Is my milk not enough anymore?

[optimistic1]

I thought she would space out her feedings by now..has pretty long stretches at night sleeps usually 7pm-7am with 1-2 wakings but during the day it seems like she just needs to eat and eat and eat. I feed her when she first wakes up in the morning until she pulls away and seems uninterested. About an hour later (sometimes earlier, sometimes later but no later than 1.5 hours) she gets fussy like she needs to eat again..usually when shes showing tired signs. I offer and she eats through a let down then sucks awhile but if I compress to get milk flowing she pulls away like shes done. Shes only napping for 20-30 min then she wakes up and I repeat. Shes still making wet diapers...theyre not soaked but they've got some urine in them. My boobs are only full feeling during the night when she goes a long stretch but all day long they are really soft and feel empty.

Does this sound like my supply might be dropping? Her feeding every hour is making me think about formula...which I have been thinking about doing anyway around 9 months so I can get a job (id pump but I don't have good storage for milk) but now im thinking I may have to start supplementing sooner than that.

 

[petitpas]

Hi there :wave:
How great first of all that your daughter sleeps so well during the night!
Reading through your post it doesn't sound like you don't have milk. After all, your daughter isn't sucking and sucking and sucking to get more out of you.
To me, it sounds almost as if it might be time to introduce some solids. Is this something you might consider at this stage? Maybe some baby rice mixed with expressed milk?

By the way, I didn't realise until a breastfeeding consultant told me: it's good and normal for your bbs to feel soft and no longer with that full feeling. That means your body has regulated the supply perfectly. It took me months to get to that stage and I also thought I was empty but my son certainly isn't complaining.

 

[optimistic1]

Hopefully its just that I need to add solids..I know she wants to start I sometimes dip my finger in what im eating and let her get a taste and she loves it and smacks her chops for more but im still waiting until 6 months to actively start solids so hopefully when I start that will solve things. She also has her 6month check up on the 2nd so ill know if shes still gaining good weight. I really want to stick it out as long as possible until I decide to start job searching.. I love breastfeeding and im scared of becoming a depressed mess if I quit before im ready.

 

[Marie000]

it sounds like she might be having a growth spurt. If I remember correctly, babies often have one around 4-5 months of age. I wouldn't worry about it... just let her nurse when she wants and in a few days it should go back to normal.

I don't think you need to introduce solids. It wouldn't be the end of the world, but your milk is enough for now, your baby is just feeding a lot to increase your supply.

 

[optimistic1]

Its been like this for months. Before it was normal but by now I thought she'd space a bit. We went through the 4 month growth spurt/regression and she was feeding every hour day and night but now its just pretty much every hour during the day.

maybe its snacking?? But I thought that was due to bad latch...her latch seems fine ive never had any issues with it. Idk sometimes babies and breastfeeding make my head spin : /

 

[Dream.dream]

Some babies just eat more , I wouldn't say that it's a sign he needs solids unless she's showing all the other signs , and since it's been this way for a while if hold off , solids actually have less calories then milk and might make things worse

Your baby knows what she's doing and as long as she's having enough wet diapers your milk is enough

 

[optimistic1]

Thank you.

She's always been a little boob monster!

 

[New Mrs W]

Could you be mistaking her tired signals for hungry signals? Next time she fusses when she's only eaten an hour or so ago try rocking her to sleep rather than feeding her. This realisation at about 3.5 months is what saved my bf journey. I figured if he was only feeding through the letdown (which they have little choice about really!) and then stopping then he probably wasn't all that hungry and that his fussiness had to be down to be something else. If he had a clean bottom then I would always try to get him to sleep. At your LO's age ahe should be sleeping every 1.5 ish hours anyway so it does sound like it fits what you've described. Give it a try for a day or two and see if it helps xxx

 

[ttc bubby no2]

It is possibly because she is having short naps and not getting past the 1 sleep cycle. I used to try to resettle if they only had a short 30-40 min nap. Sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn't but I would try that before offering another feed.

With my 2nd it was too hard most of the time to resettle with a noisy older brother around so I just would end up feeding him all the time but around 6 or 7 months he actually started to sleep a little longer on his own and I could stretch him out more between feeds.

It was quite frustrating when he was snack feeding / cat napping because I couldn't get much done in that 30 mins but it does get better

 

[optimistic1]

Thank you ladies.

Ill try seeing if she's just tired. Im used to nursing to sleep we just recently stopped nursing to sleep so not nursing her before lying her down feels weird like im putting her down hungry..But if she falls asleep she must not be hungry..worth a shot.

I have a feeling if she'd sleep longer she'd probably stretch out a bit. I try to resettle her but if I come in the room and touch her or she sees me period and I don't pick her up she'll flip out so idk how to resettle her without pissing her off.

The short naps just recently started happening so im hoping THAT is because of the wonder week 26 that is coming up and that she eventually takes good naps...maybe im just completely reading her cues wrong.

 

[Rachel_C]

It sounds perfectly normal to me! She's still very young so I would just let her get on with it. There's no need to introduce solids early, solids don't instantly make a difference (in fact I don't think they do at all) and sometimes make things worse because it's harder on baby's digestion. As long as she's happy and healthy, keep doing what you're doing

 

[optimistic1]

Thanks..as long as its not a supply issue I can accept it..stressful sometimes but ive made it this far!

I guess I should also add that when she wakes up she only eats off of one side..i try getting her to take the other side but she wont. She'll just hold it in her mouth and stare at me like what am I supposed to do with this mom?

 

[annio84]

My DD has done this since she started with sleeping a long stress at night. I assumed the frequent day feeds are how she manages such a long stretch at night.

 

[petitpas]

So do you normally feed off both sides? You could try leaving her as long as possible to feed off one side, even if it feels empty to you. That way she'll get more fatty hind milk, which will fill her up for longer. At Nadia's age I only switched sides every 2-2.5 hours.