Now a supply issue -WHAT ELSE?!

[Mirasmom]

So I posted about my 9wk old wanting to suck all afternoon. I was worried it was supply- well today I found it probably is He didn't gain anything this week. Last week at support group he was 10-6 before I fed him and 10-10 afterward. Today he was 10-8 before I fed him and 10-10 afterward Previously every week he was gaining 7 oz!
Gosh dang- could we please have ANOTHER PROBLEM?! He NEVER gets supplemented, I feed on demand, he doesn't take a paci (except that one day), I am ALWAYS with him. I drink over 2 liters of water every day- no caffeine at all. The only thing I can figure out is that he sleeps all night and maybe that's hurting my supply?! I'm not going to wake him up, but maybe I need to get up and pump in the middle of the night? I did get a really bad cold this weekend, but I didn't take anything for it. I'm not taking ANY meds except diflucan- no antihistamine, no hormones. WHAT THE HECK!?!?!?!?! I HATE feeling like I'm starving him.

[Jenifer]

oh hugs mama!!! can you get mother loves more milk plus? that helped me SO much!!! and drink tons of mothers milk tea! hugs mama!!

[AddysMama]

sounds like he is getting more than enough at each feed if he is gaining 2-4oz per feed. some babies are slow gainers. look for wet and poopy diapers instead of weight gain.
if you are still worried about your supply, drink tons of mothers milk tea (i use 2-3 bags per cup and let it steep for 30 minutes) eat oats, either cheerios or oatmeal for breakfast, and oatmeal cookies as an afternoon snack, and if you are still concerned after a week of that, maybe try some herbs. the lactation blend by vitanica is a great one. it has lots of great galactagogues, like fennel, fennugreek, blessed thistle, alfalfa, goats rue, etc.
drink to thirst, usually one large glass per nursing, plus more if you feel you need it.

[kittykat2481]

When Corbin was 3 months, his pedi had me start waking him to feed him because he lost .5lb and she was concerned that he was too young to be losing weight like that. Anyway, just doing that did more for me to boost my supply than taking all the fenugreek in the world could. I don't know if the fenugreek really helped me much or not, and I've never tried the mother's milk tea and eating oats (I will if I ever have supply issues again though) but just feeding him during the night was enough for me. Unfortunately for my sanity, he is waking himself up every 2-4 hours at night now, but he's gaining weight again, and my supply seems to be increasing. Good luck!

[Mirasmom]

I think I am going to get up and pump at 1am for a couple of nights and see if that helps. I am really against waking him because I don't want to start a habit- and in my experience, he won't eat anyway- he's always been a "night snacker" never really a night eater. I am hoping this will help a little. I also just pumped after I fed him his last meal before bed. The LC recommended that. I got maybe 1/2 oz with both breasts combined. I am really hoping to get this resolved- we've been through so much to have this dumb problem now!

[Sammymac'smamma]

Eek, so hard! Big hugs for you! I tried taking fenugreek capsules, and I was toting a couple of big grapefruits after 1 day! It worked so well for me. My doc recommended 3 capsules 3x a day, but it works so well for me that Samantha started to gag! I can't even go for Indian food anymore. Give it a go, and good luck!!

[aligirl]

Have you tried taking fenugreek? It helped me get over the pumping at work hurdle.

[naivete]

Honestly, I'd just wake him, even if it alters his schedule a little, it's better to have to spend a week later putting his schedule back on track, then risk losing your supply. Supply is so tricky, if you start dropping and don't correct it, it's all downhill and hard to back it up.

But honestly nothing can boost your supply like a baby suckling, so even if you just have to slightly wake him up in the night to get him to comfort nurse more, not even just eating but comfort nursing, even that'll help. And give it a few days, don't despair, even if he lost an ounce or two he can make up for it once your supply boosts back up. Maybe you don't even have a supply issue and he's just slowing up on the weight gain naturally. I would never base supply issues off how breasts feel, whether you can feel let down, baby weight gain or how much you can pump, ALWAYS base supply off if your bub is getting enough wet diapers a day. Output is directly related to input, if he's getting his 6-8 wet ones a day he is getting enough to drink.

[tararaboomdeea]

I would wake him, too. You can do a "dream feed". You just pick him up and offer your breast by rubbing them on his lips. He will wake up enough to nurse, but won't really be fully awake. Try to do that at least once during the night rather than hooking yourself up to the pump. He will stimulate your milk production better than the pump will.

Is he fussy and acting like he's still hungry after he has nursed for 10 full minutes on each side? If he seems satisfied and is sleeping well at night, I think he's probably getting enough. You can try Mothers Milk Tea, oatmeal (pure oats, not instant) and increase your foods rich in vit. B.

[Mirasmom]

Originally Posted by tararaboomdeea I would wake him, too. You can do a "dream feed". You just pick him up and offer your breast by rubbing them on his lips. He will wake up enough to nurse, but won't really be fully awake. Try to do that at least once during the night rather than hooking yourself up to the pump. He will stimulate your milk production better than the pump will. Is he fussy and acting like he's still hungry after he has nursed for 10 full minutes on each side? If he seems satisfied and is sleeping well at night, I think he's probably getting enough. You can try Mothers Milk Tea, oatmeal (pure oats, not instant) and increase your foods rich in vit. B.

The biggest problem with waking him is that if he doesn't want to eat, he WON'T. He's always been like that. In the earlier days when I had a ton of milk I would try and get him to eat before he was ready and I would try EVERYTHING- he would just stick his tongue out. The other day I tried to nurse him at 6am instead of 8am and I could NOT get him to latch on. He just didn't want to! Last night was better- he seemed more content. He's always been a super nurser and only nurses for about 5 mins max on each side. I was worried at first but when his weight picked up every week it seemed ok. Last evening I was just switching him back and forth back and forth until he was full and that seemed to do the trick better. I think wet diapers are fine, but he doesn't poop. He hasn't gone since Sunday. I hear that's normal for bf babies, but I still worry about it.