milk supply dwindling

[nellieellie]

Don't know if anyone can help but I have a 9mth old DS who is breastfeeding. He is having 3 lots of solids a day with snacks and I have reduced his milk feeds to 3 a day - or rather he has reduced them as he is not that interested. I always express in the morning about 2 hrs after his 1st milk feed (to top him up at night)but it is getting harder to get more than 100ml. Ihave noticed that my breasts are just nowhere near as full and he probably does not get much for any of his feeds. Having said that he seems contented enough and does not appear to want more.
I am now also expressing late afternoon but can hardly get anything. Is there any way I can increase supply? I eat quite a lot - of healthy food. I drink lots of liquids. I do want to continue with b/f for a while but am worried that it will just all dry up.
Has anyone else had this problem?

[mears]

The way to increase your milk supply is to feed more. If he is happy then you are producing enough. It does naturally get harder to express the older your baby is I found anyway. Why do you top-up at night? The best way to boost supply would be to feed directly.

[cheeseypeas]

My DS went through a phase similar to this. I started giving him feeds without him asking at times of the day when he would be hungry. I still offer it to him whenever he asks and for comfort if he gets stressed. I try and time these feeds when he's in the 'mood' for feeding, i.e not to active or excitable, getting hungry, in the mood for some comfort etc etc. I also have decided not to night wean him and he still has one night feed a night, which is actually the biggest feed of the day. Basically his snacks are milk and his feeding has improved as I've gradually balanced out his milk and food.

Good luck and it may just be a blip. If you are eating and drinking well, that will help lots.

[mcmudda]

My 10 mth old is on 3 feeds a day (morning/afternoon/bedtime) - I think it sounds just right to me.

Your breasts won't "feel" full like they did when your ds was tiny because they've adapted to his needs - Im all floppy . Now he's older you won't be producing the same quantity either because he's having solids too instead of just 2 breastfuls of milk. You're not drying up - you've just been feeding for an excellent length of time - keep it up!

It sounds like you're doing really well!

I'm also not sure why you're worried about the top up thing. Would it be easier to feed him yourself or does your partner feed him in the night if he wakes?

[nellieellie]

thanks for all this. The top up thing was something I started when he was about 3 mths old. I was worried I was not producing enough milk for him at his last feed of the day - around 7 ish before bed. He was then not waking until 4am ish and I was concerned that without a late night feed my supply would drop even more. I thought that exprssing at about 11ish would ensure that he had some more milk for the 7pm feed and hopefully up my supply. What then did happen was that he started to sleep through - from about 7.30 ish until 7 am - which at 3 mths was quite nice! I now express in the morning as the nightime was a real drag. The extra bottle has now become a habit - my partner gives him the bottle at 7 ish and then I feed him. It just makes me confident that he's had enough.

[mears]

The only thing about giving him a bottle before you feed him is that he will not take as much from you - depends how close these feeds are. If you do not express at night then there is a chance that you are not being stimulated enough to produce enough milk.

After saying that though, the fact that you are still breastfeeding at 9 months means you have enough milk. I personally could not be bothered with the hassle of expressing for a partner to be able to give a feed - especially not if it was interfering with the milk production process.

Be assured, as long as your breasts are being stimulated your milk will not dry up. Expressing is much harder work that just feeding your baby directly. Why not try just feeding at bedtime for a few nights to boost the stimulation? You will probably find you will be able to express more during the day. You could then return to bottle feeds by your partner.

[mears]

BTW - healthy foods and liquids will not increase your milk supply. Granted they are good for you but it is the stimulation of sucking (or expressing but not so effective) and milk removal trhat triggers your breasts to make more milk. HTH.