Supply is dwindling :(

[PumpkinZulu]

No!! Why can't breastfeeding be easy for me? What, because I had an awesome, amazing birth I can't be awesome and amazing at breastfeeding too? DD has come off the nipple shield yesterday. For the last 4 days I've noticed my supply dropping, but I just offered the boob more and drank more water. But it's just not happening. DD is so frustrated, and I'm starting to really worry...I'd be utterly devastated if I couldn't BF. It's getting to the point where my left breast doesn't seem to have much milk at all What can I do? I'm making some lactation cookies right now. I'm feeding DD as much as possible but she's getting frustrated especially with the left breast. I've just recovered from mastitis and finished the antibiotics. Please help.

[feeb]

Hugs hun lots of naked snuggles together and lot to drink. You could try BF tea at health food shops.

I loved and swear by Blessed thistle and Alfalfa tablets!! They were awesome for me! I did not like Fenugreek as it upset my belly and DS1 belly.

I hope it picks up for you soon

[Barb Glare]

No, your milk is not dwindling. It just doesn't work that way. You are doing an awesome and amazing job at breastfeeding. (Lactation cookies taste great but the news is they do diddly squat for your supply.) Milk doesn't just "dry up" it doesn't "go away" - you feed and you make milk. Babies, on the other hand, do change. They start being interested in the world around them. The mastitis is a clue - your breast is full and won't drain. It's blocked. Baby has to work at it. When breast remains full it tells your body to ease up on making milk - but your baby knows what to do - feed frequently and in a few short days your supply will be back to normal. Stick with it.

[PumpkinZulu]

The blockage is gone, my breasts are very empty feeling. I know milk doesn't just dry up but it has dropped significantly and that has alarmed me. I'm sad to hear lactation cookies don't work, I've heard good things about them. I'm worried the antibiotics have affected things, us that possible?

[Barb Glare]

Just feed your baby - that is one thing that really DOES work. And what the heck the cookies taste good.

[PumpkinZulu]

I've been feeding her non stop for the past 4 days, as soon as I noticed a drop. My right breast had mastitis. My left breast literally has no milk coming out of it right now. They are both softer and emptier feeling than they ever have been. She's been having a minimum of 10 feeds a day (wakes up around 7, goes to bed around 9) usually 14, but to no apparent avail. She is getting increasingly frustrated as my supply (especially in the left breast) seems to have gotten worse over time, not better. My usually placid baby is crying out for milk after about 2 minutes on the left side because she just can not get enough. It hasn't increased with more time on it.

[Jellyfish]

Could it be something else troubling her and causing the fussing? An ear infection making it uncomfortable to feed? A sore throat? Developmental leap?

[Liz]

Is she teething? They can be extraordinarily fussy with suckling when their gums hurt. I don't believe it's your supply either.

Fwiw my boobs feel empty and saggy lol I look like an amazon woman when she stretches out my saggy boob lol. Alyssa has been pulling and stretching and chomping and bobbing her head against the breast lately. Could be an age thing, or more likely teething. Hugs hun. Don't lose confidence.. Bub and boobs know what they're doing. She could just be stimulating for more milk cos she's a growing girl

[EsJay]

mine felt empty when dd was about that age too, but they werent, they just didnt feel full anymore.
i found milo made them 'feel' full again (whether it actually boosted i dont know, but the full feeling was there the day after i drank it) i also took 3 fenugreek tablets a day and drank heaps of water.
can you pump before you go to bed (i read somewhere a while ago your dd is sleeping through?) i used to pump before i went to bed once dd was sleeping through and if she needed a top up in the day, or if i had to leave her for whatever reason she would have it, or i would just freeze it.
i hope you can get through this, and i hope its just something else. goodluck

i agree with the possibility of teething causing it too

[peanutter]

fenugreek pills, fenugreek tea, fennel tea.

no idea whether the teas etc actually help, or if it's just the additional liquid, but one way or another, it helped!

and can you do extra pumps?

if you're going to do the cookies, eat the cookie dough raw. I found it feral, but was told by several people it works better that way... something to do with not cooking the brewer's years, if I recall correctly.

another thought: maybe she's finding it a little harder to suck, without the shield ... if that's it, FX she'll learn and get used to it super quick

good luck, team boobies!

[PumpkinZulu]

Yep she's been in the process of teething for a while now, and she's in a wonder week. It really doesn't seem to be her though, I know those behaviours. Ofcorse I could be wrong, but everything is feeling different with my breasts. Since breastfeeding the have always felt less full, saggier, softer, but now they feel smaller too. Especially the left one. I have also no been feeling letdown in the left breast which is why I think after 2 mins on that side she gets angry.

Thanks so much guys.

I can't pump right now because it's broken and I need to wait until the next shipment of parts come in, or pay a fee of $90 (they have to order in bulk) so that's out.

I know this sounds...odd...but would getting DH on it when DD refuses it (obviously not right then lol) help at all

ETA nutter, I wondered that too, about the shield. I can hardly feel her feeding now (she has all of nipple and areola in, so attached well I think) but with the shield it almost hurt, as the tip of my nipple would get sucked onto the end of the shield.

[Liz]

They only really get bigger during pg and first few months cos of hormones. It could be a good sign you've got the supply/demand thing down pat.

Watch her output and watch for dehydration signs. That will soon tell you how the milk intake is going.

Their behaviors aren't predictable, and it's often after the fact (like when teeth appear) that you can put 2 and 2 together. This too shall pass.. And there's lots more fussy periods to come believe me. I'm preparing myself for the 7/8 month period. That usually brings big upheavals with feeding and sleep in this house.

[The[cookie]Doctor]

I know this sounds...odd...but would getting DH on it when DD refuses it (obviously not right then lol) help at all

It may but IIRC, babies have a very different sucking action therefore, not useful.

[Cassius2]

my boobs after awhile never felt 'full'. they now feel like used up tea bags

I would keep persisting with the BF. i am sure that ABs will need time to clear out of the system and a good week to get back on track for the both of you

it is stressful, but you will get there. Xx

[PumpkinZulu]

Thanks guys. I'm not really bothered with the fussy though, I'm worried by my left breast seemingly dropping it's supply. But from your responses it seems like I don't need to worry.

[Smoke Jaguar]

With your first baby, when your boobs lose that full feeling it's understandable to freak out and assume you've got a problem. You get to a point in the early months where the milk production plateaus and goes "Ohhhhhhh! You mean, I can back off now, instead of leaking and filling up?". Have you heard a squillion women say that they only got to breastfeed for 3/4/5 months because they lost their supply? It's when their boobs no longer felt full or hard and they couldn't express as much, if anything. Expressing is soooooooo different from what your baby can get out!
There are so many things at play at this stage that you've got to just keep going.
Here's what I can think of immediately:
- boobs evening out to what they realise Isla needs
- developmental stage in Isla that means she's just a bit more needy right now
- teeth moving up
- you freaking out about your supply and instead of gazing lovingly in her eyes and soaking her up while you hold her in a breastfeed she sees a furrowed brow and you looking at your boobs and feeling them and mama generally looking upset...so she feels upset, too
- perhaps something else she is coming down with that hasn't made itself known yet.
It could be some, one or all of these things. Being that you don't know for sure, just keep feeding and eliminate what you can from that list
Milk production catch up takes more than 24 hours if her pattern of intake is changing dramatically - this happens to us when there's a sickness that becomes apparent about 2 or 3 days after the Velcro Baby syndrome has started. Then, inevitably, she'll get better, not need as much and I get that familiar 'full' feeling all over again...with a girl who doesn't want it from me anymore
Ya know how we say and you found out that 'it just clicks'...trust us on this one, too, babe

[Liz]

my boobs after awhile never felt 'full'. they now feel like used up tea bags

I describe mine as empty socks

[misty]

Everything you have described sounds normal in my experience of breastfeeding. My boobs have become saggy baggy things aroung that age and bub started fussing too - All three went on to breastfeed for at least a year (1.5yrs for DS1). Have you checked out the Kelly mom website - there is some great info on there. Maybe get in touch with the ABA, so they can reassure you too.