Nursing on demand and supply...does it keep up?

[mrs.t]

My 15 mo DS is still nursing 5-6 times in 24 hours. My supply seemed to be keeping up, but then he got a cold and wanted to nurse all day long. I know this was most likely for comfort, but I feel like I wasn't producing any "extra" milk even though he was nursing more frequently. I know when he was nursing exclusively (before solids he nursed 12 times a day or more) I used to know for a fact that he was getting milk every time he nursed, because I would feel a let down, leak from the other side, and hear him swallowing. So now that he is older and nursing a lot less, how do I know that my supply is keeping up? I still feel let downs and sometimes leak from the side opposite from the nursing side, but it seems like he spends a lot of time at the boob and not a lot of time getting milk. I know he's probably super efficient at this point, but it just doesn't feel like there's a ton of milk there. Before solids, at least I knew he was getting plenty of milk by wet diapers and weight gain, but how do I know he's getting "enough" now? He eats really well in terms of solids, but I don't give him any cow's milk or drinks other than plenty of water.

[Marissamom]

I feel like as baby turns into a toddler supply usually keep up with their average demands, but doesn't adjust as quickly when they have a sudden spike in demand.

[crunchy_mommy]

I was going to say the say thing as the pp. For the first year or so, I felt like any time DS ramped up his nursing, my supply spiked within 24 hours. Since then, it's taken longer for my supply to adjust to changes, and I can nurse him 10 times one day & 4 the next without oversupply the second day. This is really good for me because I had bad oversupply for 14mos. and it used to be a major problem when he would get sick & want to nurse a lot! It's much easier to deal with a steady supply (but I imagine if you have/had any low-supply issues it might be harder...)

[foreverinbluejeans]

Your milk probablly is increasing. If it didn't increase I would think that it would be uncomfortable when the toddler nursed more. My toddlers nursed more when they were healthy and when they were sick I could tell I made more. They all had asthma and got sicker than most kids.

[lifeguard]

My milk dried up with this pregnancy & it was pretty obvious right away when ds tried to nurse. It was very uncomfortable for me & he was not very happy about it. Too me the biggest indicator would be how he is reacting.

I did find that as ds got older I didn't notice changes as much & that I didn't feel letdown as strongly or experience leaking.