Losing milk supply after bout of stomach flu

[amydep]

Help! I am still nursing our 13 month old (almost 14 months) dd. She is happily eating solids and nursing, and things have been going so great. Until this weekend. I came down with a horrible stomach bug, and my milk supply seems to have completely gone away. I lost so much fluids, and I know that has affected my supply, but I want to know if it will come back now that I am recovering. I nursed her through the illness (being careful to wash my hands beforehand, etc) as to keep up my supply, but I seem to have shrunk to nothing. I can still feel letdown, but I don't think she is getting much. Any advice or experience in this area would be greatly appreciated!!

[KirstenMary]

This happened to me, and I went from pumping 40 to 50 ounces a day....to just about 4 or 5. It freaked me out, and I thought I would never regain my supply. Thankfully, I was wrong. I was back to normal in about a week.

[amydep]

Oh, thank you! That is what I wanted to hear!! I am no longer pumping (I used to pump for one bottle a day while I worked in the mornings, but now DH gives her solids when I am gone) so I can't even use that as a judge as to how much DD is getting. I can just tell by the way my breasts feel that there isn't a whole lot in there. I'm sure my body has to replace the lost fluids to everything at once, so it makes sense that it would take a little while for the milk supply to come back. But, I just wanted to hear that this wouldn't be a permanent change. Now that I am feeling better, I have been downing fluids like crazy. I don't want anything to ruin our nursing relationship! We have such a beautiful thing going!!

[KirstenMary]

Originally Posted by amydep

Oh, thank you! That is what I wanted to hear!! I am no longer pumping (I used to pump for one bottle a day while I worked in the mornings, but now DH gives her solids when I am gone) so I can't even use that as a judge as to how much DD is getting. I can just tell by the way my breasts feel that there isn't a whole lot in there. I'm sure my body has to replace the lost fluids to everything at once, so it makes sense that it would take a little while for the milk supply to come back. But, I just wanted to hear that this wouldn't be a permanent change. Now that I am feeling better, I have been downing fluids like crazy. I don't want anything to ruin our nursing relationship! We have such a beautiful thing going!!

I remember how scared I was. My breasts felt totally deflated (for lack of a better word), and I thought my milk would never come back. I also drank a ton of water, and that seemed to quicken my recovery.

Hugs.

[mb05]

Hi, Amy!

Glad to hear you're feeling better! It can be overwhelming when you're not feeling well... especially with the flu! I'm sure it probably feels like your body was "drained" while trying to recover, too. Something that helps most moms feel better is knowing they will pass the specific antibodies to her baby... If her baby does get sick, they'll have a much milder case of it, too. (How great that you were also washing your hands before each nursing!)

If your supply went down some, rest assured that it will gradually build up again through nursing on-demand. Your body just needs a little bit of time and rest. A woman's body is amazing!! Plenty of fluids... rest... keeping baby close to you and laying in bed... etc.... are also a great way to feel better soon.

take care!

[Eliseatthebeach]

This happened to me also not too long ago. I was also at the point in my pregnancy that I was making less milk. I thought that the stomach flu would be the end of it for sure. It seemed that way for a week or so then it did slowly come back. You'll likely be just fine.

[amydep]

Thanks for all the responses! Another thing I just thought about is that this happened right in the middle of AF, and my milk supply always drops a little during AF anyway, so it is a double whammy on my supply.

Thankfully, I have an amazing DH, and he has done everything to take care of me and the kids while I was sick. I don't know what I would have done without him.

I'm going to add a couple extra nursings a day over the next few days just to remind my body to keep producing milk - just in case! I feel comforted that I am still feeling letdown, so I know that the milk is there, just not as much.

Thanks again for all the replies!!

[mb05]

Yes! I was thinking just a while later to ask if your cycles had returned yet! Even more reassuring, actually... I agree, nurse on-demand and maybe even a couple more pumping sessions to help get things going.

take care!