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Breastfeeding
spout3
member
mom's who have/had low supply - please come in!
spout3
member
My questions is...how did you know you had a low supply?
I EBF and haven't had a problem so far, but now i'm feeling that I might have a low supply....were there signs from your baby?
Lately I've been pumping a few sessions to see how much comes out...i read on kelly's mom that it's not a true indicator of how much your baby's actually getting bc you don't pump as much as you give to baby. But from what I pumped it would think I had a low supply. ....So how did you know you had/have a low supply?
TIA!
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Re: mom's who have/had low supply - please come in!
Trust kellymom - if your baby is happy, gaining, hitting milestones, there's nothing wrong with your supply. The pump is NEVER a good indicator of your supply. Some women can pump tons. Other women could nurse twins but not be able to pump enough for one baby.
Ignore the pump output and trust your supply!
Breastfeeding Counselor with Breastfeeding USA
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For me, the sign I took most seriously was that DD2 was really cranky at the breast. It took a lot of sucking to get to let-down, and she hated that. And then when the milk stopped flowing quickly, she would pull off and scream and just clearly not be satisfied. She's also really fussy and protesting in the few seconds it takes for me to switch sides.
She was nursing extremely frequently, also, b/c she wasn't getting very much milk per feeding. It's pretty clear when she gets a good feed -- she ends the feeding without crying and is happy.
She's growing adequately -- but on the slow side. When I told my pedi that I thought she would happily take a lot more than I'm making, she agreed with me. Which is why I'm pumping 3-5 times a day to get whatever milk is left over after she's done nursing (she doesn't like to hang out and work to get every last bit, so there's often a little bit left) and giving that to her in a bottle once a day. She's happier at feedings now, although at different times of day I can still tell that my supply isn't great and she's frustrated.
For me, it's not a question of having such a low supply that DD2 isn't thriving or that I'd need to supplement (hopefully -- it could get to that point). She's healthy and doing great. But if my supply was more plentiful, she wouldn't get so cranky at feedings and hopefully wouldn't have to nurse as often, and her weight gain would probably pick up (I'm pretty sure it already has). So I'm working on it.
DD1, 1/5/2008 ~~~ DD2, 3/17/2010
I also EBF (no bottles) and I started to suspect I was beginning to have supply issues around 5 months. DD was very fussy at the breast and after nursing. She also stopped gaining weight, she wasn't having the wet diapers that the kellymom website describes and she was only pooping about once a week--she was constipated. She was also nursing every 2 hours (day and night) and it wasn't making a difference. She only gained 6 oz between 5 and 8.5 months. That is no where near enough and she isn't even mobile yet!
Don't go by the pump. At 5 months, you are likely making exactly what your baby needs and not a whole lot extra because you haven't been demanding any extra.
I'm not sure why I ended up with a low supply considering I'm never away from DD, nurse on demand 24 hrs a day, etc. The only thing that I can correlate with it is getting AF back at 5 months. I had spoked with her pedi, a LLL member, and 3 different LC's and no one could figure it out! GL!
If your baby is hitting milestones and having plenty of dirty diapers I really wouldn't worry.?
We had problems early on. My milk was very late to come in and my baby had signs of dehydration so we had to supplement which probably hurt my supply even more.?
?After??my milk came in, my baby was very fussy at the breast. She would nurse almost constantly and then would cry in between. I met with an LC and did a weighed feeding and that showed my supply was ?low. My LC was stumped until bloodwork showed I had a hormonal imbalance.?
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my milk didnt "come in" until 13 days and even then it was low.
Signs: not enough wet diapers- not even close, baby was lathagric, starting to show signs of dehydration. I also was seeing a LC 2-3 times /wk for 3 wks and did weighed feedings and LO was only getting 1/2 -1 oz total from me.