Having a 'why do I even bother' moment...

[Itsychik]

I have a love/hate relationship with breast feeding. I LOVE breastfeeding in itself but I hate the issues around it!

About a month ago I experienced a sudden drop in supply with no explanation and I haven't been able to increase it. I've started pumping extra (like after my DD goes to sleep for the night, and once during the day at a time my DD used to feed but recently dropped) to try and increase supply but it's not helping and I'm barely able to pump anything (just sat here pumping both sides for 30 minutes and have gotten a total of 1oz). My DD goes to a child minder during the week while I'm at work and I'm not able to pump what she takes in a bottle anymore! I'm running through my freezer stash and am afraid I'm going to run out and then have to switch to formula (not that there's anything wrong with that--my DS was combi-fed due to a low supply from the beginning--but it's been going to well with ebf until now that I just don't WANT to have to start supplementing!).

So I'm just feeling a little down and wondering why I even bother pumping all this extra time when I only get one freaking ounce! Why can't my body just cooperate like it's supposed to?!

*sigh*

Anyone else experienced a sudden drop after 6 months or so?

 

[irish_cob]

No, but my supply did regulate itself when I went back to work at 9 months. She has had formula at the childminders since I went back to work. However at weekends and on my days off I'm able to feed her as normal, my body seems to make what she needs and I don't get engorged when I'm at work now either. Remember what you can pump isn't always a good indication of how much milk she can get directly. It's crap in terms of building a stash but doesn't mean you aren't making enough milk for her to feed directly x

 

[Literati_Love]

I Agree that even though you aren't able to pump much that doesn't mean you don't have enough to feed her yourself. Babies are much more efficient than a pump so what you pump is not indicative of how much milk you are producing. Not sure what you can do to help to pump enough for when you're away but I wouldn't worry about your supply being too low for the rest of the time.

Have you tried pumping at night when your supply night be higher and might stimulate more milk production?

 

[Itsychik]

Thanks for your responses ladies

I should have been a little more specific, but my dip in supply isn't just in pumping. My DD used to be satisfied after feeding on just one side but now she's still fussy after feeding on both. She'll drink/swallow for the first couple of minutes and after that she'll continue sucking but only swallow every minute or so, and after a few minutes of that she gets frustrated and will cry and pull off. I use 'breast compressions' and will massage/squeeze while she's drinking and then she'll start swallowing again but also only for a minute or two and then get frustrated.

I've started switching her back and forth--so on side one till it's "empty", then on side two till "empty", then back to side one-- but this just isn't keeping her satisfied for long ("empty" in quotes as I know that technically milk is continuously being produced but not coming as fast as the initial storage).

In addition the amount I was able to pump dropped quite drastically and suddenly ( I know the baby is more effective, but I don't see how such a sudden drop can't indicate a drop in supply, especially considering how unsatisfied my LO is).

Also, I'm not always getting a let down. This is new as I used to have one or two during a feed/while pumping and no idea why this has stopped.

Regarding pumping at night... my DD has only been STTN for 2 weeks (before that it was sporadic, but usually with 1 waking per night). On a 'normal' night she goes to bed at 8pm and wakes up between 5 - 6 am, and I pump again around 11pm (so 'only' a 6-hour gap at night. I was doing this and she was also waking again between 2 - 3am (however, the drop in supply occurred while she was still waking...)

I think I'm going to call a lactation consultant for some advice Feeling so disappointed!

Thanks for the advice though

 

[irish_cob]

Did anything else change at that time? Medication? More stress? Illness? It's very odd for your supply to drop this late because it's established now and it should be a case of supply and demand rather than hormonal as it is for the first few weeks. Wish I knew what to suggest

 

[lau86]

My supply dropped a lot after I started them on solids, especially my youngest. He just preferred to eat, and he did BLW so he ate what he wanted. I was criticised for allowing him to eat so much but I was working anyway so I wouldn't have been able to feed him myself. I was very disappointed but they are both doing well and getting what they need.

 

[Itsychik]

Did anything else change at that time? Medication? More stress? Illness? It's very odd for your supply to drop this late because it's established now and it should be a case of supply and demand rather than hormonal as it is for the first few weeks. Wish I knew what to suggest

About a week after the drop I had some light spotting and thought AF was coming back but after a couple days that stopped but then supply never increased. 2 weeks after the drop I had surgery (gallbladder removal) and supply dropped even more but after a few days was back up to the pre-surgery drop. However, that's also now a few weeks ago and in the last week I've had an even lower drop (so at "normal" I was able to pump anywhere from 3 - 5 oz depending on the time of day, initial drop brought me to 2 - 3oz, and in the past week I'm often only able to pump 1oz or less!). My DD woke up at 3am last night and wasn't satisfied after I fed her! Which meant she was awake and fussy for a long time... In addition to feeding her I'm pumping 3 - 4 times a day, drinking 2 - 3 times the amount of water I normally drink, "mother's milk tea" (I tried Fenugreek with my previous baby and aside from making me reek of maple syrup, it did nothing for my supply), going to make some "lactation cookies" (I figure it can't hurt!) and have requested an appointment with a lactation consultant...

I figured the surgery might have an impact but the decrease started several weeks before that (and I wasn't particularly stressed and had been following the same pumping routine).

I really appreciate the responses... it just helps to talk it over with others who don't immediately say, "so switch to formula" (as I've been hearing a lot recently )