Sudden Drop in Milk Supply - Milwaukee,WI

I haven't read all the responses, so sorry if I'm repeating, but have you started your period again? Despite the fact that I breastfeed (my 7 month old has had 3 ounces of formula in his whole life) I never missed a month and I really struggle with pumping the week before my period (I can always feed the baby, but the pump is another story!) I take fenugreek the 2 weeks before my period and pump more often.

Also I find every now and then I just have to mess with my pump settings...sometimes I do better with it turned down low and sometimes I need to crank it up....

The same thing happened to me when my daughter was around 6 months. Mine went so dramatic though that I was getting about 3 oz a day. I did talk to my doctor and they prescribed something called Reglan. It helped a ton. Is your son sleeping through the night? My daughter had since about 8 weeks so they also told me to set my alarm to pump in the middle of the night. I couldn't always do it but that did seem to help too to not let a long period of time go by without pumping/feeding. Best of luck!!!

Hi A.,I had the exact same problem with my son and my doc told me to drink lots of water and start pumping every hour for 10 min. Its all about supply and demand! I went on to breast my son very successfully for 11 months. Good luck,I know it is something important and very emotional to us moms who decide that we want to breastfeed. Sincerely,T. D

I took Red Raspberry Leave supplements and fennel supplements and that helped a ton. Also drinking lots and lots of water is supposed to help.

Just thought I would ask the question. Are you pregnant?

Hi Angie
First of all congratulation on choosing to breastfeed, I know it is not always easy but it is a good thing you are doing. Concerning the drop in your milk supply, the first thing that you should check is how often do you pump when you are away from your baby. The rule is you should pump at your babies normal feeding times or every 3 hours that you are away from your baby. So if you fed the baby before you leave for work and you started work at 8AM you should pump by 10AM again between 12:30 and 1:00PM and then again between 3:30 and 4:00PM that's approximately 3 times a day, and you should be sure to nurse baby within 3hours of your last pumping time when you get home. You should also count the 3 hours from the last time you started the breast feeding or pumping session. Some people pump every 2 to 2 1/2 hours it depends on how you normally feed your baby and how full you get. If you want to increase your milk supply however this should work.

Another thing to note about milk supply is that it usually decrease a bit once baby is started on solids which is around 6 Monthes old. It should fall a bit and sometimes increase again depending on how much baby is nursing, so the drop you notice may be due to normal reduction that takes place. However, if you feel troubled by it and if your baby seem not to be getting enough milk, try to increase the amount of time you pump and/or nurse the baby, after a couple of days of increase pumping and nursing you'd notice your milk supply increasing.

The other thing that could affect milk supply is illness or stress in the mother. Make sure you are eating well, sleeping well, and generally taking good care of your self. If you are overworked and stressed out, it can not only affect the milk supply but also the nutritional content and taste of the milk you produce. So look into these things as well,and make sure you take care of your self, eat good nutrient dense foods with the adequate amounts of good fats. And if you are so incline there are some herbal teas you can try like "Mother Milk Tea".

For more info contact "Le Leche League International" at www.llli.org or if you're in Rock county area write to <____@____.com>.
These women possess a wealth of information about breastfeeding. And one of the leaders can contact you and work with you one-on-one on the phone or in person depending on you needs. See also "The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding" this book is a must have for all breastfeeding moms.

Good Luck with everyting, feel free to contact me if you have further questions.

When my supply went down the nurse practitioner recommended the supplement Fenugreek. I was able to buy it at GNC. Unfortunately even with taking the supplement and frequent pumping/nursing I was not able to get my suppy back up. I'm sure it was due to the stress I was under at the time. At least now I know what to watch out for next time. Also the La Leche League has wonderful teachers who are very supportive and knowlegable about breastfeeding. Just Google La Leche and you will be able to find someone close to you. I'm expecting our second child in December and am going to start attending La Leche League meetings again next month to brush up on breastfeeding. Good luck with everything Angie.

Rye is the key to abundant milk A.. Eat rye bread and/or drink a small amount of beer each day. The benefit to the beer is that you will relax and so will your son.

Traditional Medicinals also has a Mother's Milk Tea, which contains nettles and other herbs for an increase in breast milk.

Still, after nursing two babies, I would recommend the rye. It's tasty and soothing :o)

Hi A. You could be experiencing the sudden drop for a couple of reasons if you have taken an sudafed products or a couple of other OTC meds, stress & if baby is going longer at night. To help keep supply up wearing your baby like in a sling or safe baby carrier, skin to skin contact with baby and on demand frequent feedings when you are with baby. If these things don't work there is a Mother's Milk tea available in the health food stores or areas in some grocery stores it is safe and designed to help with supply. If all else fails their is a medication doctor can prescribe but only as a last resort. Best of Luck

Good morning, A.! I nursed all my children, and my sisters nursed theirs, so I'm able to see the situations from all sides, so to speak. If you haven't changed any nursing or pumping habits, it's probably something to do with your running. What kind of bra do you wear when you run? If it's a tight, spandex-style sports bra, it may be impeding your milk production. I'm sure you're aware that when you start breastfeeding or pumping, the other side leaks too, right? My sister used to suppress the leaking side by pushing it in with her free hand. This cut her milk supply down significantly. Maybe the bra is too tight. Also, you sound like you're a pretty avid runner, so maybe you need more calories to make more milk. Just some practical points to help out. Please let me know what's up. Have a beautiful day!

I had a drop in my milk supply and my midwife actually gave me a medication to take to help get it back. She also suggested Mother's Milk Tea and she also suggested to drink on dark beer everyday. The dark hops in the beer really helped my milk supply. She suggested I drink Guinness due to the amount of hops it has. I am not a drink so I had to plug my nose to get it down, but it REALLY worked! If you would like to know the medication please feel free to write me at ____@____.com. Aside from the name of the med there are pretty specific instructions on how to take it.

try pumping every time he is done nursing for five minutes then stop five minutes repeat until you are completely empty. try fenugreek from the health food store. these are tips that i got when this happened to me from a lactation consultant. my son at eight months quit nursing. there just wasn't anything there for him anymore. i tried these things and they had worked in the past but when he was eight months it just wasn't working anymore. good luck

That happened to me also. The two things that worked the best was to drink more water and eat oatmeal every morning until your supply goes back up. Lots of things can cause your milk supply to decrease, and it will probably happen a couple more times before your thru.

Maybe look at a picture or listen to baby cry (as someone else suggested) when you pump. YOu could also try pumping 5min longer and see if this helps you w/another let down. I had a really low milk supply and I took fenugreek which helped. It's available at health food stores and GNC, the only downside was having to take 8-9 pills a day. There is also a mother's tea (also available at health food stores or GNC, they would order it for my friend) that you can drink. My ped. also suggested eating oatmeal often as this is supposed to help w/supply. Good luck!

I see alot of people have already responded, but this happened to me last week...I just started drinking lots of water and made sure everytime before I pumped I was very hydrated! It worked and I hope it is that easy for you too.....

I had the same problem right about this time. It could just be your body adjusting to what he is eating. Have you recently started introducing other foods? A friend of mine tryed milk thistle tea (or something like that) and said it worked great to increase production but it made her itch like crazy so she stopped. I dont reccomend taking anything without first checking with a lactation consultant, which may be your best answer anyways, the 2 I worked with at St Lukes in CR are really nice and helpful! Hope things work out so you can continue to nurse, ups and downs are normal as his body changes what it needs. Good luck Angie!

I've been struggling with this, too. The nursing mom's tea didn't work for me, although eating lots of oatmeal helped a little. I also heard that milk supply drops when you get your period, and then should go back up again. Maybe that could be why it was a sudden decrease for you, and then hopefully it will go back up again just as suddenly. Good luck!

Hi A.. It has been quite awhile since my girls were nursing (they're now 16 & 18 years old) but "way back when" they each nursed until about 18 months. The most noticable drop in volume was when I forgot to drink enough water throughout the day and a BIG glass of water before bed. I could eat all the right things but if I forgot that - wow, what a differenc! Also, as your baby's needs change (as mentioned in other responses), there will be less demand on your supply. My girls slowly stopped certain feedings all on their own (midday was the first to go, bedtime the last).

The next part is slightly off topic but related. For future referance, not to alarm you but this is something to be aware of. If your body continues to produce more than is used, random milk ducts can become blocked and very uncomfortable (a parallel is mastitis in cows - hey, its all the same function!). This is both preventable and easily fixed.

This was the advice from my nursing consultant and it worked very well: When you notice that your baby isn't nursing as long or as fully and you still feel that there is more available, pump a little more but not so much as to be empty. This will help slowly reduce your volume and give you a little more for storage. Still keep your fluid intake up because as your body slowly doesn't require it for milk, it will be used elsewhere. If you drop off quickly on the intake to reduce the volume, your production can become thicker and more easily result in a blockage.

If you should become blocked, a warm, damp washcloth pressed against the area will help soften the blockage. A little gentle massage (sometimes a little firmness is needed) followed by a little pumping and massage helps remove the blockage (you'll be able to tell when it goes!). Discard this milk. This may take a day or two but if you catch it early it helps.

I don't know the percentage of women who develop this but don't be too worried about it. Between both my girls, it only happened twice and each time I was able to clear it up in a day or two.

Have a great time with your son and all the joys (and exasperations) he will bring you! I've sure enjoyed my girls.

There is a great organic tea that always helped me. It's available at Coburns in Buffalo but other stores that have natural foods should have it. It is named something like Nursing Mothers Tea. It really works.

My baby is just 6 months. at 5 months I had a decrease as well but I think she wasn't eating as much due to teeth issues. Now I have had a huge increase (growth spurt?). Also with my two boys I had a decrease each time I got pregnant. This happened before I even had my first period.

Shaklee alfalfa has been known to help boost production. I also made a tea of borage leaf & fennel and drank several glasses a day. I agree about the sucking and the hydration. I got my herbs from Green Angels on Mt. Vernon Rd.

Hey A.!~ I used Mother's milk tea, fenugreek herb and drank a ton of water. Try increasing the amount of times you're pumping by 1-2 times for a few days. Worked for me. Good luck!!! Congrats on keeping it up for so long!!!

I noticed a major dip in my milk supply when i was stressed out. For some reason, stress directly effects milk supply. If you are eating alot, and drink TONS of fluids, then you could also try mother's milk tea (you can get it in the organic section at Hyvee) which helped me in two ways, 1- to calm me, and 2- increased my milk supply. Good luck!

one thing that worked like a charm for let down was hearing my baby cry. if you can somehow record this, it might be of help. lots of photos while nursing, or watching a video (i did that on my camera)

though i didnt pump much, or for very long (my son wouldnt take to the bottle) i did breastfeed successfully until 20 months! :D i am a working stay at home mom - i do licensed child care in my home.
anyway, drink lots of water (im sure you do) and relax. baby should bring the supply back up when baby grows again!

Hi Angie,

Sucking produces your mild supply. The more your baby sucks the more milk you will have. I think it is the pumping that is causing this, since your son is not sucking all that time. I would have him nurse very often, don't give bottles when you are with him. LLL Art of Breastfeeding is a good source for information as well.

A. :)

Hi Have you started baby food with your little guy? If so he is drinking less milk when he does nurse because he is filling his tummy with baby food . Your body will change as he eats more solids . If you want to make more milk . Nurse him before he eats his solids and that will help with your milk supply . I hope I helped .

Have you heard of fenugreek? You can buy it in pill form (fenugreek is a plant) from places like GNC. It really helped boost my milk a couple times when I was nursing my first child. I would recommend you give it a try. Funny side effect -- you kind of start to smell a little like maple syrup. :) Good luck!
K.

Could you be pregnant? I exclusively breastfeed my babies and still get pregnant with no sign of return of fertility. This has happened twice to me - once with a 5 month old and once with a 3 month old. Yeah - 3 really close together! But I also notice a significant drop in milk supply when I get prego again. Just a thought.

Google "mother's milk tea". You can find it on Amazon.com too, and in some regular grocery stores, health food stores, co-ops etc. Worked good for me.

Try increasing your water intake. That sometimes helps. There are certain foods that are supposed to help. I'm not sure what they are. You could probably google it. However, your milk consistency could also just be changing as your child's needs are changing.