major decrease in milk supply

Heather - posted on 01/29/2009

the best way to boost your supply is to nurse.

i would cut out the bottles and put the baby to the breast as much as possible.

your body will adjust to meet your baby's needs. milk supply is, just that, supply and it increases according to the demand placed upon it.



you said he was falling asleep while eating, if so it's possible he was tired and didn't finish his 'meal.' odds are that is why he was wanting more again so soon.

Katy - posted on 01/29/2009

STRESS REDUCES YOUR MILK!! I felt like I was reading my own question from a few months ago. Let him suckle. I nursed around the clock. And after every feeding, I pumped to supplement each feeding. 3 ounces is not bad! The more he suckles, the more milk you'll make. Your hormones are outta wack, and I'm sure the stress of a reduced feeding is probably freaking you out.

Also, this happened to me right around the holidays again. My son is 5months now, and right at christmastime, I couldn't pump, he was fussing for more milk, and I was so stressed over it. After consulting my LC, she told me SO many women have the same problem. So relax. Stick to it. If you believe in breastfeeding, keep it up. I'm SO glad I did. Good luck!

Celeste - posted on 01/29/2009

Don't give up.........3 ounces is actually alot for a 1mo old to have.....my Dr told me 1-2 ounces each feeding is more than enough. My baby is on the boob all the time too!!   feels like I have udders instead of boobs! When you give him a bottle he doesn't have to work as hard to get the milk...he will essentially get lazy and prefer the bottle.....I wouldn't give him a bottle unless your Dr. says he isn't gaining weight. It will take soo much of your time...but worth every second.

Heather - posted on 01/29/2009

I have a close friend that, for no reason, her milk supply slowly started to diminish. her baby was 6mo. She eventually put him on formula. I also know that there is a medication you can take (with doctors' prescription) that will help increase. All I can say is try to pump ALL the time

Erica - posted on 01/29/2009

Yep I feed my little guy on demand and he gets plenty of milk. I've also heard that babies are able to get more milk from your breast than the pump. I took lactate support just so that I could pump enough for me to take a break occassionally.

He does sometimes feed every hour but he has plenty of wet and poopy diapers, and is gaining weight just fine!

Stick to the breast feeding and it's not necessary to supplement with formula unless your doctor recommends it.

Sherry - posted on 01/29/2009

hey there ,  there is truth in what Maria has just said,

-  breastfeeding is the law of supply and demand,  the more the baby is at the breast the more milk you will have.  Any thing else will interfere,  bottles , suthers,  cereal or solids to early, schedules etc.  Breastmilk is the perfect food for your baby made specially for your child.  It is digested very quickly and your child will need to nurse whenever they feel the need.  Do not let them cry,  go by there cues.  Offer the breast first. 

I have 8 chldren and have nursed them all.  They self-weaned, some at 6 years of age.  Tandem nursing( more than one child nursing at a time) has been part of my life for several years.  It is something that both of you will learn and it is life style. 

- there are also herbal vitamins that you can take to increase milk,  Blessed Thistle and Fenugreek,  taken together.  There are also herbal teas that can do the same,  but be careful and only take a recipe from someone that knows their herbs cause you don't want to do the opposite.  Naturopathic Dr. / or a  homeopathic person.  Be careful.....hope this helps a bit....water intake is great but big thing is good latch and having the baby at the breast as much as they want !!!

Maria - posted on 01/29/2009

Sorry, you are going to hate me but I was thinking about your son not latching on properly and was wondering if he's got any marks or white patches in his mouth and on his tongue?

Maria - posted on 01/29/2009

Sorry it's me again!! One thing I forgot to mention which is very important, is that your baby is probably going through a growth spurt as well. He's telling you in the only way he can that you need to make more milk for him. They don't last very long but bloody hell they have loads of them!!!!! Don't panic, just let him feed as often as he needs to!

Maria - posted on 01/29/2009

Hiya, my lad is nearly two now and I successfully breastfed him for 14 months and was a breastfeeding peer support worker in the community as well. I'ts perfectly normal for your 1 month old baby to want to be at your breast within an hour of feeding, believe me! The more your baby suckles the more milk you produce. It's natures way of making sure you have the right amount of milk for you're little'n and it takes weeks before you have an fully established supply of milk. Mine took ten weeks before my baby got into any pattern whatsoever and even that was feed, sleep, feed,sleep!!! My boy was almost constantly on my boob for the first 4-5 weeks of his life and at first I was so worried that I wasn't producing enough milk.

The midwives finally put me in touch with the community breastfeeding specialist and she was brilliant. She just reassured me that baby-led feeding is the best way to breastfeed a baby and where possible, just to go with it!!! My boy would feed for an hour, fall asleep on my boob for half an hour and wake up and feed again for another hour!! I felt like a bloody dairy cow lol!!

Unfortunately the midwives and books I'd read made it seem like breastfeeding is the easiest thing in the world to do but it's actually really hard work and it takes willpower and perseverence to keep it up. Just go with your baby and feed when he/she wants to feed. If you can, just take the time to really relax and put as much as you can aside to do this. As long as your baby is gaining weight you can be pretty certain that he/she's getting enough. Supplementing a feed with formula milk just means that your baby is on the boob for less time and it will interfere with your own milk supply.

And by the way when I tried expressing I couldn't ever squeeze out a drop so please don't think that what you pump out is a real indication of how much milk you are actually producing.

Lastly, relaxing and drinking more fluids will definately help. I practically lived on banana smoothies for 6 months!!!



If you really want to keep breast feeding then just do it. When your baby's 2 you'll look back on the first few weeks and months and realise what a short period of time it actually was in the grand scheme of their lives.



Well Sorry for going on!!! Good luck with everything and I hope it all works out for you and your kiddie,

Take care



Maria x

Diana - posted on 01/29/2009

You are not taking enough fluids. You need to drink 2 litres of water a day and I would suggest Brewers Yeast tablets, works like a bomb. Rest more your body is not coping!

Dianna - posted on 01/28/2009

Could you pregnant? Go to askdrsears.com for much helpful information on how to increase milk supply