increased nursing times/decreased pumping volume
I know I've asked a lot of questions this week, and I really appreciate all of your input.
Until this week, LO had been a 10-12 min feed kind of baby who took 4-5 oz from a bottle 2x during the day and otherwise 4 BF sessions (morning/evening/bedtime/1 overnight.) He'd been like this since ~6 weeks, excluding growth spurts. He also only ate from one side/session.
Basically out of nowhere it his feeding times have gone up to nearly 30 minutes, he takes the second breast, and my pump output has gone down significantly (by like, 20%) at all pump times (I pump at work and morning + my bedtime). We are on day 5 of this now.
Now its a question of chicken/egg: is he eating more during these long sessions causing all my pump volumes to go down (even during the day while I am at work), or is my supply dropping causing the low volumes and longer feeding times to try to get the same amount. I've added extra pumping to try to bring the volumes back up, but I'm not even sure it makes sense. Oh....what to do? This is so frustrating.
Re: increased nursing times/decreased pumping volume
He's probably having a growth spurt.
But you can also try increasing your supply with galactagogues (herbs and foods that aid lactation). You could take fenugreek, or eat a lot more oatmeal (any form), or eat lots of healthy foods like almonds, bananas, avocadoes, and whole grains. You could also try a few inches of a darker beer right after you've fed him.