Worth posting again: PSA for "low supply in evening"

IncogNeato · March 2013

I know so many people are worried about this, so I wanted to post this:

https://kellymom.com/parenting/parenting-faq/fussy-evening/

Does this mean that baby needs more milk than I can provide?

No. Don?t give baby a bottle ? supplementation will only tell your body that you need LESS milk at this time, and that will not help matters. Also, keep in mind that formula fed babies experience fussy periods in the evening, too ? fussy evenings are common for all young babies, no matter how they are fed. The Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine spells this out in their supplementary feeding guidelines:

There are common clinical situations where evaluation and breastfeeding management may be necessary, but supplementation is NOT INDICATED including? The infant who is fussy at night or constantly feeding for several hours.

The only way through it is just to nurse, nurse, nurse and don't give a bottle in the evenings. Every time you offer a bottle in the evenings, your supply goes down a little bit more and creates a supply problem.

Also, about "Building a stash for work." You really don't necessarily need a stash for work, just enough to get you through the first day. Then you pump that first day and all that milk goes towards the next day. So don't stress about pumping a ton before the end of your ML.

I'm not trying to be sanctimonious and feel free to ignore me. I just see so many moms on here who really want to BF for the long term and are inadvertantly sabotaging themselves. In general, these first few weeks all you need to do is nurse, nurse, nurse and if you really want to, pump one side first thing in the morning, stick that milk in the freezer and DON'T USE IT. If you use it later that day and don't pump to replace it, you're not getting ahead, just running in circles.

joecubed · March 2013

Agreed with you on the evening fussiness, but building a stash for work is not necessarily a bad idea for some moms. I've found that there were lots I days for me over the course of BFing my first two where I simply didn't get to follow my regular pumpin

IncogNeato · March 2013

joecubed:
Agreed with you on the evening fussiness, but building a stash for work is not necessarily a bad idea for some moms.

ericalee27 · March 2013

Excellent reminders!!

joecubed · March 2013

Definitely. I took the bar exam when DS1 was 12 weeks old and used all of my surplus over that 3 day period. I was unnecessarily stressed about that, but we BFed for 2 years, which was just as long as I wanted!

downtown80 · March 2013

Just want to add that with DD, I returned from maternity leave with about 40 oz in the freezer. I pretty much pumped one day for the next. When DD hit 5 to 6 months, I really struggled to keep up. I was no longer pumping what she needed for the next day.