Letdown is taking FOREVER!!

[xkoliex]

OK so recently during the day my letdown reflex has taken forever and a day. Victoria gets so upset with me too. She cries and screams, but always goes right back to try again. Just now it seriously took 5-7 minutes of her sucking for it to happen. This doesn't make ANY sense to me. I feed her every two hours during the day and on demand at night. Why is it taking so long?

[allnaturalmama]

Some quick troubleshooting from the hip...

Every mama has a magic "letdown spot" which is pretty far back on the areola. Is she getting enough of you in her mouth?

Are you tense, stressed, rushed, or nervous about something lately?

Getting enough fluids? calories? protein?

I hope you get to the bottom of it!

[IncaMama]

some beer always helped me out in that dept.

[Jeanne_L]

Another thing that helps me sometimes is the Mother's Milk Tea. I'm pretty sure it's the fennel that helps with the letdown (while fenugreek helps with supply). Also, sometimes I'll feel like my supply is lower on a certain day, or my letdown is taking longer I've usually not had enough water to drink that day. I read somewhere that at this age an EBF baby may be drinking up to 32oz of BM a day. So I figure that means I have to drink at least that much water for DS PLUS all the water I need for myself. It's tough to do, especially now that it's warmer. When I concentrate on my water intake I seem to make more milk (of course that is subjective, but...)
Hope you figure it out!

[aisraeltax]

i wish i had some advice but i never even feel my letdown. i dont konw what i would do if E wasnt getting anything. how do you know?
but i do second drinking more water and fennel!!! mothers milk if you have alot of honey on hand!

[Geofizz]

Originally Posted by aisraeltax

i wish i had some advice but i never even feel my letdown. i dont konw what i would do if E wasnt getting anything. how do you know?

A lot of women can feel it. I can only feel it when pumping (not when nursing). Mostly, you can go by when the baby starts swallowing.

Yeah, the amount I recall is 2.5 oz of breastmilk per pound of baby per day. So, if your baby is 15 points, that's 37 oz per day. As the weather warms us, we need to be extra certain to get enough fluids.

Also, oatmeal contains high levels of a B-vitamin inositol. Inositol helps mobilize the fat into the milk and which can hasten letdown.

Tension in my shoulders also hinders letdown.