Could my milk be drying up?/Breast switching

[Dizzie]

I'm not even sure how to address this but l'm concerned that my milk may be drying up. I'm worried that DD is going to be forced to wean and don't think that either of us are ready for this.

DD is 18 months and has always been demand fed. We have been going through a bit of a rough patch with DD teething and illness where she totally lost her appetite and would have nothing but breastmilk which l was fine with. Lately when we are at home DD nurses around 20-30 times, lots of short bursts and it's driving me crazy because she it doesn't stop at night time either. We co-sleep and she wakes to nurse around 3-10 times at night. I don't want to say no because l feel like my supply is dropping already and l don't want to contribute to this. If l leave her at mums for a few hours or when we go out during the day she copes fine and doesn't even ask so l offer and she has never ever refused to nurse from the moment she was born.

In the last two week she has been constantly switching between breasts and remains on one side a little longer than the other. Initially l joked about it saying she couldn't decide which tasted better I thought she may be pulling off because she's teething and maybe the sucking is hurting her gums? It's really starting to worry me now

I started off with oversupply issues and up until a few months ago she would only have one breast at a time. I feel like my supply has dropped all of a sudden. I have been pretty stressed and exhausted last few months but not sure if these alone can have such an impact. This is probably really silly but DS now 3.5 also weaned around 18 months so l almost feel like my body isn't capable of producing anymore milk. I did have to return to work 3 days a week with DS and was away from him for 11hrs so he would have cows milk or formula when l was gone. I am home 24/7 with DD and constantly on tap.

Tonight whilst DD was constantly switching between breasts l tried to squeeze a bit out but no milk came out. This makes me worry even more. Sorry l'm all over the place. Advise please.

[pbjmama]

Stress and exhaustion can certainly have a significant impact, so do what you can to lessen those. Do you think all this anxiety could be inhibiting let down? Try to make nursing relaxing for both of you - in a calm comfortable place.

[Katie T]

I agree that stress can have a huge impact on your supply other things I would ask myself if in your shoes is: could you be pregnant? Are you eating/drinking enough, has your period returned?

If everything else is fine I would try to relax as much as possible while you are nursing her she may be going back and forth trying to get a faster letdown, but you shouldn't loose your supply so quickly if she is still feeding so frequently. yk?

Do you think she is just doing it for comfort? My 21m nursed all.the.time and it is just for comfort. I can hear swallowing so I know she is getting milk (another thing you can check, do you hear swallowing).

Hope it gets better, just keep letting her nurse as much as possible (and within you sanity setting ) and hopefully things will work themselves out.

[Dizzie]

Thanks will definetly try to relax a bit more but unfortunately can't do too much about the stresses impacting on our lives at the moment. I'll be floored if l can't even make it to 2 years but all l can do is keep trying l guess.

I have been making a conscious effort to eat well and stay hydrated. DS and l even made rolled oat cookies this morning and mama had about 10

Not pregnant and my period returned only 3 months post-partum despite exclusively breastfeeding

Sometimes l hear DD swallowing, other times not. She sure loves to nurse for comfort but this switching sides thing is even getting even worse. Sometimes she does it every few seconds. It's particularly annoying and embarassing when we are NIP.

Could the fact that she is nursing so frequently throughout the day for just a few minutes have reduced my supply? I'd imagine l'd have more milk if she was having say 4 big feeds rather than 20 little ones.

[Kirstyandgirls]

Originally Posted by Dizzie

Thanks will definetly try to relax a bit more but unfortunately can't do too much about the stresses impacting on our lives at the moment. I'll be floored if l can't even make it to 2 years but all l can do is keep trying l guess.

I have been making a conscious effort to eat well and stay hydrated. DS and l even made rolled oat cookies this morning and mama had about 10

Not pregnant and my period returned only 3 months post-partum despite exclusively breastfeeding

Sometimes l hear DD swallowing, other times not. She sure loves to nurse for comfort but this switching sides thing is even getting even worse. Sometimes she does it every few seconds. It's particularly annoying and embarassing when we are NIP.

Could the fact that she is nursing so frequently throughout the day for just a few minutes have reduced my supply? I'd imagine l'd have more milk if she was having say 4 big feeds rather than 20 little ones.

It's the frequency of feeds that maintains your milk supply so you will have a better supply if your child feeds frequently, opposed to long feeds only a few time a day.

Sorry I have no advice to offer, my 2 yo has started telling me 'no milk, mummy' when she feeds and has lost interest in feeding more that once or twice a day!