is my milk changing??

[1blueheron]

DD has always been a super duper milk hog, but lately seems a little unsure how much mama milk she wants.  Sometimes she'll pull off and look at me like, this is not what I was looking for.  She's still nursing every 3-4 hours, just a little less and with less enthusiasm.  Strangely, she had mild constipation issues up until a few weeks ago, which now seem to be gone.  I'm wondering if my milk could somehow be changing?  I mean, I know at some point way down the line it becomes colostrum, but I haven't read anything about how it might change in the first tri.

Wondering if others with nurslings are experiencing any changes in their nursing relationships.  

[OdinsMommy0409]

DS seems to think the "sides" have changed. Of course, my nipples became very sensitive very quickly so I cut him back to nursing only at naptime and nighttime. I had attempted the same change just last month but with very intense protest. It's been a breeze this time. Plus, DS is suddenly not nursing to sleep at bedtime. He pops off, looks at me, talks to himself for a while, then dozes off. 

I talked to one of my crunchy momma friends who said her milk changed immediately. Supply wasn't affected until later. She said her milk turned clear throughout her pregnancy. 

[montanamama1]

My midwife said "In the next few weeks" it will change -- and that was about 2 weeks ago. DD doesn't seem perturbed yet. But my nipples are SORE too. Whoo!

[montanamama1]

Just found this good info:

http://www.kellymom.com/nursingtwo/faq/16milkchanges.html

[1blueheron]

Cool, thanks for the link.  No one in my family has ever nursed during a pregnancy, so it's not one of those things I can call my mom about!  

Definitely sore here too, though I am really hoping to nurse her as much as she likes at least for these first few months.  I am really sad about the possibility of weaning, but am just not sure I could handle tandem nursing.  

Poor little DD, I hope it doesn't taste too weird to her!

[NolliesMama]

My son has been pulling off and asking to switch sides which is normally what he does when supply is an issue. He then isn't satisfied by the other side either. I don't think it's supply yet though I think it tastes different and he is looking for the normal stuff. Poor kiddo. I'm a little more sensitive but not at all painful yet at 6w1d.

[hildare]

ooh.. i am really hating nursing these days.  i think i have much less milk, too.  i keep asking dd if there's milk and she says yes, but i don't feel it like i used to.  we're only nursing 3 x a day or so.  and i dread it.  my nipples are so sore. 

she's also started having more adult-looking stools, b/c i'm not nursing as much.. that boobiejuice keeps it kind of loose usually. 

[1blueheron]

Originally Posted by NolliesMama 

My son has been pulling off and asking to switch sides which is normally what he does when supply is an issue. He then isn't satisfied by the other side either. I don't think it's supply yet though I think it tastes different and he is looking for the normal stuff. 

Yes, that's exactly what DD is doing.  Like maybe this is just some kind of error, and the other spigot will have her usual favorite.  But it doesn't feel like low supply for me yet either.

[nannybutterfly]

Originally Posted by NolliesMama 

My son has been pulling off and asking to switch sides which is normally what he does when supply is an issue. He then isn't satisfied by the other side either. I don't think it's supply yet though I think it tastes different and he is looking for the normal stuff. Poor kiddo. I'm a little more sensitive but not at all painful yet at 6w1d.

This is what is going on at our house too.  It's so hard to see him frustrated, I don't know what to do.  I feel like he is hungry all the time.  He does not eat solids well yet, a few bites here and there, but not enough.  He is asking to nurse all day long.  I'm starting to have a lot of pain while nursing too, so I can only tolerate it for a few minutes and then I have to distract him.  I'm really hoping to keep nursing through the whole pregnancy, but I'm not sure it's going to happen.  We had to change our night time situation too beacause I wasn't getting any sleep because he wanted to nurse all night long.  So I've been sleeping on the couch and he's in the big bed with daddy.  I have the monitor in case he needs me but he has slept through the night for 5 days in a row... Wow! I didn't even think he could do that, I guess he is ok with night weening. I'm just not sure I'm ready.   Hang in there everyone! 

[montanamama1]

I feel like I have a low supply -- she's not really ever satisfied. But she doesn't seem to indicate that the flavor is any different yet. I'm 7w.

[mamanoish]

Its normal for your supply to drop. Progesterone levels have risen in your body that sort of "override" the hormone prolactin, so a supply dip is normal. However, if you're comfortable, it's important to keep nursing so your supply doesn't drop even more. Stimulation is the best thing for establishing/boosting a milk supply.

In my opinion, it's too early for your milk to have switched to colostrum. This generally happens 2nd/3rd trimester time. But it may taste a little different to your nursling. It's likely that it's just not flowing as fast or the same as before, which might be sort of frustrating to a nursling. Especially younger ones.