can stress stop my milk? and what can i do?

[beckoes]

DD is 19 months old. Ive been pretty stressed recently, with a few different things...new business/crazy inlaws/visa issues/wedding plans/blah blah blah......
The other morning DD was having her nomal morning feed and after a few mins looked up and me with a confused look on her face and said 'empty'!!!
She is still feeding and i tried expressing and there is still milk in there but i dont have that engorged feeling, and the other night DD went all night without a feed and i still didnt even feel full like i normally would.
Im wondering if the stress could be causing my milk to dry up, id rather keep breast feeding if i can, DD doesnt seem to want to stop. What can i do to keep my milk going, apart from removing the stress cause im trying to do that!
Thanks in advance!!!

[MrsFabuloso]

My first thought was that your not pg by any chance??
I would say that stress could affect your supply. Stress does many a strange thing to your body! But I have no idea of what to do other than stop stressing! Hope you sort it out.

[Nettie]

Yes - stress can definitely dry you up! I had to express for my DS and if I was tense at all, I would only get half that I normally would if I was relaxed.

Use some relaxation techniques while you feed... go to your happy place

[Kmn]

Stress can affect your let down (so the milk takes a bit longer to squirt out), but it doesn't have much effect on supply. You are feeling less full probably because your bub wants less, and your body is sensibly making less! It doesn't mean that it will all go away.

[studymum]

I was told that the stress would have to be near nervous breakdown point to really affect your supply, otherwise half the modern world of woman would dry up (my lc is a cack sometimes). I agree that it is probably slowing your letdown though.

Eventually you wont get that engorged feeling at all, ever, even when they stop night feeding. It does make you second guess your supply, but from words of encourgagment that my supply is always adequete and designer made for my babies needs made me feel heaps more confident in my b00bies. What happens is they will fill to the volume that bubs takes and not keep filling and just store in waiting.

[Barb Glare]

Hi,

It's been a hard time for you. But I feel I have to correct some misinformation.
Stress does not dry up your milk.
If you keep breastfeeding - you keep making milk - that's really all there is to it.
It is a common myth that stress 'dries up your milk" but not the truth. Women in all sorts of dire situations around the world breastfeed just fine - it's all they can do.
Stress does tend to alter our perceptions though. Nothing seems right when we are stressed - and we tend to see problems where they don't necessarily exist - such as with breastfeeding.
You have breastfed so well for so long and as you say, she wants to keep breastfeeding and you know the milk is there. At this age you wouldn't expect your breasts to feel full or engorged. They will just feel normal and soft most of the time - but they are making milk just fine

[Amethyst]

hi there - sorry to hear you are stressed atm
I remember i started feeling less "full' when DD was about 18 months - I never got as engorged anymore but she fed up until 2yrs 8 months when i dried up completely (due to pregnancy). So maybe its just that stage where you get that less full feeling, like others have said?

Stress did funny things to my milk - turned it sour (around 9 weeks of age I went through a bad period with a paediatrician reporting me to docs because she wanted me to switch to formula - long story!) I was expressing and within an hour my milk was curdling. I tasted it and it was coming out of me tasting rank! but that passed once my stress levels went down. I must have strong stress hormones....

I hope you can reduce the stress in your life. Its no good for you at all to be feeling this way BH xxx

[beckoes]

thanks, i have made a few moves to reduce the stress i have been feeling and the last few days im feeling a bit better and my days are a little more 'peaceful' . I still feeli like im not half as 'full' as i was only a few weeks ago and DD will comment that her boobies are empty quite often but she certainly drains every last drop out!!! Apart from that things are continuing just fine! Thanks for all your comments!! Helped with all the other stresses that i didnt think my milk was gone!