How do I know if my milk has dried up?

[Shachar613]

I hope this is the right forum for this question. I'm really torn. I'm 15 weeks pregnant and BFing 2 year old DD. BFing is really, really painful, but I've been trying to tolerate it just because I know about all the immunity benefits of BM for toddlers.

But now I've started wondering if there is any milk there at all. I realized that DD doesn't seem to be swallowing while nursing, and I don't see any milk on my nipples or her mouth or anything. When asked, she tells me that there is milk, but I don't know...

Right now, she nurses about 3-4 times a day. But if we're busy and I miss a feeding, I don't feel engorged at all. Is this normal for anyone breastfeeding a toddler? Or should I assume my milk has dried up?

Please no tomatoes mamas, but if there is no milk left, I think I will consider weaning. Nursing now is just so painful and we are a very affectionate, snuggly family and there are so many other ways to comfort DD. (And I would definitely give her the option of BFing again after the baby arrives).

I also think I need to be certain if there's BM because if my milk has dried up, I probably should be giving her some other sort of milk product to drink, right?

So is there a way to know for sure? When moms say that their milk dried up, how do they know?

Any input would be appreciated. Thanks!

[Chloe'sMama]

I only have one DD, and have never nursed during pregnancy. Hugs to you.

I know that I can go 8-10 hours sometimes without nursing and still not feel engorged. I can feel a let down most times dd nurses, but sometimes I can hear her gulping and not felt a letdown.

[annekh23]

You can try and observe her nursing and listen and look for her swallowing, though frankly I find this pretty difficult to do even having sat down with an LC and had her point out when DD was swallowing!

What's her language like? Her comprehension may well be better than her verbal ability, so if you ask her carefully and try some different ways of teaching her what it means for milk to be there, you may be able to get her to tell you if she's getting anything or not.

I don't think not feeling full if she misses a feed is at all unusual with toddler nursing. I've never gone beyond 18mths so far and I definitely got to that point, I'm close to it now with a 6mth old, I think my breasts are efficient producers at the time the milk is needed!

Milk isn't necessary for a balanced diet, but a lot of people do find it useful, however if she's not used to drinking milk she may well not accept it. We have a perfectly healthy 4.5yr old who has never drunk milk, I tried to nurse her until at least age two but she self weaned at 18mths, she was never a big fan of the breast and part of trying to keep her on the breast meant not offering milk to drink. Pretty quickly after she did drop the breast it was clear she didn't do well with dairy anyway and has soy milk on cereal, but she won't drink it!

[EmilyG]

I thought my milk had dried up when I was nursing my 18-month old, I never felt full and never heard her swallow. When my milk actually did dry up though (several months later), I knew it, she would get really frustrated when she tried to nurse and after a few days just stopped trying alltogether. So I think she must be getting a little something or she wouldn't keep at it.

[Shachar613]

Thanks so much, Mamas. This was all so helpful. Good to know that supplementing with milk is not a must-do. And Emily, I totally never thought about how her behavior would probably change if there was suddenly no milk. I guess if she really still wants to nurse, there probably is still something there. So thank you!