I think my supply is starting to drop a little. If she'd just stick to one side for longer than ten seconds, we wouldn't have a problem! Driving me mad... And she's nowhere near ready to wean, so if she makes me run out of milki don't know what I'll do!
It's more that I don't think she's on long enough to keep my supply up most of the time. She seems to want it 24/7 but doesn't work on it for long. "Lefty" was rock-solid a few nights ago, but that's because Miss A was completely refusing that side that day and the night before. Such relief when she latched on at bedtime!
Almost everyone with a 4ish month old baby thinks their supply is dropping. The babies get much more easily distracted, feed more efficiently, and are generally having a few weeks of being grumpy too. Ride through it, keep offering, and you should be OK.
Try changing how you feed - in a quieter place? In a noisier place? Lying down on the floor? Give her something to hold while feeding?
Also - if she has a cold or an ear infection then this can cause feeding difficulties too.
Hot is absolutely right - if she still wants to breastfeed she will make you want the milk she needs - She knows how the system work. You won't run out or dry up - doesn't work that way
Teni, DD has gone through stages like that several times, and i honestly thought she was trying to wean - we're now ummmmm 38months and still going strong. admittedly it's only morning and night most days now, but it has never dried up - she sometimes will only have one feed from one side in 24 hours, and the other side is fine
Looks like I'm stuck with the shields for a while. Dd's palette seems to be the issue...
I had all these dreams of feeding her at least 24months if she would go that long. Now I feel like I won't get to
I think the LC saw the horror on my face when she said "you'll be able to feed her 6-7months with the shields now worries"
little_O just take one day at a time. You are doing wonderfully, and it is possible to feed with shields long term. Lots will happen in the next 2 years, and if you want to keep breastfeeding, you will find a way to work with each change that comes along. Don't accept other people's limits, you haven't so far so why accept them now?
For those feeding older babies/toddlers - when do they start to go back to being able to concentrate on a feed rather than everything else around them? DS has always been pretty distractable, but just lately he's been terrible! If I'm not at home in the chair in his room (not even out in the lounge room etc) or he's super duper hungry, he just plays around with it and doesn't really feed. If I happen to have a busy day where we're out a lot he can go nearly all day without having a proper feed, which leaves me sore and full. I offer it to him frequently, but he's just too distracted by everything going on to concentrate - he'll take a bit of water or food if offered but really isn't interested in bfing unless we're at home.
This would be fine of course, if he didn't then make up for it when we got home by wanting to cram the day's feeds he's skipped into the hours before bed or overnight. If he hasn't fed much during the day, he wakes a lot overnight, whereas if we've been home during the day and he's had his daytime feeds he often wakes only the once if that. Anyone got any tips for getting him to settle down and pay attention if we aren't in the chair for a feed?
Ok now I have a question re supply. In November I've been invited to a girls weekend away for my sisters hens. She is interstate and I can bring DD if I want (she will be 9 months by then). Logistically though it will be easier traveling without her ... But if I'm honest what I mean is I'd love a weekend without her. I adore DD but with no family here I never have time for myself. I'd leave lots of EBM for her with DH but my questions are:
If I'm pumping three hourly while away for two nights / full days will my supply drop?
Will I get breast refusal or lazy sucking when I return because of the EBM? She's pretty fussy feeding already, I don't think I would cope with refusal. Or I would cope of course but you know what I mean...
The supply will be fine. The breast refusal is always a possibility - though it's quite unlikely.
Does she take a bottle of EBM now? It can take a while for a baby to get used to it, so it's important to start sooner rather than later with an occasional bottle feed if you want to be able to escape for a couple of days.
little_o, as the others have said, there is no reason why you can't use shields beyond 6 months. If you need them for 2 years or more that's not a problem. It is possible though that as your little one gets bigger that you might be able to feed without the shields. A bigger mouth can make a big difference.
CK, I think they go through stages of being more wriggly and less wriggly, but I'm afraid they never really go back to being able to feed undistracted like they do when very young. Of course they do also drain a breast quicker so feeding will get easier again.
LL, your supply might drop a little after a couple of days away, but you will be able to build it back up. And if you are expressing regularly you might not even notice a drop at all in that time. 9 months is early to self-wean, so the chances are she will go back to feeding well when you get back.
She takes a bottle at her 10pm dream feed, sometimes it's actually a dream feed, sometimes she's wide awake in the cot waiting for it.
I express before I go to bed every night currently. This helps with morning monster boobs as aside from the dream feed she generally only wakes once in the night and sometimes as late as 5:30-6:30 am.
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I think my supply is starting to drop a little. If she'd just stick to one side for longer than ten seconds, we wouldn't have a problem! Driving me mad... And she's nowhere near ready to wean, so if she makes me run out of milki don't know what I'll do!
as long as she keeps coming to the boob you will make yummy mama milk for her.
I just get ao fraud rates
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