Oversupply to Undersupply? (kind-of cross posted)

[StrongFeather]

so back from my 2 month well child visit (we use Sam's adjusted birthday for the visits, and now we are ina group setting so the date is a little ealry)

and now I am thinking that I now have UNDER supply issues. I mean, can I possibly go from way over-producing, to under-producing? I was block feeding to help rein in old lefty there, and recently it felt like my supply dropped, so I decided to stop block feeding. Well, that feeling along with the occasional dry diapers I have been having, made me start worrying that Sam wasn't getting enough.

I hope that you Mommas can help me calm my worries. The Pedi told me to start drinking my tea, oatmeal, fenugreek and all that jazz to try and up it again.

I feel like I have no guidance in this, and I am going to just make myself swing back the other way again. I hope someone as some good advice for me.

[Pandme]

Is he fussier....not satisfied after feeds? How many wets and dirties is he producing? How old is he?

I would think it would take a pretty major event to lose a substantial oversupply suddenly, but I don't know. I know when I got a stomach virus my supply dropped bigtime with my son. I had to nurse around the clock to build it back up again.

[StrongFeather]

Sam has at least 8-9 wets a day.. it's hard to tell, sometimes he's peed 2-3 times in an hour. Poopy diapers well we did have that one long stretch with no poops.. a week and an day I think it was, but he's since been back to every other day or so.

Hmm not fussy, just will always eat. Maybe he is more comfort sucking towards the end. When I think he has had enough, and I suspect he's wanting to comfort suck, I'll try the paci, if he takes it and doesn't spit it out, I go with he's done. But if he's hungry he spits it out immediately and i know he's truly still hungry.

Sam was 11 weeks this past Saturday. I did have a slight cold/rundown feeling last week.

[Julia24]

Well - what did the ped say? IS he gaining? He may slow down on his gaining and even change curves still, epecially since you were fighting an oversupply. I'm still not sold based on what you've said that you ARE having an undersupply.....Even Charlotte is still back and forth on the growth curves and she's mostly fed formula (and I certainly know exactly what's going in, yk? And it's nowhere NEAR the 24 they want her to have - she's never had that much in a day in her life, and she's a little stuffed piggy!!!)

[ElliesMomma]

i had undersupply issues with my first, and am determined that that won't happen this time. to that end, i eat a triple serving of oatmeal (old fashioned is better than "instant") twice a day, and have been doing so consistently since day one. also my son is tiny, and had/has reflux issues that were bad enough that his initial weight gain was very slow. since week 5 he has been medicated (liquid zantac) for reflux and is now putting on about an ounce a day. but still has ground to make up for, so i am avoiding pacifiers and bottles entirely. he sucks a ton. he is attached many hours out of the day (and night). a lot of it is "comfort nursing" such as when we go out and he's in the sling, not really asleep just nursing for "comfort" i think. as well, i have read that reflux babies get some relief from sucking (something about the saliva) and that breastmilk is a natural antacid (also giving relief from reflux). so for those reasons as well, i am content to allow comfort sucking or suckling. i also nurse my three year old several times a day, and am hopeful that this helps maintain good supply.

so my advice to you would be to guard against undersupply. if you are giving pacis, you might want to pull back for awhile. do you pump at all? if you want to build supply, pump a little when he sleeps, and/or right after he finishes nursing. also know that extra sucking on the part of the baby can be his effort to build your supply in anticipation of a coming growth spurt in which he will need the extra milk. i'd save the artificial sucking devices for car trips or time alone with dad, and any time you are available, let him have the real nipples.

but i'm biased in favor of making more milk. my right side leaks when my left side is nursed (if i'm very full), and i actually like it. i like knowing that i have enough milk to fill his tummy and then some. but i've been through the war with undersupply in the past, and it's not a good place to be.

good luck!!

[hipmummy]

Originally Posted by ElliesMomma

i had undersupply issues with my first, and am determined that that won't happen this time. to that end, i eat a triple serving of oatmeal (old fashioned is better than "instant") twice a day, and have been doing so consistently since day one. also my son is tiny, and had/has reflux issues that were bad enough that his initial weight gain was very slow. since week 5 he has been medicated (liquid zantac) for reflux and is now putting on about an ounce a day. but still has ground to make up for, so i am avoiding pacifiers and bottles entirely. he sucks a ton. he is attached many hours out of the day (and night). a lot of it is "comfort nursing" such as when we go out and he's in the sling, not really asleep just nursing for "comfort" i think. as well, i have read that reflux babies get some relief from sucking (something about the saliva) and that breastmilk is a natural antacid (also giving relief from reflux). so for those reasons as well, i am content to allow comfort sucking or suckling. i also nurse my three year old several times a day, and am hopeful that this helps maintain good supply.

so my advice to you would be to guard against undersupply. if you are giving pacis, you might want to pull back for awhile. do you pump at all? if you want to build supply, pump a little when he sleeps, and/or right after he finishes nursing. also know that extra sucking on the part of the baby can be his effort to build your supply in anticipation of a coming growth spurt in which he will need the extra milk. i'd save the artificial sucking devices for car trips or time alone with dad, and any time you are available, let him have the real nipples.

but i'm biased in favor of making more milk. my right side leaks when my left side is nursed (if i'm very full), and i actually like it. i like knowing that i have enough milk to fill his tummy and then some. but i've been through the war with undersupply in the past, and it's not a good place to be.

good luck!!

: Exactly what I would say.