Drop in milk supply ~I had no idea this was "normal"!

[P.J.]

DS is 18 months and nurses still on demand, also at night. It varies considerably how often he nurses (some days and some nights it seems like all.the.time, others it's not so much).

I always believed we produced enough milk to demand, but I have discovered that my milk supply has dropped a LOT in the last 4 months or so. I was just reading this forum and came across several posts suggesting this is normal. I had no idea!

What clued me in was that my son is always asking for the "other boo boo". It actually drives me nuts because he goes from one to the other and back again, and again and again to the point I just leave both boobs open so he can keep switching. I have even considered weaning over this because it drives me so nuts. Anyway I started squeezing to see if milk came out and usually some does but less than before, and sometimes none comes out. I have also noticed my boobs are much softer and rarely feel full anymore, even after he's at daycare and it's been 4+ hours.

I guess I just wanted to express my astonishment that in fact we don't produce milk to demand and it can drop even with round the clock nursing. Anyone know why this is? Do I have to fear my supply completely drying up? I'm curious if this has happened to others, when did it happen? Please share.

In a way it confirms my feeling the need to either nightwean and / or set limits and cut back on daytime nursing.

[P.J.]

BTW before you ask, I am definitely not pregnant

[Megan73]

Honestly, constantly switching boobs is pretty normal toddler behavior - your LO has learned he can stimulate more letdowns that way. You may or may not have less milk but I bet you have plenty for your toddler's needs at this point. I assume he's eating a wide variety of solids by now?
If the switching bugs you, then set limits on it. That's just part of good nursing manners and a nursing relationship has two people in it - both have to be happy!
But I'd warn you that if you stop nursing at night your supply is likely to go down more. That may be OK with you and a reasonable trade off for more sleep. It was for me with my first son but it did decrease my supply.

[P.J.]

Originally Posted by Megan73 

Honestly, constantly switching boobs is pretty normal toddler behavior - your LO has learned he can stimulate more letdowns that way. You may or may not have less milk but I bet you have plenty for your toddler's needs at this point. I assume he's eating a wide variety of solids by now?
If the switching bugs you, then set limits on it. That's just part of good nursing manners and a nursing relationship has two people in it - both have to be happy!
But I'd warn you that if you stop nursing at night your supply is likely to go down more. That may be OK with you and a reasonable trade off for more sleep. It was for me with my first son but it did decrease my supply.

Thank you for this. I think I needed to confirm my feeling to set limits. In other areas of parenting I don't find it as hard, but with nursing it somehow seems way harder to do.

He does eat solids, but I don't know how wide a variety as he is also a typical toddler and can be pretty picky and some days eat what seems like very little to me. I hear this is all very normal though and I trust he will not starve himself. I think another side-effect of setting limits on nursing would be that he eats more solids though. We'll see....

[expat-mama]

Interesting. I haven't noticed a drop in supply at all (DS is almost 17 mos)- in fact I thought my supply had increased along with his increased nursing in the past few months. 

I am also looking at setting limits- it is getting to be too much for me lately. We took some very small steps toward night-weaning a month or so ago and DS was definitely not ready and it in fact made our nights a lot worse. But we're going to try again in the new year. Something's got to change, if only just a little bit. This mama is going a bit batty with it all. A year and half of being sleep deprived and nursing on demand has taken a toll, even though I'm sure DS has reaped countless benefits from it all. We'd eventually like to have another baby but I need a break from nursing and some better sleep before I'm ready to sign up for it all again.

[Hymanroth]

My baby is 4 mo and it scares me to read things like this! I'm a first time mom able to bf exclusively with no problems, ...  And I want to bf as long as baby wants. 

I was just going to ask about this in a post. 

Why do I read so much about milk drying up etc ... Can it be avoided???

[Megan73]

OP, I should have added that the things you mention - breasts feeling softer, being able to express less milk - are really common things for moms of older babies to report and don't mean that you're in danger of drying up. As I said, I'm sure you have enough milk for your LO!

Originally Posted by Hymanroth 

My baby is 4 mo and it scares me to read things like this! I'm a first time mom able to bf exclusively with no problems, ...  And I want to bf as long as baby wants. 

I was just going to ask about this in a post. 

Why do I read so much about milk drying up etc ... Can it be avoided???

You will be able to nurse as long as you both want. Most women maintain their supply as long as their LO is nursing often. I think the best advice is to nurse on demand (although you may have to remind the busy older baby),don't try to "train" baby to sleep through the night and delay solids until at least six months. Some of the "booby traps" that sabotage supply are hormonal birth control, trying to space out feedings, limit time at the breast or only offering one breast a feed and overfeeding solids - which should be for fun and exploration in the first year.
You can do it!