Milk Supply Dwindling, but Baby Refusing Bottle

Don't worry about the supply getting low. I menstruated too at 9 months but both my kids went on for another 3 months just fine.

However, switching to a bottle is better for you and baby cause it will help the eventual transition and free you up (we all know THAT'S needed). :-)

Try different bottles. My daughter was finicky about her bottle, she preferred the ones that have flatter style nipples. Kind of like the natural breast. After she got used to that I transitioned to the more traditional bottle and she did great.

It's kind of like pacifiers, you have to just keep trying. (Ironically in the end we have to unlearn the behavior.) Hold it in place and have him hold it there too. If baby is hungry enough it will work.

You might want to have someone else do it (like Daddy or Grandma) and you be far away so that you aren't tempted to give in to breastfeeding him (like down the street in a cafe with a girlfriend... worrying about how things are going). It's tough, but they survive (and so do we)... believe me we've all been there some way or another. :-)

Good luck!

~B

I used Fenugreek, you can find it as WholeFoods or a Natural food store. It me and several of my friends. I would check with you doctor still.

Just keep nursing your supply will catch up soon. You can pump a little in between feedings and that will keep your supply up. Because you started menstrating does NOT mean your supply is getting low. This can happen at anytime especaily if you are no longer only breastfeeding (i.e. sold foods, bottles, paci's) My son took a bottle for a month and then stopped and we could never get him to take it again. Your baby just knows what is best for him and that is your milk from your breast. I promise your supply is going to be fine. I do wonder why you think your supply is getting low? Don't fall for the formual bit, you have come this far and only have 3 1/2 monthes left be for you can safely ween him, just a little longer. You might even choose to continue beyond one year. Just remember every time you put your son to the breast you are givig him the best possible food from the best possible source.

It's a supply and demand issue... feed or pump more and your body will resume making more. I don't know that getting your cycle limits your milk production because I got my cycle back 3 weeks after delivery and my son is not suffering from low milk production. I do let him nurse on demand though, even to this day and he's approaching 7 months. The tea helped me as well in the beginning, but I don't have to use it now because of my supply being exactly what I need to feed my son. For me, I found that pumping lowered my supply though so you might want to go back to feeding him directly and pumping right after or not pumping for a while and just letting your son trigger the reflex.

Hello
Whenever my milk supply was low I drank a cup of tea from Traditional Medicines...I think it was called Mother's Milk and the active ingredient was fenugreek. Check it out ....it really worked for me. Don't forget factors like lots of sleep and water and minimum stress.
P..

For future reference two wonderful sites for breastfeeding questions and support:

www.kellymom.com
www.llli.org

Good luck!

T.
Founder
www.theparentpack.org

Congratulations on making it to 8 1/2 months of breastfeeding. I'm sure you know that your giving your baby the best food possible, and the longer you can breastfeed the better! You can try Fenugeek and/or mother's milk tea, they will help increase your supply, you can get them at most health food stores and also Whole Foods. They are both over the counter herbs, and there should be dosing on the box to tell you how much to take. You can also ask your doctor about Domperidon it is a prescription drug that will very effectively bring your milk supply back. It is safe for your baby, and if I recall rarely has any side effects and the few reported ones were minor headaches that went away as soon as the domperidone was stopped. But definetly ask your doctor about it and they can tell you more. Good luck and great job at wanting to keep breastfeeding!

Try a weekend Breastfeeding Bootcamp. Basically that means you take the weekend off from everything else and focus on very, very frequent nursing, staying in bed with the baby to nurse whenever possible. You can do a search on Breastfeeding Bootcamp for more details.

One thing that always increases my supply noticeably is to nurse side-lying at night, allowing my dd to nurse as long as she wants, while we both sleep. This is one of the best ways to increase supply because your lactation hormones peak at night and your body responds more strongly to extra nursing during those hours. If he is sleeping through the night, you can still use this technique by nursing through his naps lying down with him and letting him stay on the breast as he sleeps. A great excuse for a nap!

Also check out www.kellymom.com for great info on increasing supply, it is a site that has helped me a lot.

JUst keep feeding your supply will adjust.
I remember when my daughter was that age it felt every time I was menstruating the supply seemed to be low. I am not sure if it actually was or just felt like it. The first time I freaked out, but after two times I noticed the supply coming back every time and it made me more relaxed. I ended up feeing my daughter 'til 17 month and then she weened herself ( other foods were more important). Though just keep going. At this age they are already eating other stuff, though they will not starve and even solid food has a lot of liquid in it.

I would keep trying different bottles and keep the routine as similar as you can when he is breast feeding. At his age he should be getting some nutrition from baby food. Kids always get what they need somehow. Why not try putting him on formula like similac and see how he responds to that in a bottle. He may just prefer your breast milk from your breast, (I know, sounds bad)Both of my children are formula fed and love it. Good luck

Drink lots of water and try More Milk Plus (herbal tablets). Google it :)

E.

I remember being sure my supply was dwindling as I never felt full anymore and my breasts returned to something more normal. I still let my little one feed as opten as she wanted and as it happened my breasts had just adjusted and I am still feeding at almost 3 years.

Contact LaLeche League if you want some advice on increasing your supply.

You must stay very very hydrated, drinking 1/2 body weight (in ounces) per day. Pure water, not tap water, herbal teas anything healthy and not caffeine and sugar filled as those items will cause dehydration, hence less milk production. I hope this helps, it happened to me too.
K. ____@____.com

My little boy went "on strike" at 9 1/2 months for the same reasons as your little one. First of all, congratulations on providing breastmilk for your little one as long as you have. I called the La Leche League for advice on building up my milk supply, and they recommended that I pump every 2 - 3 hours for 15 - 20 minutes (a normal feeding), even if very little came out, this stimulates your production. When you are ready to move onto formula, you can choose what you are comfortable with. I went beyond the organic formulas because of all the extra ingredients. I just didn't want to introduce the "processed" food world to him so early, so I found a goat milk formula that got me to the one year mark. Then I gave my son goat milk from the store. Goat's milk is easier to digest than cow's milk and is more similar to breastmilk as well. If you google goat milk formula, you will find sources from New Zealand. The shipping is expensive, but to me it was worth it. The goat milk formula did not have a long list of processed ingredients, which is very important to me. Good luck with your choices!

If the teeth are in, he may have others coming too. Try giving him Hyland's Homeopathic Teething Tablets. My son would stop nursing and eating every time he was teething (whether or not it was evident to me). I would give him the tablets and his appetite returned. (I nursed for 2 years).

Also, consider...have you increased his solid food intake? If so, expect him to nurse less frequently. With my first child, I did not consider this and thought she was weaning herself. Unfortunately, nursing ending by age 1 unnecessarily!

Mom of 4: girl, boy, boy, baby due 10/1