XP: My boobies are empty :

atdavis87

We've made it 8 months and my period returned two weeks ago. Since then, I've noticed my boobs are flat pancakes and DD is hardly getting anything when she nurses. This resulted in a crying spell that lasted an hour before I figured out she was still hungry and broke down and gave her formula. I feel so inadequate :

I know with the return of your period comes a drop in supply but I was expecting it to pick back up by now. I've increased my water intake, taking Fenugreek, eating healthy...nada. It is taking longer and longer for my milk to let down to the point where she is getting frustrated. I'm not ready to throw in the towel but I'm not sure what else to do at this point. I battled major oversupply issues in the beginning so this is new to me. I'm a SAHM so she rarely gets bottles. I have several hundred ounces in the freezer I could resort to but I'd rather give her fresh if I can

DD nurses every 3ish hours and eats three meals a day. She usually wakes once at night to eat.

Suggestions? Is this my body's way of saying I'm done?

Also posted this on the BF board. Just wanted to see if anyone else in our stage is going through the same thing.

kgauntt

If you want to continue bfing, I would suggest power pumping. It sucks but it worked for me.

barbiescott

I completely dried up and tried everything to get things going again but my son just cried and so did I. My worrying and frustration probably did not help but eventually I started using formula, as much as I hated the thought, but already started solids so it sort of made me feel better. We finished all the frozen milk and now use formula, solids, and juice. He is a happy baby. If you really want to keep trying talk to a lactation specialist, they might be able to help.

lalafirefly27

My baby is almost 9 months and im on my second month of my period being back..i breastfeed her first thing in the morning and before she goes to bed. J would give her the frozen milk when you dont have enough so it gets used you dont want to waste it. its great that you have breastfed for so long you are Not failing at anything! Your doing a great job mamma! And remember nothing is wrong with formula either.

lalafirefly27

My let down takes longer to come down too but i kind of will it to come down lol. Turn off all tvs radios and just literally think "milk come out feed my baby"! Lol

hoping4sticky

Probably not what you want to hear, but I went through this with both of my babies. With DD I didn't have a great supply, so it was always a struggle and I pumped like crazy, did fenugreek etc. That got me to about 7.5 months and I couldn't do it anymore. I dropped down to feeding her morning and night and supplemented the rest and loved it (hated pumping at work).

DS is a much bigger boy and I have a better supply, but he (and my pump) are letting me know that my supply is tanking. I'm supplementing and considering morning/night, but I'm not there yet. There are hoops you can try to jump through, but for me, it wasn't worth it.

bumpuser2452272

When I tried everything else, my doctor suggested drinking 1 beer a day when your supply gets low. Apparently beer really boost your milk supply. It really worked for me. I drank it after my last pumping session...when I didn't have to pump again until the morning. I exclusively pump.

bpv101283

I got my period back like 5 or 6 weeks pp and had it about 4 times since then. Each time I dropped dramatically, but had freezer stash to give LO for that week when nursing wasn't enough. I would pump 10 times a day. Didn't help me, but I know It works for some. I would stick with it if it's what you want, your supply should come back if you keep nursing and pumping hopefully.

atdavis87

Thanks everyone! I'm stoked I've made it over 8 months but my real goal is 9 months minimum, hopefully one year, so I'm going to try some of the things y'all suggested. I despise my pump so this is not going to be fun...oh the things we do out of love!