's reassuring to see that it's best to let the baby decide. My twin babies seem to nurse alot too - but to keep my sanity, I don't keep track. Night times / evenings seem to be a constant nursing session, but I think it's more for the comfort and 'destressing' since it helps them fall asleep.

If you're concerned about your supply, you should nurse more oftern and keep the daytime feedings 2 hrs apart max. as sparkeze said. Adding formula will cause your supply to decrease and pumping just doesn't compare to the power of a real baby. I haven't tried the herbs but have read great things about them. Have you contacted LLL or a LC at your hospital for advice? Sometimes babies just want to nurse to feel that closeness to mom/dad, esp. when they are starting to reach out and explore their new world. Each time one of my babies reaches a new milestone or discovers something new about their life, they seem to come back to mama and want more nursing time at the end of the day.

Trying solids might be helpful to satisfying her, but watch for nutritional needs as she should be getting 90% from bm/formula for the first year. With my 2 babies, Else loves solids (though ALL of it comes right back out in her diaper) and Charlotte wants nothing to do with solids. Both babies are nursing lots, though the duration has decreased.

Could it also be that she's teething? I know when charlotte popped her first 2 teeth, nothing would console her. ugh. not even nursing.

susan

twin girls 7.20.02
charlotte & else