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low milk supply?

my daughter is 11 weeks olds, I had her weighed yesterday and the health visitors said she has not put on as much weight as they would expect, i am only breast feeding and am doing my best to feed for as long as possible now but she seems to be feeding for more than one hour at a time I feel I am doing something wrong or my milk supply is maybe low? Is this normal

Replies

  • I was told with my first that he wasn't putting on enough weight and to introduce 1 formula de a day. Second time round I was discussing this with breastfeeding support and she said centile lines in red books are based on white formula fed babies so of course my mixed race breast fed babe wouldn't follow the lines. If you know yourself baby is feeding well and content between feeds and is putting on weight although maybe not as much as they want then I wouldn't be overly worried. However if babe seems constantly hungry and is quite miserable  between feeds then it could be she not getting enough from you. If you dont want to combine breast and formula I would recommend going back to breastfeeding support to see what else they can recommend. Good luck xx

  • Thank you for your reply, they said the same to me about topping up with formula which i would prefer not to. She does seem happy and well and maybe I should find some support with feeding it's not helpful to only recommend formula before offering any real support and they only worried me and made me feel like I wasn't capable of feeding my bab. Thank you, you have made me feel a lot better x

  • I had exactly the same last week with my boy at his 12 week check, he had gone down 2 centiles in the book. He has always been a fussy feeder and hes never done the whole latching properly which I've told the hv from the start. I had such a stressful week the same thinking I wasn't able to feed him.  But he got weighed again on Tuesday and he put on 9oz! I think he got fussier after his injections aswell.  

    How does your lo feed? Mine does short feeds and was really fussy so the last week I've made sure he has both sides and tried the breast compressions. Also started to take fenugreek tablets which I saw can help supply as I thought mine wasn't as good. My hv didn't have any recommendations or suggest formula top Up, do you have any groups near you? X

  • I would say don't top up feed I had to with my twins and the end result despite my best efforts they are mostly bottle fed I still have a small amount of milk to sneak 1 feed a day but that's it.  stick at it if you maybe express and top up with that it has the added advantage  it will increase supply and will provide breast milk for your little one ignore the guidelines unless your little one appears to have lost weight I would carry on as you and try and not stress as stressing will hinder your supply also.

  • mine can stay on the breast for up to an hour and I tend to have to tickle her as she likes to drift off to sleep which is why I worry she is not feeding properly As she is sometimes still hungry straight after. I heard fennel tea is good also, have you noticed a difference with the tablets? I'm not sure I'm trying to find out about groups I think it will be helpful x

  • Try making her cold to wake her up, my son wouldn't wake up for feeds and was very sleepy we used to have to take his baby gro off to get him to wake up. Also try changing nappy halfway through to wake her up x

  • I think the tablets are working, I feel a let down I think when I'm feeding now. I've seen recipes for lactation cookies which can apparently help towards milk but I havnt tried them yet. 

    My boy has a dummy and the hv said to me that could be the problem, she is very anti dummy tho so I've tried to put him on the boob more the last week. 

    i have bought formula just incase and Sunday, mid breakdown from me and him he had about 2oz of formula but he was sick a lot after so formula either doesn't agree with him or he was feeling unwell already, hence his crying etc but I thought he was hungry. I'm not sure x

  • Hi Kat8844, welcome to MadeForMums.
    We thought we'd let you know that we have a Jan 16 Babies thread for all mums whose babies were born that month - why not check it out? There's loads of lovely women (and babies!) over there.

  • Hiya,  I could've written your post! Struggled with exactly the same thing.  My son dropped from 9th, to below 0.2 line on chart. I spent hours researching online and in books and got help from breastfeeding support network (by phone twice) and went to local groups and even drove to the nearest la leche league meeting 25 miles away.  

    I persevered with bf,  was given domperidone tablets by my gp, ate endless amounts of oats and plenty of fluids. I think too it helped that I decided to chill out about it as I think the anxiety of having his weight under weekly scrutiny affected my supply. I know health visitors advocate breastfeeding but I think sometimes they don't know all the facts.

    My little boys weight picked up and from 14 weeks was back on track. I've now started giving him a little formula for a different reason. 

    As the ladies have written,  the charts are based on formula fed babies. as long as baby is gaining weight (not losing)  is content between feeds and your mummy radar tells you that your baby is ok then I'm sure they're getting enough. 

    Emmapickettbreastfeedingsupport.com has a great article titled low milk supply which put things in perspective for me. 

  • Hi Kat, I breastfed my first baby for a year and my second baby is now also 11 weeks. With Huxley, I've decided not to get him weighed very often because it's stressful! If your baby is feeding well, having plenty of wet and dirty nappies, his wee doesn't look dark but is nice and clear and he's satisfied between feeds, chill out. Easier said than done I know but just because your baby isn't following some daft line in a graph doesn't mean there's something wrong. Keep breastfeeding, it's the best thing you can do. Feed on demand and trust your body. There's an app called "the wonder weeks" and it tells you about different developmental milestones that baby may have. They can become upset and irritable and it's nothing to do with food, just a development they're going through. Or could be after injections (they can become fussy up to a fortnight after injections). My advice is don't assume there's something wrong with your milk. If his nappies are ok, I'd advise not to get hi!m weighed as much. Huxley was weighed at birth and only twice since. My HV has said she wants to weigh him at the 12 week check which I'm fine with. But weighing too much just makes you anxious. Huxley feeds for long periods of time - more than an hour in the night then I try and put him down and he wants feeding some more!!! Just go with it. Your body will make enough milk for your baby, trust it. Good luck xxx

  • Thank you its good to hear that ! I was doing fine until they said this to me and made me doubt everything I've been doing and have been stressing since. I really want to continue to breastfeed. Thanks a lot for the advise xx

  • Hi kat, as others have advised try not to worry. These are just there guidelines and for bottle fed babies. 

    Thanks to God I have 5 healthy children, all born at big weights. Biggest was 10lb8. But after afew weeks they all followed the same pattern of dropping the centile lines.. The first I was worried and gave in to bottle but the last 4 I have had bf support around me. I was strong and managed to bf until well after 1 years. And the last 3 was solely bf until 8-9 months.

    You have to be confident around hv, as others have said if your baby is content, has good nappies then there isn't anything to worry about.

    Everything is a natural progression. 

    I believe God has created each and every one of us uniquely. There is even a difference in identical twins.... 

    Advise for one isnt nessesarly good for the next..

    Trust your motherly instincts.

    I pray you find comfort in the support here and your baby is well.

  • I havent read all comments but just wanted to add tje red book charts are now based on breastfed babies to come inline with the WHO guidelines about bfing until 2. X

  • I have both PCOS and am hypothyroid, so my milk supply has been always been low. I started drinking Healthy nursing tea as a last ditch effort in hopes of seeing an increase. My supply went up!!

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