LO started sleeping through the night in April and like clock work i got my first period beginning of May. I noticed a pretty significant supply dip about 3 days before AF started and then it slowly picked back up.
I read in my Ina May BF book that its common for your period to cause your supply to dip. My question is will it dip each time a cycle or just the first time.
I generally can pump exactly enough at work for what my son drinks at daycare and when my supply dipped in April I had to dig into the stash. So scary when you can't make enough! I am so committed to nursing and will be devastated if I have to go to supplementing with formula. I don't have a huge freezer stash and LO is only 7 months old so I don't know how long i'll be able to dip into it for supplements.
Re: AF returning and supply dip
I've had 3 PP periods, and my supply dips each time. My output is about halved, I'll go from 5ish oz to somewhere in the ballpark of 2-3.
My suggestion would be to add a pump session a day at least during that week. If you won't have enough of a stash to make it through, I'd suggest pumping every day regardless, to build your stash.
I'm sorry. It sucks, and it's scary, but there's not a lot you can do. At least you know it's coming.
Thanks for the advice ladies. Really helps to know supply will dip each cycle. I can probably find one or two extra pumping sessions the week before and the week of.