5 Month Old Sleeping More, Will That Hurt My Milk Supply?

Girlfriend let yourself get some sleep! Don't get up to pump, if your baby sleeps through the night there is no need. It might take awhile for your supply to adjust to the new schedule, but it will even out. As long as you are nursing regularly during the day then you are fine. It's all about supply and demand. Baby will be fine, fine, fine. Now get some rest. :)

You definately want to sleep when the baby sleeps. If not then, than when? You need your sleep. She needs her milk, but if she is not awake to drink it, than you don't need to be awake to pump it. Your body will adjust to her needs. The Mommy Milk thing is a supply & demand situation. You might be a little sore at first, but you will be amazed at how great the rest of you feels after a full 6 hours of sleep.

your body adjusts quickly. If she is sleeping longer she doesn't need that feeding or she ate more earlier. Just because breasts may not feel as full doesn't mean you don't have plenty of milk.

You should talk to your doctor. I've never heard of your milk supply depleting because you sleep or wait an extra hour to feed. I'm wondering how you know your milk supply was lower? The body is supposed to work so your milk supply is in relation to the demand for it. If your baby is sleeping that is a good thing. you should be sleeping too. if you are worried you could try pumping before you go to sleep (after feeding your baby). then feed the baby when she wakes up and pump again after. Your body will adjust to how much milk your baby needs, but you don't want to force your supply too high or you will be very uncomfortable in between feedings. Seriously, talk to your doctor about this. good luck

you probably will get a lot of the same responses but as she sleeps more and gets older, she gets better and more efficient at eating and you (even if it doesn't seem like it) get more milk supply. So go ahead and sleep those 6 hours. Relax--you need those six hours of sleep. You are doing fine.

I would sleep. I was sleeping 6 to 8 hours straight by the time my boys hit 1 month. Also, since she is 5 months she can start on some solids. With the increase in solid foods she will not need as much breast milk anyway. I started my boys on rice cereal at 4 months, and slowly over the following months added other cereals, then vegis, and then fruits and meat. My Ped. told me that night feeding is no longer necessary after the first 10 days, that babies want to feed at night because we insist on feeding them. My boys are big, happy, healthy boys, and I stopped night feeding by 1 month for each of them.

Your body is supposed to create exactly what she needs based on what she has eaten in the last few days. It also is timed so to say for the times that your baby eats. So, if your baby sleeps through the night, then your body will stop producing as much milk at night, but if she eats a lot in the morning, then your body should continue to produce exactly what she needs for that morning feeding. The only issue that this can cause is that when/if she wakes up more often to nurse when she is sick or teething, you won't have much to give in the middle of the night... chances are that it would be nursing more for comfort at that point anyway though.

I know it is difficult because of your past experience with supply issues, but the best thing you can do is relax, enjoy the nursing, enjoy the sleeping, and let your daughter and your body take care of the demand and supply issue naturally.

Have you talked to your doctor or a lactation consultant?
At five months you'd like your child to be having a longer sleep during the night - that is really age appropriate. It is one step on the way to being able to sleep through the night. Your child is eating more at each feeding, and developing the ability to go for longer between meals. As kids age they eat more efficiently, so they eat less often, for less time, but get a lot more milk. That is age appropriate.

I'm curious if your doctor or lactation consultant told you that you were losing your milk supply, or how you decided that was true? Most breastfed kids are getting what they need from their moms naturally, without much work on the mom's part. (Of course, not every kid, but, an expert is going to do a better job of telling you the truth than people who haven't seen you or your kid.)

You kid will go through periods of need more (for a growth spurt or brain development) and will naturally eat more often and suck harder. At other times your kids will need less food and will naturally eat less frequently and consume less at each feeding. That is appropriate.

At any rate, thank your lucky stars that your child is getting more sleep, and that you can too. As time goes on your body will adjust to making more milk during the day and less at night, and your kid will still get enough to eat!

It sounds to me like you're doing a good job, and that you have a kid right on track. You could try finding some self- assurance about that through a PEPS or LeLeche group.

Your supply really should adjust; that's nature's way. If you're concerned that your supply is down and not adjusting adequately, consult with a lactation specialist. Dolores at the St. Vincent Postpartum clinic can solve nearly anything.

Hi S.,
I went through some of the same challenges. When my daughter began sleeping for extended periods of time, I began setting my alarm every 2-3 hours to pump. If I chose to sleep instead, I always felt behind in being able to provide the milk my daughter needed in her waking hours. Everyone is different, but in my case, I felt like no matter how much pumping I did, it was just barely enough. My daughter was a big eater. She stopped nursing at 10 months (she was biting at that point) but I continued to pump, eventually down to once a day until she was 22 months old. My daughter is now 24 months and incredibly healthy. Good luck!

First I have to say that I'm a little confused. I've always heard that you should sleep when your baby does and not worry about supply. How do you know that your supply is low? Is your baby still hungry and there is no milk? Like another poster said... make sure one breast is drained then go to the other. Then the next time you nurse, feed with the 2nd one first so that one breast isn't always the first breast. You can try using a bracelet to help you remember which side to start with.

BTW- I bf'd my baby until she was 12 months with no problems. The only probs I had was with pumping for the 7 weeks that I went back to work. Feedings were fine but I wasn't getting enough from pumping.

I'm thinking that you may just have to nurse more often during the day so that your supply can even out. If you still are having problems, talk to your pediatritian about a lactation specialist. They are great. Often they have you come to their office during feeding times and observe you feeding. Mothers for centuries have survived without a breast pump so there must be a better way than waking to pump!

(I say this with experience since my daughter was a preemie and I had to pump for 6 weeks while she figured out how to breastfeed. I had to wake up to pump then too so that the milk didn't dry up.)

Hi, I pumped exclusively for my daughter for about 13 months. I found I had to pump about every 3-4 hours to keep my milk supply up for much of that time. I found that if I stayed up after she went down, pumped before I went to bed and then pumped about 3 AM or so I was good. But this schedule also worked with my pumping at work schedule so you have to do what is best for you but likely you will have to pump at least once during the night to keep yours supply up. Good luck!

My son nursed at least once in the middle of the night until he was 2, so I can't give advice for a baby that sleeps for 8+ hours at a time. However, I never got up in the middle of the night to pump (4-6 hour stretches sometimes) and never had a supply issue. If my son did go for 6+ hours my breasts would really HURT, but it didn't seem to effect my supply. Your body is designed to make the right amount of milk for your child. Trust in your body to do it's job and 99.9% of the time it does. Good luck!

Relax, first and foremost!!! Your daughter is growing and as a result your supply of breast milk will grow with her. It will be available when she's ready to eat and life will be great. In the beginning you're engorged, your body is just pumping out the milk because it doesn't know what the demand truly is yet. Just make sure she nurses all the way down on both sides when she eats. At 5 months you'll be getting ready to feed solids like rice cereal and applesauce, so again your milk supply will adjust to the demand... and she will be needing about 8 oz. every 3-4 hours during the day. She may or may not sleep through the night. But it will be okay. If she's sleeping, you get yours!!! You've earned it, you need it. She's going to be crawling all over the place and keeping you on your toes.
Enjoy!!

Hi, S.. My son has been sleeping 10 hrs at night since he was 2.5 months old. He was exclusively breastfed for 7 months until I introduced solids. He is now 16 months old and I still nurse him 5 times a day. I have never gotten up in the middle of the night to pump and my milk supply seems perfectly fine, according to my son. ;) I wouldn't worry. Our bodies are pretty amazing. They will create milk as long as your baby is nursing. If your baby nurses more, your body will craete more milk, if your baby nurses less, your body will create less milk. It's all about supply and demand tailored specifically for your little one. If you feel you have a problem, talk with a lactation specialist. They can help you better than a doctor. Hope this helps and relax and sleep! :)

I have a 7 mo. daughter who has been breast fed since birth. She started sleeping through the night, 11-12 hours, since 3 mo. My supply never went down because of her night sleeping. When I got up in the morning I would pump, instead of feed, and would be able to pump two bottles. This always allowed me to have reserve on hand. I would then go back to the regular feedings throughout the day. My supply stayed consistent. The key is for you to not let too much time go between the day feedings. Good luck and get some sleep... you deserve it! Your doing great!

As stated before, your milk supply should ajust. My baby girl (10 months) sleeps 8 or 9 hours, but she eats more in one sitting than she used to. She also eats just before and after that long stretch. Get some sleep!

Stress can be a trigger for reducing the supply so try not to worry. On the other hand, if you are concerned, try pumping during those times when your daughter is asleep for longer stretches to ensure your supply doesn't reduce too much. Folks told me it wasn't necessary to pump since I was going to be home and I had a heck of a time getting my supply to increase later when it came time that I needed/wanted to pump to build up my supply for when I wasn't going to be home any longer. (Sorry, that seems like a crazy long sentence.) Anyway, I tried everything - flax seed, oatmeal cookies made with brewer's yeast, pumping every two hours, etc., and in the end the only thing that worked for me was to take a drug that is traditionally prescribed for some other ailment but has the side effect in lactating women of increasing their supply (it's called Reglan). That was the only thing that worked. Also, I would talk to a lactation specialist to get their ideas on what is appropriate for you to do at this time. If you pump and you get too much milk, you can always freeze the excess. If you don't pump now, you might miss your chance to pump later on. Keep up the good work. Breastfeeding is hard work, as is running on very little sleep. Best of luck to you.

Your milk production should adjust to your baby's eating schedule. Some women just don't have great milk supply, so are very sensitive to changes like that. Maybe that's you. There's no right answer, you just need to decide what's right for you. Which do you need more--the sleep or the guarantee of giving your baby 100% breastmilk? They are both reasonable things to need. Good luck!