8 month slump

Guennie

My supply has totally tanked over the past couple of weeks. It's nearly defeated me. Having such a low supply already it feels like so much work to pump for 25-30 minutes for an ounce at the very most. More and more frequently it's not even an ounce. I'm getting discouraged and I'm tempted to throw in the towel.

I remember seeing quite a few comments about struggling at 8 months. Does it get better again or from this point on do you have to work your butt off to keep your supply? I just don't know if I have the energy...

BlessedBee83

I have a 10 month old DS.

My supply really dropped around 8 months. It hasn't bounced back up, but he has dropped a bottle during the day. Regardless, I'm not pumping what he needs during the day. I play catch up on the weekends, and ended up having to supplement with formula a few times a week.

I know it's discouraging, but hang in there! The way I see it, some BM during the day is better than none. Plus, pumping during the week day keeps telling my body to make milk during that time so we can nurse during the weekend.

Guennie

I know I'd feel differently if we weren't already down to just 2 pumps a day, and I have to EP so she doesn't nurse at all. So at most she's only getting 2 ounces a day now. Really it's more like 1.75 ounces these past several days. And I'm not letting down for the pump as quickly as I used to even though I'm totally relaxed. It just feels like a fight now to get such a small amount.

eggmankate

Yeah that's me right now. DD is 8 months. I'm pumping 0.5-2 ounce deficits/day and I pump 3x/day. I'm drinking mother's Milk tea and eating more oatmeal. I still wonder if it's hormonal, but it's been going on for 2 weeks. I think DD is taking a little less from me. My Pedi is pro-BLW so she has been telling me that I need to trust that DD will get the milk she needs. Normally I supplement with what I pump on weekends to make up for loss during week at daycare, but since DH is home with her today he is going to just give her exactly what I pump and one of those "bottles" will be a little bit of breastmilk oatmeal. We'll see how she likes this. I notice that during work week that her bedtime nursing session is really short and much longer on the weekends. It makes me wonder if I'm giving her too much milk at daycare and on weekends she's getting exactly what she needs when nursing.

eggmankate

theresat858 said:

eggmankate said:

Yeah that's me right now. DD is 8 months. I'm pumping 0.5-2 ounce deficits/day and I pump 3x/day. I'm drinking mother's Milk tea and eating more oatmeal. I still wonder if it's hormonal, but it's been going on for 2 weeks. I think DD is taking a little less from me. My Pedi is pro-BLW so she has been telling me that I need to trust that DD will get the milk she needs. Normally I supplement with what I pump on weekends to make up for loss during week at daycare, but since DH is home with her today he is going to just give her exactly what I pump and one of those "bottles" will be a little bit of breastmilk oatmeal. We'll see how she likes this. I notice that during work week that her bedtime nursing session is really short and much longer on the weekends. It makes me wonder if I'm giving her too much milk at daycare and on weekends she's getting exactly what she needs when nursing.

Please don't give your baby oatmeal in a bottle without the advice of your pediatrician to do so (for reflux, usually).  It is a choking hazard.  Let DH feed LO oatmeal+BM with a spoon if you really want to supplement BM with oatmeal.

I'm not doing oatmeal in a bottle. It's in a bowl with spoon. Sorry if I caused any confusion--I put bottle in quotes because I meant in place of her bottle she'll get her breastmilk in the form of breastmilk mixed with oatmeal.

Guennie

theresat858 said:

I know I've said this before, and I know you've ignored it before. If you are only pumping twice a day, yes, your supply will tank...it is not surprising that you are not pumping much at all.  Around 8 months I had a supply dip and had to increase my pumping frequency -- from 4 times a day (once before work, 3 times at work) to 5-6 times a day (adding in an evening pump and a sometimes pump during the work day)... and that was *in addition* to nursing LO at least 4-5 times a day (1-2x in the am, 2x before bed, 1x overnight). 

Only emptying your breasts twice a day will never signal them to make more milk. 

I'd make a decision -- do you want your LO to have breastmilk, or are you done with the pump?  You could relactate and hope to produce at least half of your LO's needs, but you'd need to commit to pumping at least 8 times a day.  It doesn't sound like you want to do that. 

From 6-8 months I pumped twice a day and got 4 ounces. I was continuing because I just wasn't ready to stop altogether, but I just didn't have the energy to go back to pumping every couple of hours. I was happy giving her 4 ounces a day knowing I was still giving her some breastmilk, which I felt was better than nothing. My body was very consistent making those 4 ounces. It felt right so I stuck with it.

No offense, but your reply doesn't sound very supportive. My situation has been very difficult from day one and I have always had a very low supply. I've never produced enough to provide 50% bm. It's been a fight from the beginning.

Everyone's situation is different. I understand your advice to get supply back up and although I do appreciate your knowledge, that isn't what I was asking. I'm not trying to get up to a full supply again. I'm not able to nurse either. I just wondered if this slump in the routine which was working for us to extend pumping past 6 months was probably permanent. I was asking others who had this experience if it was just a temporary slump.

I am doing the best I can. I already feel perfectly inadequate. I was simply looking for a little encouragement and some shared experiences to help me decide if it's time to call it a day.

Guennie

casey78 said:

You sound discouraged. When you posted earlier, I don't hadn't realized you were pumping twice a day total.  I think norm for about 8m is 6-8 feeds a day. Most of us who struggled through a slump did so pumping/nursing at least as often as we were beforehand (we reported on pumping 2-3 times while at work -- but were also nursing morning, afternoon, bedtime, and overnight). If you want to increase output at this point, I think you'd need to treat it as relactation. Any breastmilk is a beautiful thing, but it's up to you if it's worth the stress and worry.

Thank you. I do think my situation is unique in that I've continued pumping twice a day even though she's getting mostly formula. It has made me feel like I was still doing something good for her and I was getting enough I thought maybe it would still have some benefit. (I know 4 ounces a day isn't much, but it still felt like something.)

At this point maybe I just need to work through the emotion and let go. If my only way to get through this slump is to do the power pumping, etc...I just don't think I have any energy left. It's been a long hard road for us.

Guennie

theresat858 said:

I'm sorry if I came off as not supportive....it's just that at 8 months out you are unlikely to overcome a supply dip without taking efforts to pump more often.  Without being willing to do that, I wouldn't expect your supply to just double again, unless the dip is due to illness or AF returning.

Thank you for that. And I do appreciate your advice. I see you time and time again offer extremely knowledgable advice on this board and it's obviously an effort to take the time to help so many struggling mothers. Thank you for doing so.

Guennie

Thank you so much for the kind words. What a crazy emotional journey this has been. We will be 9 months in one week. I'm giving it one more week, just to know I made it to 9 months. Maybe that will make it a little easier to let go.

73jewels

I was just telling someone this morning that I have crazy respect for anyone who exclusively pumps.  Our babies are about the same age (he'll be 9 months this week), and I have breastfed him while pumping at work.  I HATE pumping.  I truly don't think I would have been able to sustain pumping for my child that long if he wasn't also "getting it from the tap".  I agree with @casey78... at this point you have given your baby so much already, that I would probably let it go and stop pumping.

That all being said, to answer your initial question.  Yes, My pumping output took a huge hit, probably around 7 1/2 months, and I started supplementing with formula at a little past 8 months.  Nothing changed for me, and as I said, I am only pumping during work to replace Day Care bottles, so I have no idea why.  I got all the same advice (power pump, teas, etc.), but ultimately decided I didn't have it in me to add so much time to an already busy schedule and made the choice that seemed right for my family (for me it was just pumping 2 times a day at work and not stressing about if he needs 1-2 bottles of formula at day care).

Good luck to you... and congratulations for making it this far! 

Knottie33ceb131fd2ba51f

I agree. Kudos to making it this far. My situation is fairly similar except I overproduced the first 6 months pumping 65-75 ounces a day. My little one was nursing until about 4 months when he started teething and since we struggled so much with properly latching teething meant nipple nibble fest. Anyway I’ve been pumping ever since and have dropped from 4 times a day to 3 times a day, again because I was still overproducing. Now at 8 months I’m still pumping 3 times a day, exclusively, 30 minutes each time, and my supply is steadily dropping. My morning pump produces about 15 ounces and my night time pump is about 10-12. However my work/daytime pump is only about 4 ounces. Because I overproduced I don’t know what is “normal”. Do I drop the work pump or keep going although I’m not producing much?