Paranoid that I'm losing my supply! What can I do?

[rachieface]

So, I'm terrified that I'm losing my milk supply. I have an almost 4-month old, and he tends to nurse about every 2.5 to 3 hours....for like 7 minutes. Seriously. His nursing sessions have gotten extremely short as he's gotten more efficient. Anyway, until this last week I had enough milk for a "dream feed" around 11 or 11:30 (he generally goes to bed sometime between 8-9), and it seems like I don't really have much of anything now, despite the stimulation. They feel empty and have that icky "no milk" feeling if he sucks for too long.

I would nurse him more often if he seemed to want it, but he's not interested. I usually stick him on the breast when I feel like it's been too long or if he starts to act hungry and he'll eat for just a few minutes....7-10 is the most, and he'll only eat for like 3 minutes if he doesn't think he's hungry enough. And he gets quite upset if I leave him on the breast for much longer after he has decided he's done. So no comfort sucking there.... he prefers his paci to me. Yes, I know it is probably by fault for introducing it in the first place.

What do I do? He's a super chill, happy baby who sleeps through most of the night (we don't really cosleep and we're all happy with the arrangement), waking anytime between 3-5 to eat and going back to sleep till 7 or 8. Is that part of the problem? I don't really want to wake him to eat more for obvious reasons....

I'm extra paranoid partially because my mom breastfed her seven children and generally seemed to have a huge drop in supply between months 4-6 and would then supplement with formula. Add to that the fact that tomorrow I start two full days of school a week where I have to pump rather than nurse, and I am worried. I've had oversupply for the first few months after birth, but don't seem to anymore....

If I'm overreacting, please feel free to ease my fears. If not, any ideas would be appreciated. FWIW, my son is doing super well...he is like 97th percentile for both height and weight so I know that he's definitely been getting enough so far!

[PatioGardener]

4 months is a common time for moms to think that their supply has dropped, when it actually hasn't. Baby nurses more distractedly, less often and for a shorter time (all normal) and will wake more often to nurse at night (normal 4 month sleep regression). Also mom's breasts no longer feel full, breasts may be 'soft and empty' feeling, and often she doesn't feel let down. Also normal.

Most Mamas have enough milk. Best way to judge your supply if baby is exclusively breastfeeding is to look at baby's output and weight gain. If baby is peeing well (4-5 heavy wet diapers in 24 hours) and gaining weight as expected (4-5 oz/week) then you know that you have enough milk. http://www.kellymom.com/bf/supply/enoughmilk-older.html

Hope that helps - and hope your supply is fine!

[leafwood]

oatmeal always increased my supply. try eating a bowl for breakfast and adding a nighttime snack of oatmeal (whole rolled oats) w/ milk and honey and a huge glass of water. after a week or so you should notice an increase in supply and the more oats the better (for me at least).
FWIW, 4 m is a time when your body begins to regulate and become more coordinated with your baby's needs so you may not be making less milk, but just becoming more efficient at producing what he needs.
pumping is another option (for a long while i pumped in the early morning to build a freezer stash and was eventually able to pump an extra 7-10oz each morning....then if dd/ds were sick or going through a growth spurt i could just nurse instead of pump and then i added the stored BM to solids when they started).

[jessica_s]

Originally Posted by PatioGardener

4 months is a common time for moms to think that their supply has dropped, when it actually hasn't. Baby nurses more distractedly, less often and for a shorter time (all normal) and will wake more often to nurse at night (normal 4 month sleep regression). Also mom's breasts no longer feel full, breasts may be 'soft and empty' feeling, and often she doesn't feel let down. Also normal.

Most Mamas have enough milk. Best way to judge your supply if baby is exclusively breastfeeding is to look at baby's output and weight gain. If baby is peeing well (4-5 heavy wet diapers in 24 hours) and gaining weight as expected (4-5 oz/week) then you know that you have enough milk. http://www.kellymom.com/bf/supply/enoughmilk-older.html

Hope that helps - and hope your supply is fine!

Check out this blog http://www.nancymohrbacher.com/ she just had a post on Milk Paranoia. Which I'm sure has lead to many many mothers stopping breastfeeding JUST when they've hit their stride.
It is a really great post and talks about moms who are so afraid of losing their milk that they pump themselves right into an unrecognized oversupply, happily!

FWIW I had a baby who would nurse literally 3 minutes, one breast, pop off and run around. There was no nursing him when he didn't want it, he didn't comfort nurse at all till he was a lot closer to 2. No paci either, so it wasn't that for him. He nursed till 3.
I think babies are much smarter than we give them credit for. If he didn't have enough milk, he'd would be trying to nurse more and more to make up for it and to increase your supply if needed!