Supply - tell me how to not screw it up

[HonkyTonka]

Babe is 3 weeks old and gaining well. She nursed for a good half hour when she was 15 minutes old, then fed every 3 hours (on demand and the clock - she was sleepy) for the first 3 days, then we switched to on demand only. Sometimes she takes one breast, sometimes she takes both. If it was a short feed I start on the same breast the next time, if it is a long feed I switch for the next one.

Has my supply been established now? Since she is gaining well, can I assume my supply is adequate and will stay adequate as it adapts to baby's needs?

I hear that supply decreases around the 3 month mark. Are there things other people do to help combat this decrease?

Need I be concerned?

Tell me what you know! Thanks so much.

[SilverFish]

the only reliable indicators that the relationship between your baby and your breasts is going smoothly is that baby is showing a good suck swallow pattern, is happy, alert, growing well, and making acceptable amounts of pee and poo. there is no reason to assume that anything is wrong or will go wrong unless one of those indicators is missing. so yeah, i would say you are doing just fine.

supply doesn't decrease at the 3 month mark, it just levels out and begins to respond to how much the baby is taking at each feeding. when the baby sucks, that tells the milk ducts to make milk. as long as your baby is allowed to suck whenever she wants, and there are no other health issues (really, quite rare) you won't "screw" up your supply.

in terms of switching, i would switch breasts every time (although it's certainly not a big deal if you don't once in a while), and the baby doesn't need both breasts in one feeding either. for one thing, breasts are not bags of milk that have a finite amount of milk in them... the more milk sucked out, the faster the milk is made, and the emptier the breast becomes, the higher fat the milk is. so a baby sucking on a breast will never empty it... she will just become full and stop sucking if she's allowed to suck as long as she wants (unless you have one of those babies who wants to suck on something but isn't hungry).

[sparklefairy]

Originally Posted by HonkyTonka

Babe is 3 weeks old and gaining well. She nursed for a good half hour when she was 15 minutes old, then fed every 3 hours (on demand and the clock - she was sleepy) for the first 3 days, then we switched to on demand only. Sometimes she takes one breast, sometimes she takes both. If it was a short feed I start on the same breast the next time, if it is a long feed I switch for the next one.

Has my supply been established now? Since she is gaining well, can I assume my supply is adequate and will stay adequate as it adapts to baby's needs?

Generally, yes. I personally would avoid things like hormonal contraception (even if they say it won't affect supply), long separations, pregnancy , solids before about the middle of the first year, putting her off feeding by using a pacifier -- things like that.

I hear that supply decreases around the 3 month mark. Are there things other people do to help combat this decrease?

Babies often have a growth spurt at around the 3 month mark, which leads some moms to believe that their supply decreased. Or early habits of scheduled feeds, putting baby off with a pacifier/solids/other feeding "catches up" and supply is not as good as it was.

Need I be concerned?

In general, if you have a happy, healthy baby who is hitting milestones, you need not be concerned. Also, weight is but one indicator of good health and development. Enjoy your baby

Tell me what you know! Thanks so much.

[prothyraia]

It's pretty simple. Feed her when she wants to nurse, and as long as she's peeing/pooping/gaining weight, don't worry about it.

Sometimes she'll go through a growth spurt and want to nurse a ton; just let her, and your supply will increase if it needs to. At three months the hormones settle down a little bit and things switch to a more exclusively supply & demand driven system, but your supply won't drop per se. If you have an oversupply issue like I did (more milk than your baby needs or wants), THEN your supply will drop at 3 months, but that's a good thing

Edited to add: Also, if you haven visited http://www.kellymom.com yet, you should. Tons of useful info!

[HonkyTonka]

thanks ladies!