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D.C. Area Babies
8 mo on the nose and my supply tanks. WTH?
I literally went from being able to pump 14-15oz. a day to 10 oz. in two days. WTF? I had to supplement with formula yesterday for the first time in a long time. I admit I could be drinking a little more water. I also noticed that DD has not really been wanting to nurse after I pick her up from DC and she has always wanted that little "snack" before dinner. I guess that could be hurting things. Oh well. I'm not that worried about it, because I'm proud that I've been able to EBF for 8 months but I find it odd that this seemed to happen overnight. I don't have a stash because I was basically able to pump enough to just meet her needs for the last couple of months. The stash was used up during growth spurts and days that I wasn't able to pump as much. Is this typical?
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Re: 8 mo on the nose and my supply tanks. WTH?
Good call. AF returned 3mo pp and she is scheduled to arrive soon. I hope that's it, which means this may not be permanent.
As soon as I read your post title, I thought AF as well. Also - it could be that you are ovulating for the first time post-partum (you can have your period w/o ovulating - weird - I know) which could mean the hormone levels are making you milk taste a bit different which could explain your DD's decreased desire to nurse...
I would wait it out a few days - but if things don't correct post AF - you could always try fennergeek or More Milk Plus
And congrats on 8 months of breastfeeding - no small feat!
it's also possible she's starting to self-wean
babies don't usually self-wean this early, especially not first babies. they do go through periods where they are less interested in nursing simply because they are learning a new skill or distracted by their environment, but that passes and they go back to being more interested in nursing. i nursed DS for 31 months and saw many of these peaks and valleys, and DD is 14 months and has them too.
my guess is your low supply has more to do with your cycle. it is very common for the last 10 days of the cycle and the first few days of AF for BM production to be impacted. your DD may also have less interest in nursing during this time b/c the supply isn't what she's accustomed to and she'd just rather do something else. or that your milk has a different taste due to changes in your hormone levels. is she nursing the same at other times of the day/night?
try upping your water intake and drinking mother's milk tea during this time. i also have this problem and i counter by adding a pumping session in the first half of my cycle. i pump about half a bottle extra during this time each day, which i use when i'm making half a feeding total in the second half of my cycle. i've been doing this for the past four months and it's worked out really well. i also don't have a freezer stash, so the first month i was a little shell shocked!
HTH!
LindseyJW - thanks for the advice! I'll keep your suggestions in mind for next cycle.
I don't think she's self-weaning or put off by my milk taste because she's still drinking her bottles and she downed her bottle of formula last night which definitely tastes different. I think it's a supply issue for now, which I hope is related to AF's arrival. I just haven't noticed this dramatic a supply dip like this the last few months so I was caught a bit off guard. We'll see what happens. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
i remember a sharp drop wtih both of my babies. wtih DS, it came around 7/8 months. with DD, it was about 6/7 months. and only during my LP.
hopefully, you'll start to notice an increase a few days after AF starts. that's when i add the pumping session (and i HATE pumping, so that's big for me). i now pump twice during the first half of my cycle and once during the second.
G/L! and happy turkey to you too!
I had a drop around the same time (was easily pumping 10-12 oz with 2 pumping sessions at work) and then suddenly I could barely make 8. Nothing else changed and I didn't get AF (still haven't). With advice from the ladies here I got it back up to the 10-12 oz, but I have to work harder for it most days than I ever did before. I pump 3x at work (9, 12, and 3), and I pump before bed now that DS sleeps from 6:30p - 6:30a. I also take fernugreek twice a day, and made lactation cookies when I can. FWIW, I think the cookies actually help quite a bit! When I don't make them I'm definitely on the lower end of typical supply.
This pumping schedule is a PITA, but I've actually been able to contribute to my freezer stash again so I'm probably going to drop down to 2 pumping sessions at work and the 1 at night soon.
GL!
This is good to know. I dropped down to two pumping sessions at work last month and all was well. I think I'm going to go back up to three sessions and see if that helps. Such a pain, though. I also have Fenugreek, which I'll try if I have to. Around 4 months, I thought my supply was slipping and I used it but she started having green poops, which I read meant that I had an oversupply so I stopped. I'll see if it helps this time around. Thanks again!
that sounds exactly like what happened to me - for months I was pumping 2x and everything was great...then all of a sudden a big drop. I think pumping 3x really makes a difference, and honestly, the cookies! Here is the recipe: https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/member/views/LACTATION-COOKIES-1252680I usually eat them for breakfast, lol.
This happened to me, around the same time. I had really light periods for 4 months starting 3 months pp. No issues with supply during those times. When LO was 7 months, that period was a lot heavier than the previous ones had been, and my supply TANKED. I realized that I was ovulating for the first time postpartum *after* I got pregnant. Oops.