Okay, so I'm torn here.
I have a 5 month old DS. He has a posterior tongue tie, so nursing has been a struggle. But he's still EBF, even though it's painful for me. Luckily, weight gain has never been an issue -- he's a very efficient nurser and my supply has been really strong.
In the last few weeks, I've been feeling like my supply is dipping.
- The big thing is that my let-down is taking a lot longer to come, and DS is "whining" while waiting -- sometimes he gets frustrated about it and stops.
- My breasts are feeling floppy and empty, even when DS goes a long time between nursing (they usually feel at least somewhat full when it's time for him to eat).
- And I have decent luck at pumping, getting 2-3 oz in a relatively short time -- but this morning, 1 oz was a struggle (it's been a few weeks or a month since I've pumped, so I don't know when this changed).
When this first happened, last week, I started drinking more, eating snacks, and making and eating lactation cookies. And my supply seemed to go back up -- my breasts felt more normally full, my let-down came faster, and DS stopped whining.
But now it's happening again. I feel like I'm drinking a ton, I'm eating my cookies and a few snacks, and I'm not restricting portions (although I'm not going out of my way to eat more).
But....
DS isn't nursing more. In fact, he's nursing less. I don't track nursing (I should.... maybe I'll remember to tomorrow), but he wakes 1-3 times a night and then nurses what feels like only a few times during the day (4-5?). I offer all the time because I feel like it's been ages since he ate, but he turns it down.
So do I believe the signs and take fenugreek (which was really effective for me with DD) to bump up my supply? Or do I trust that DS would nurse more if my supply were really out of line? I feel like I have to be extra-careful because of the tongue-tie thing -- he's not nursing as effectively, so a supply dip could really affect how much he gets to eat.
I have a 5 month old DS. He has a posterior tongue tie, so nursing has been a struggle. But he's still EBF, even though it's painful for me. Luckily, weight gain has never been an issue -- he's a very efficient nurser and my supply has been really strong.
In the last few weeks, I've been feeling like my supply is dipping.
- The big thing is that my let-down is taking a lot longer to come, and DS is "whining" while waiting -- sometimes he gets frustrated about it and stops.
- My breasts are feeling floppy and empty, even when DS goes a long time between nursing (they usually feel at least somewhat full when it's time for him to eat).
- And I have decent luck at pumping, getting 2-3 oz in a relatively short time -- but this morning, 1 oz was a struggle (it's been a few weeks or a month since I've pumped, so I don't know when this changed).
When this first happened, last week, I started drinking more, eating snacks, and making and eating lactation cookies. And my supply seemed to go back up -- my breasts felt more normally full, my let-down came faster, and DS stopped whining.
But now it's happening again. I feel like I'm drinking a ton, I'm eating my cookies and a few snacks, and I'm not restricting portions (although I'm not going out of my way to eat more).
But....
DS isn't nursing more. In fact, he's nursing less. I don't track nursing (I should.... maybe I'll remember to tomorrow), but he wakes 1-3 times a night and then nurses what feels like only a few times during the day (4-5?). I offer all the time because I feel like it's been ages since he ate, but he turns it down.
So do I believe the signs and take fenugreek (which was really effective for me with DD) to bump up my supply? Or do I trust that DS would nurse more if my supply were really out of line? I feel like I have to be extra-careful because of the tongue-tie thing -- he's not nursing as effectively, so a supply dip could really affect how much he gets to eat.
I'm at exactly the same place, and I feel like given our history, I can't trust my body or my LO to do this right or make the right adjustments if needed. DD is at the 6% for weight, slowly dropping off of her curve; but she's clearly healthy, and we seem to grow smaller babies in general. So I'm trying to trust my baby's signs, but it is a challenge.
