Empty breasts in evening

Rosesrred

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My LO is almost 5 months and is exclusively bf. I always had plenty of milk but have never expressed. The last 3-4 nights he has been unsettled and wakening constantly. I know that from around 6pm when he latches on he isn’t getting enough milk, I can’t hear swallowing and he is very fussy.
I’m tempted to give formula as I can’t bear to think of him hungry.
Any other tips on how to increase my supply very quickly, he’s going to be hungry all night again 🙁
 
Is it all through the night that he isn't swallowing or just in the evening?

Most women feel like milk supply is reduced in the evening but the science is a bit scarce and confusing. What is definitely true is that babies act like there is less milk but doing more fluttery comfort sucks and being fussy. However bottle fed babies go through periods of doing this on bottles too!! What the science does seem to suggest is that milk let down can be harder to get in the evening - this may be due to mum being more tired and stressed at this time, having gone most of the day without enough to drink and eat.

Do you have any reason to think your supply might have reduced? e.g are you back at work, does baby use pacifiers a lot, have you had a busy few weeks with interruptions and distractions?

There are also lots of reasons why babies get fussy and start to wake more that isn't anything to do with hunger BUT it can look like hunger when they are eager to go to the breast; but remember babies are eager to go to the breast to fix ALL their problems - the breast makes pain, fear, loneliness, thirst, hunger, active brain, boredom etc. all go away!

If your breasts can make milk at other times of the day then they can make milk full stop. His fussiness and increased waking MIGHT be just what your supply needs if it has dipped a bit because the best way to increase supply is feed whenever baby is hungry. 3-4 days of sleeping and eating differently could just be a short term thing like a growth spurt - babies just change so often, develop new skills, grow and learn and this all mucks up the routine you thought you had. Follow his cues and give it another few days to see if it is just a phase.
 

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