Empty Breasts?

[bloodbinds]

I'm not sure what's been going on, but my breasts feel sooooo empty the last couple of weeks!

They used to feel full when Bella had gone a few hours without a feed and in the morning i would always have to express to relieve the engorgment!
And then slowly my breats have gone down, i've gone down a couple of bra sizes and i no longer need to wear a bra on the night and i never leak any more.

I thought it was a good thing really, just my breasts settling down, but Bella was weighed the other day and she's dropped from the cusp of the 50th percentile to the 9th percentile So she's either not feeding as well or my milk is drying up or something and i'm really worried :-/ I wouldn't mind too much as i'm close to my 6 month breastfeeding goal and i have a load of milk stored up, but she won't take a bottle or a cup or anything so i'm worried that pretty soon i won't be able to feed my baby at all :-S

What can I do?

 

[Seraphim]

Have you been block feeding?
Has she started to feed for longer? or more often?
Is she getting fussy on the boob or anything?

 

[bloodbinds]

She's not fussy at all really.

She does seem to be going longer without feeds though (which also worrys me) and she only ever has about a 10 minute feed, which is what she's always done. And even then she doesn't seem overly interested in having the feed :-/

 

[anothersquish]

were you not advised at the time?

Its common to have a levelling out of weight gain, a plateau if you like around this sort of age. If you have a look back the last two or three pages you will come across at least three other people having similar concerns at almost exactly the same age. Its common and a known part of a BF babys growth pattern. If she is happy, healthy, wet, dirty nappies and meeting milestones there is no massive cause for concern.
If you feel you need too you can try offering her the breast more often or you can start to use a breast pump to up your supply (though if she doesnt drink it then you will just end up with a VERY full freezer!!).
Boob size doesnt mean anything regards milk really, I remember reading something recently about hormones and changes in breastsize whilst BFing, I will see if I can re-find it for you. Not leaking dont mean anything either. I dont leak in the daytime at all but I am full time BFing my own and expressing over 30oz a day for another baby and storage....so not leaking doesnt mean no milk!!!

 

[Seraphim]

If she's not annoyed then I don't think your milk's gone anywhere

H is going 3 hours between feeds, and then not desperate - I think she knows it's there now The teeth grumbles really put her off too.