Can milk supply just dry up?

Kim - posted on 10/09/2010

Thanks all....I would NEVER resort to formula but it is scary that she barely drinks from me. I will perservere! I have not used 1 drop of formula for 4 kids....definitely not going to start now.
More women should join support groups or at least be able to chat like this and breastfeeding would become more popular.

Celeste - posted on 10/09/2010

Great post, Laura! Very true, milk supply isn't really "supply" at all. Many women think that our breasts are storage units; that is that they think they only have a limited amount of "supply" when that is not the case.

Kim, it very well could be teething. Even though your others didn't fuss this long, it still could be teething. Here is an article from kellymom called "Help! My baby won't nurse!"

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/concerns/baby...

Laura Zoey - posted on 10/09/2010

I think it's partially a grammatical error on the part of calling it

'milk supply' it isn't a supply, it is

'milk production'

Your 'supply' can't dry up because it isn't some sort of container to be full or empty. If we could all stop saying 'supply' maybe moms would stop assuming it can be emptied. Production indicates that it's a constant state of making milk, therefore it can't ever be empty, it's just in a stage of making more, with less to drink at points. I never think I have 'dried up' even if he is upset after or if it feels empty as long as I can squeeze a drop out I know there's milk in there, just maybe not as much as he wants! I know a lot about it now, but it's not always been that way!

I had a time where I thought my milk wasn't enough for Eric, he was about 5.5 months and he started nursing every hour or more for all day. I had one bottle of pumped milk in the freezer as a llast resort, but I NEVER kept formula in my house, it wasn't an option to me. So I worried my butt off but just kept nursing and nursing as much as he wanted. He wasn't satisfied after nursing, he was obviously still hungry even after both breasts but since I wasn't starting solids until 6 months I just figured if it wasn't better by the next day I would call the dr to get some options.

So I just nursed all day and dealt with a crabby boy. All night he nursed a lot too, but by morning I was engorged! It was so amazing and he nursed and was full. I was super engorged for a few hours but by the next day I was regulating well again. Well that's called a growth spurt and even though I didn't know what it was, why it was happening, or if it was normal, I did do the right thing instinctively.

When we have confidence that our bodies are capable to feed then we find it all working out. When we doubt ourselves and start choosing other options then our body will 'fail' us.

So, I just thought back then, what if I were a woman in a rural area with no stores or anything, what would I do? I would just work with what I have (boobs) and make it work. So it's obvious to me that somehow modern women are doubting their bodies capabilities and it's false! Don't view formula as an option, don't use solids as a filler, just trust your body and make it through growth spurts.

They happen to everyone I'd bet and it's normal, and crabby days!



So, if we know what to look for in problem areas like growth spurts

If we don't think of formula and solids as substitutes

And if we start thinking of our milkl in terms of a production rather then a supply

Ithink more moms would succeed through the tough times.

Kim - posted on 10/09/2010

I have successfully breastfed all 3 of my kids and am now busy breastfeeding my 9 month old daughter (my 4th child). I am, for the first time, battling with milk supply and am very unhappy about it. I think it might be due to stress (my husband is away for 4 months, we are building, there has been a lot of crime in the area etc.) and she is fussing and not wanting to drink from me???? At first I thought it was teething and even though she is still teething (we still waiting for tooth number one) my others didnt fuss this long. So Im sitting with a viscious circle. She is demanding less and I am therefore making less I suppose. I have stared drinking jungle juice.

Celeste - posted on 10/09/2010

Mandi, what made you think you were dry? Pumping isn't an indicator of supply. The *best* way to tell if supply is low or dry is by diaper count. If your son wasn't getting enough diapers (depending on age), then your supply was indeed low. If not, your supply was fine.

Lydia - posted on 10/09/2010

that's interesting Mandi, thanks for sharing. So you needed to stay well hydrated...

Mandi - posted on 10/09/2010

Actually my milk supply just dried up and it wasn't just my thinking that it did. It literally did. I wasn't taking herbs or medications either. The problem was my son was born early and my supply was never a "good supply" so if I was dehydrated my body would not produce milk. It dryed up 2 times for around 3 days. Nothing would come out when my son nursed and when I pumped nothing came out either and I was a regular pumper. It didn't dry up indefinitely though thank goodness just for a few days

Lydia - posted on 10/07/2010

Thank you, that were some good insights. It's too sad that many are just not informed right and basically reduce/stop breastfeeding just because they think they have not enough milk. I guess it's really a worthy mission to inform inform inform new moms about breastfeeding.

*Fluffy Bunnies - posted on 10/07/2010

I think a lot of moms feel like Celeste described. Their baby wants to nurse frequently or is fussing so they think they don't have enough milk. So they start to supplement which in turn causes real low supply so they supplement more and before they know it's all gone.

Minnie - posted on 10/07/2010

Celeste has it. Typically the only things that will cause milk production to up and just stop are drugs and herbs.



If mothers aren't informed about the normal course of breastfeeding and how to successfully breastfeed it can seem like it just 'dried up' when other circumstances led to the weaning.



Jennifer makes a good point- feedings that are not frequent enough during the early weeks can cause a mother's body to not lay down enough prolactin receptors. Once prolactin levels drop off at around four months these mothers who scheduled often notice a sharp drop in milk production and can no longer produce enough to breastfeed exclusively. Often it is very difficult to increase production after that.

Jennifer - posted on 10/07/2010

i'm also curious if those mothers tried to put their babies on eating schedules, and because of that perhaps didn't have a good supply to begin with?

Celeste - posted on 10/07/2010

Generally? No. Milk supply doesn't just dry up. Many mothers think that their supply "dries up" because of frequent nursing, being fussy at the breast, but these are not indicators of supply. In my own personal experience on being on breastfeeding boards for many years, this seems to happen around growth spurts.

However, having said that, birth control and *some* medications/herbs (decongestants, sage, etc) *can* have an affect on supply.

ETA: kellymom website
What does NOT mean low supply
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/supply/low-su...