Supply establishment timeframe?

[Elilly]

When I went back to work after DD was born, I had already introduced formula to supplement. Needless to say, pumping fulltime turned into just twice a day and I ended up weaning after only 6 months. At what point is your supply more firmly established that I can rest a little easier about my supply issues and keeping up with DS so that I do not have to give formula? It's only been 8 weeks and he has not had any formula and I have been building up a stash (I did not do this last time) by pumping after our AM nursing.

[stillplayswithbarbies]

Somehwere between 3 and 4 months, the hormones left from birth leave your body. Up until then, milk is made pretty much on demand due to the hormones. After that, milk is made based on the supply that was established before that time. The more you nurse, the more you empty the breast milk ducts, the more prolactin receptors are created so that once the hormones are gone, your breasts respond better to the demand for milk.

The short answer to your question is somewhere around 4 to 6 months you can start to relax. If you have nursed as much as possible for the first 4 months with no formula supplementation (or by making sure to pump everytime at the same time baby gets formula, although that is less effective), then you should have an easier time after that. You will know this by 6 months because by then you will have been making milk based on the prolactin receptors rather than based on hormones for about 2 months and you should have a good sense as to how well it is going.

...Karen
DS Jake Feb 91, DD Logan Mar 03
http://members.aol.com/khowe14494/superpower.gif http://members.aol.com/khowe14494/borntobebreastfed2.gif

[egoldber]

FYI, more info about this can be found here:

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/supply/milkproduction.html

[Elilly]

Thank you both for the info. I think that I started supplementing too early last time to make it as long as I wanted.

[missmelis01]

Erica, it might be more helpful to build your stash if you pump before nursing. No need to worry that there won't be any milk for your DS -- babies are more efficient at getting the milk out than a pump, and your breasts are never truly "empty." I built up a huge stash by pumping first.

Good luck!