Supply has disappeared!!

Dd2 is 12 days old and for the most part the first 10 days of Bf'ing were pretty good. Dd was attaching without my assistance, feeding every 3 hours during the day and approx 4 hours at night. On Monday night DD fed at 6pm and then I went to bed about 9.30pm expecting her to wake me around 10-10.30pm. To my shock she didn't wake me till 1am and I was FULL!! She fed at 1am then 5am, 8am, 11am, 1.45pm etc.

Yesterday I woke to my breasts not feeling as full as they had been. DD also started to fuss at the breast which she had not done before. She had 6 feeds across Monday and 7 on Tuesday but was quite unsettled.

Today we had apt with paed as DD has a heart murmur and when he weighed her she is now under her discharge weight. She was 3120g at birth, 2965g at discharge and today was 2910g.

He has suggested I BF for 20 mins then comp feed with either EBM or formula. DD falls asleep on the breast within a few minutes most times so I don't think she is draining me. Her first comp she took 40ml of formula and 10ml EBM. Second comp on 15ml formula and 10ml EBM.

I cried while giving her the formula as I thought feeding was going so well and now feel so confused as to what happened to my milk.

Paed gave me a script for Motillium and I have to take her back in a week to be weighed again. I know she needs to gain weight but I'm so disappointed and don't think that she will go back to Bf'ing once she has formula. I was disappointed to only Bf DD1 for about 6 or so weeks but this is even worse.

Any suggestions on why this happened and how I can fix it would be most welcomed.

Deep Breathe! Your milk supply has not disappeared! You are making plenty of milk. The small issue is your baby is not *taking enough milk* - the two things are not the same. She’s only little, hasn’t got the hang of it yet. Normally babies feed at least 8-12 times in 24 hours. So, at 6-7 feeds per day she is not really having enough. Sometimes a difficult birth leaves babies a bit sleepy and not able to demand feeds effectively. Sometimes it’s because they have some drugs in their system from the birth, or are a bit jaundiced. No matter, this will pass. It is boringly normal for babies to lose 10 percent of their birthweight and easy to sort it out if they lose a bit more. What you need to do it help her out til it does. Wake your little one every 3 hours day and night. Let her feed for a maximum of 20 mins on one side. Give her a nappy change/burp/wake her up, and no more than 20 mins on the other side. Contact your local ABA group and hire a breastpump. (Don’t get your sister in law’s dodgy second hand pump - that’s why breastfeeding didn’t work out for her - get the good pump!) Express after feeds and give her back the milk you express. Within a few days the show will be back on the road and formula won’t even be in your vocabulary.

Birth was normal and in no way traumatic. She has not had any jaundice.

I have my own medela swing pump and can only manage 10ml from both sides. I've been feeding, then expressing and giving her the EBM. She is obviously still hungry though which is distressing.

Ill give the 3 hr suggestion a go and fingers crossed.

Barb has obviously given all the advice needed, but I wanted to jump on board and say you can do this! You will do it. Just keep feeding, feeding, feeding. Your body will make the milk.

Thank you chody... Makes me teary..

I just hope she will stop fussing once there is more milk.. My DD1 stopped Bf'ing after having to comp and I was determined it wouldn't happen this time but here I am again.

My DH doesn't understand and is a little frustrated with me and I don't think he understands why I just don't give her a bottle - especially when she is screaming and he is trying to settle her while I express. He thinks she has gotten the best part eg colostum and first week or so of milk and he sees it as if she had a bottle he can help me.

I think husbands just don't understand sometimes. My husband said a few times that we could just give DD2 a bottle, but I was determined to make 6 months (and we have!). Honestly, just pop bubs on as often as you can. I always found my girls more unsettled in the early evening and pretty much spent 5-8 sitting on the couch with a baby attached to me. At least they were nice and full before bed!

We had a simliar situation and what worked for us was:

1) Feed for 20mins on one side, burp, change nappy and swap sides for another 20mins if baby still awake
2) Put baby in sling and get him to sleep. Generally he fell asleep quickly (as was the problem) but if he didn't then we persisted in settling him till he did. It really, really helped if he went in the sling with his Dad at this point and I would spend the time getting food and going to the toilet and resting
3) When baby wakes up feed him again and continue the cycle. He usually only slept for about 30mins the first few feeds but that sleep really helped him have the energy to feed better next time and slowly he was able to sleep better, go for longer stretches and gain weight.

In that time I also expressed but no more than 2 or 3 times a day, as mummy rest is also VERY important. We would do top up feeds with the EBM when we had it- especially when he would NOT settle to sleep after his 20min breastfeed.

When you are comp feeding with a bottle make sure to keep making the baby work for their milk so they don't start to prefer the convenience of the bottle. Tilt it low so the flow slows down and only tilt it back up when they do those rapid little "bring the milk down" sucks.

similar story here. DS1 was comp fed and bf failed. DS2 also needed comp feeding. my milk took a whole week to come in. he would fuss and want to feed constantly-so I let him. 36hrs straight at about the day 10 mark. he was trying to increase my supply. he is now exclusively bf. it only took until he was 2wks old.

you can do this.

Hi, You do need the good pump - a medela symphony. The swing will be useful one day - but not now. I think you should also see an experienced LC ASAP. She may need formula tops up until your milk supply increases. formula when no breastmilk is available will give her the energy to milk your breast effectively and will help your chances of fully breastfeeding (which are good) but you need an LC to guide you through this

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My DH doesn't understand and is a little frustrated with me and I don't think he understands why I just don't give her a bottle - especially when she is screaming and he is trying to settle her while I express. He thinks she has gotten the best part eg colostum and first week or so of milk and he sees it as if she had a bottle he can help me.

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How long after a feed is this? Can you put her back on the breast rather than express and give it by bottle?

hang in there, it will get easier. can you hire a better pump for a few weeks?

I agree with Barb. A symphony would be much more effective at stimulating your supply. We comp feed because of diagnosed low supply and it may work to give formula top ups and store the ebm for 1 feed each day after a bf.
I found that giving the ebm from the previous pumping session good so DD didn't have to wait for me to pump.
Our LC was my rock in my bf journey and 9 months later she still calls monthly to check in with us.
Eta- would donated ebm be an option?
My DD was also a sleepy baby and we had to wake her every 3 hours to feed her so shed get the calories in to bf and to thrive. It worked :-)

Hang in there! Barb has given some really good advice. Remember to drink plenty of water too, small steps to take care of yourself will also assist your supply. You can do this!

:hug:
Hang in there, you can work through this.
Barb has given you some great advice - getting the best possible pump will help. You can contact your local ABA group to hire one for a couple of weeks. If you're a member it's very affordable. Otherwise, your hospital may be able to lend you one.

Definitely try waking to feed at least every 3 hours - it won't be forever, just till she's back on track. At each feed, you can switch sides after 20 minutes or so, as Barb has suggested, and even go back to the first side again if she's still interested after the second side. Doing breast compressions during the feed may also help to keep the milk flowing and your baby feeding, while also maximising the amount of milk that she takes. If you express between feeds you can give her that as a top up, but you can also give her top ups at the breast 20-30 minutes after a feed. (Sometimes this may be easier to do than expressing)

At this point, some formula may help her to get breastfeeding going again - it's not the end of breastfeeding. :hug:

Do you have much help and support at home right now? It is important to get rest yourself. If you can, try to let other things go for a time and maybe plan to spend some quality time in bed with your baby.

Take care and all the best.

Just my 2c worth ;)

You are doing great hun! Keep at it, one day at a time. There has been some great advice here.

What i remember others telling me too, when i had dd, was to hop into bed without your bra and strip bubs down to a nappy and have lots of skin on skin time. The skin time helps boost your supply by the hormones released when you and your baby are in contact.

Update for today, the night was good, she was happy with just a BF although they were brief ones. Today she has fussed a fair bit and I tried feeding at 4pm and she was done on both sides within 20 minutes and just fussed and cried the rest of the time. She ended up having about 30ml of formula and is now settled and sleepy.
I bought a new Medela Calma teat today which is supposed to be like Bf'ing but DD won't take it and just screams with it. I'm worried this fussing it going to mean she won't BF properly again...
Cannot wait for Monday to be here when LC comes.

That's great you had a good night and glad to hear you have an LC coming.
If you need some help or support over the weekend, remember you can give the ABA helpline a call and chat with one of the counsellors, too. 1800-686-268
None of the bottle teats are really like breastfeeding, so don't stress too much about which one you use if you're giving her a bottle. If you're concerned about nipple confusion you could also cup feed.
How are her wet & dirty nappies going? How is she otherwise?
If she's only taken 30mL all day, then that's not much at all :) And there are lots of possible reasons why little babies are fussy and unhappy sometimes, not just from lack of milk.
Good luck for the weekend!

MadB - she is having regular wet nappies so she is getting plenty of fluid, obviously between whatever she is getting from me and the comp feeds it must be enough. She is having more wet nappies now than when I was only Bf'ing.

Id be happier if my supply was up again but I can feel I have less on the left side than the right and DD is fussing more on the left also.

I've already called the ABA and they gave me some suggestions but nothing I hadn't already been told.

P.s other than this feeding situation she is really good, sleeping well considering she is only 2 weeks old. Has her unsettled time usually early evening but I've just settled her and she is in bed now. I'd expect next feed around midnight.

I'm another with diagnosed poor supply and we had to mix feed from 13 days old. Just wanted you to know that using formula doesn't always meant that they'll go off the breast - we had success with the Calma bottle, but that was after weeks of syringe feeding and tube-on-boob (SNS) feeding. 10 months later, and he still loves his boob-milk, despite the fact that he has had both BM and Formula all his life.

I second the 'get a really, really good pump' advice. And a double pump, cos that cuts down the time it takes to pump, and you need to get all the rest/sleep you can.

Also, I found that my late afternoon supply went up significantly on days I had an afternoon sleep. I know this for absolute sure cos we had a borrowed baby scale, and was weighing pre-and post feed to know exactly how much BM he was getting, and was recording it on charts for a couple of months.

Good luck. I know just how stressful it is having a baby that doesn't gain weight.

Not much change this past week - if anything had a little weight gain and DD finally today is back to her birth weight today at 24 days old - 3120g.

Today I picked up a pump from the baby clinic and I'm giving it one last attempt to get my milk flowing or I think I'll be onto formula as she isn't gaining much and to top it off has picked up croup and has two doses of steroids to help her.

My fingers are crossed as I SO WANT this to be successful even with others telling me just to go to formula and forget BF'ing. But in the end I will do what keeps my baby girl healthy.

mummaof1, if you do have to supplement with formula it doesn't have to be the end of breastfeeding. The two can be combined for a short period, or for a longer one.

Yay for getting to her birth weight!

That's great she's gained weight and is back to birth weight. Well done.
Is she waking for feeds well now? You're doing really well, let us know how you're getting on. And as HotI says, using formula doesn't have to mean the end of breastfeeding if you don't want it to.

Yes she wakes twice during the night but only feeds for about 10-15 in total for both sides and then she is back asleep. Last night she only did 5 mins on one side and then I couldn't get her to do the second side. Supply is def an issue. She is only feeding for max 3 mins each side during the day - gets the initial let down and then stops so I don't know how long I can keep any sort of supply with her only feeding for such a short period.

I know I can mix feed ongoing which is fine but I just don't think my milk will stay around with her feeding the way she is at present. I'm on Motillium and fenugreek and now expressing with a hospital grade pump but I run a business from home plus have a 5yo and simply don't have the physical time to so everything in a day plus be able to pump enough to keep my supply up. I'm hoping if I pump for these next few weeks that my supply will increase and she will start feeding properly so I can cease pumping and just BF.

I 'm sorry, I don't think I have read all your posts. have you tried breast compressions when bub starts to slow her sucking? it can help the milk flow and stimulate let down, and encourage bub to keep sucking.

You're working really hard to feed your baby mumma!
Breast compressions and switching back again (so offering three or even four 'sides' per feed) can help to maximise the amount of milk that she's taking. If expressing is harder, and she's interested, you can also try little top-ups between feeds at the breast.
You're doing great xo I hope you have support and care for yourself as well

Hi, I recommend mothers in situations like this see a lactation consultant. sometimes mothers apply a solution (the breastpump and motillium) without knowing what the “problem" is exactly. If the solution doesn’t match the problem - then it won’t be fixed and mothers are left feeling they “did everything” but it didn’t work anyway. A skilled LC will help you work out whether it is a “mother” problem - ie lack of glandular tissue, insufficient breast emptying, pre-existing medical condition (not many of these, but some) retained placenta, a “baby’ problem - baby not sucking effectively, jaundiced, prem, not feeding enough, physical annomoly that makes it difficult to feed effectively (these lists are not exhaustive, just an indication) It can be complex, but when you unearth the problem and find the right solution it can be magical. Not all problems can be solved, but most mothers I work with appreciate having an understanding of what is happening and why.

Hi, I recommend mothers in situations like this see a lactation consultant. sometimes mothers apply a solution (the breastpump and motillium) without knowing what the “problem" is exactly. If the solution doesn’t match the problem - then it won’t be fixed and mothers are left feeling they “did everything” but it didn’t work anyway. A skilled LC will help you work out whether it is a “mother” problem - ie lack of glandular tissue, insufficient breast emptying, pre-existing medical condition (not many of these, but some) retained placenta, a “baby’ problem - baby not sucking effectively, jaundiced, prem, not feeding enough, physical annomoly that makes it difficult to feed effectively (these lists are not exhaustive, just an indication) It can be complex, but when you unearth the problem and find the right solution it can be magical. Not all problems can be solved, but most mothers I work with appreciate having an understanding of what is happening and why.

Ok, I'm coming at this from a completely different angle and its because of my history with ds. What has the outcome been in regards to the heart murmur? Has bub had an echo? I only ask because this rings alarm bells for me as the falling asleep after 5 mins on the boob and being constantly hungry is exactly what ds was doing.
In our case it was a sign of a much more serious heart condition. He was diagnosed with a murmur at discharge as well but we never made the follow up visit as he had been admitted back into hospital by then.
I don't mean to scare you and 9 times out of 10 murmurs in babies are innocent but please pay close attention to breathing issues, fluid retention and fussiness. If she hasn't had an echo, can you ask your paed why not.