In tears tonight - Is my milk drying up or what's going on?!

[raisin]

I have the feeling my milk is drying up. Can anyone give me some advice?

In the last few weeks my DS has been really fussing whilst feeding. Wriggling, punching my boob, squealing and crying, tugging at the nipple and acting like he's not getting any milk. I spoke to my HV and told her that it seems worse in the evenings and asked if I could give him formula. She thought it would be ok for me to give him one bottle of formula in the evening, as this is when milk production is at it's lowest.

I know that giving formula can affect milk supply and the best way to up the supply is to have DS at the boobs, so I have made sure he doesn't get more than one bottle on an evening and spends a lot of time bf the rest of the day. The past few days he has been worse than usual. Today I have been trying to get him to bf a lot but he was so starving I had to give him 2 bottles.

I am absolutely devastated and in tears, worked so so hard at establishing bf and it was working so well despite a few teething issues at the start due to my DS being born premature.

Also - I don't know if it makes a difference but I don't seem to get the "let down" feeling so much anymore when bf. I never have that full feeling either or sore, hard boobs. Never leak anymore either although I did for the first few weeks of bf.

If my milk isn't drying up what else could it be? I'm not ready to give up bf yet!

 

[midori1999]

As lOng as your baby is gaining weight and having plenty of wet and dirty nappies, then you have enough milk and it's not drying up.

Your supply will be regulating and all the things you mention, softer breasts, no engorgement, no leaking etc Indicate this and not your supply drying up. It's also totally normal.

However, giving any formula at all, especially during times your LO cluster feeds, will negatively affect supply and as you have found, the temptation is then there to supplement with more bottles of formula whenever you feel like you don't have enough milk.

If you stop giving the formula and trust your body, it will be fine.

 

[MumToOllie]

I'd try fenugreek capsules, lots of oats and you can make lactation cookies with oats, flaxseed meal and brewers yeast (plus raisins, choc chips and other yummy things).
If it gets really low then you could request domperidone from your doctor.
Stressing will only make it worse, relax and have faith in your body's ability to provide for your lo, the human race wouldn't have gotten this far otherwise!
As for the soft boobs, no leaking etc, this is just because your body has adjusted well and is much better at making milk when needed. I hardly ever leaksince 2-3 months and my let down has settled down too. Also the less "full" your boobs feel the more fatty milk lo gets!
If I were you I'd ditch the formula as it is a slippery slope as you've already found, your lo may be on a growth spurt and this is why he is fussing and wanting more, try expressing (which will also increase supply) and giving ebm as a top up instead of formula.
Good luck, relax, have confidence in your amazing ability to provide for your baby and enjoy your lovely milky cuddles x

 

[patch2006uk]

You've been given some bad advice by the HV. Your supply isn't 'lowest' in the evening, that's just incorrect. Babies often cluster feed in the evening, but that's no indication of your supply at those times.

Your milk is all your LO needs. Drop the formula, demand feed your LO, and everything should settle itself down he may want to feed alot while your supply increases to replace the formula. As long as he's wetting nappies, he's getting enough milk. Don't assume low supply; it's actually incredibly rare for a woman to have supply issues if she feeds on demand and has no underlying health problems. Trust your body. Trust your LO. Feed your baby

 

[summer rain]

Your milk production is actually higher in the evening and at night; and the milk produced at that time, if the demand is there will be fattier and more satisfying, if you give top ups of formula at this time it will lead your LO to cluster feed more xx

 

[SilverWillow]

I am going through exactly the same as you Raisin!

I just came on here to post for help and found your post. I am really trying to trust my body and keep going, I too gave formula at night and now I know that has made things worse and I feel so guilty I have been crying inconsolably all the time, especially in the evenings. I so badly want to feed my baby this is killing me so I am sharing in your pain you are not alone! It is going to be so difficult but I am going to try to give her nothing else today but the breast, my boobs feel empty and sore and when I pump hardly anything is coming out, but if I squeeze by hand it does so there must be some milk, but LO has got too lazy to get it out I think.

The only thing that nobody has answered yet is what to do about LO being fussy and not feeding from the breast well, like you described. I know the bottle has caused this but expressed milk is in a bottle too so it is not just the fault of the formula. My LO takes a bit then keeps falling off and fussing and she doesn't suck much and I can't hear her swallowing. Does anyone know what to do about this????????????

I started Fenegreek yesterday, fingers crossed for this, I would recommend you try it too, my friend said it helped her.

you are not the only one hun, it is so hard isn't it?

 

[raisin]

I am going through exactly the same as you Raisin!

I just came on here to post for help and found your post. I am really trying to trust my body and keep going, I too gave formula at night and now I know that has made things worse and I feel so guilty I have been crying inconsolably all the time, especially in the evenings. I so badly want to feed my baby this is killing me so I am sharing in your pain you are not alone! It is going to be so difficult but I am going to try to give her nothing else today but the breast, my boobs feel empty and sore and when I pump hardly anything is coming out, but if I squeeze by hand it does so there must be some milk, but LO has got too lazy to get it out I think.

The only thing that nobody has answered yet is what to do about LO being fussy and not feeding from the breast well, like you described. I know the bottle has caused this but expressed milk is in a bottle too so it is not just the fault of the formula. My LO takes a bit then keeps falling off and fussing and she doesn't suck much and I can't hear her swallowing. Does anyone know what to do about this????????????

I started Fenegreek yesterday, fingers crossed for this, I would recommend you try it too, my friend said it helped her.

you are not the only one hun, it is so hard isn't it?

I don't know what to do either!! My LO was the same again tonight and after hours of trying on the boob I had to give him a bottle. He took 4 oz. I don't know what to do to stop him fussing! Nightmare.

 

[Kelly81]

Poppy can be quite a wriggler when feeding sometimes, it's a right pain! When she was a couple of months I went through a period of swaddling her when feeding her during the evening (trying to feed her to sleep) I wrapped her up really tight so she couldn't wriggle so much and it made her concentrate on feeding better and it seemed to help her drop off to sleep, not sure if this would be of any help to you? Hope things improve for you soon

 

[Lauki]

Sophie went through a stage like this, but it gradually stopped. I just tried out a few different positions, have her head higher than her body or feed her in the Rugby Hold (if that makes sense ). She soon grew out of it and now she's a star again!

Hubby used to give Soph 1 bottle of formula at night, but that was purely to give my nipples a break. It hasn't negatively influenced my supply, but if you're worried about it, then you're best off not giving him any formula! I just needed it to get through the first few weeks and she's been exclusively breastfed for about 6-7 weeks now.

For the fussing, when Soph does it, I either take her off, see if she gots wind, or I rock her while we're nursing or sing to her and stroke her head, just to calm her down. There's not much you can do, but hopefully for you LO it's just a phase as well and he'll grow out of it.

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