Hi all,
New here.
My 5 1/2 month old baby girl has lost 5 oz somehow in the last 3 weeks. Exclusively bf, never had a problem with weight gain before.
In the last 2 days, my milk has suddenly completely dried up despite feeding every 3 hours during the day (baby always sleeps through the night since 4 months old). We had to give her frozen breastmilk in a bottle at every feed today.
This is breaking my heart. What on earth? I haven't changed my diet, I haven't taken any medications, I haven't done anything different!
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EDIT: I don't THINK it's a growth spurt -- she isn't clusterfeeding or anything. My problem seems to start with me; my breasts simply aren't as full as they usually are, and baby girl seemed to empty them for the day this morning. After this morning's feed, she became fussy at the breast immediately with each feed thereafter, and even with breast compression I could feel there was almost nothing coming out when she was trying to eat. When I gave her a bottle of frozen milk, though, she'd go to town with what can only be described as relief.
Again, nothing has changed with me physically; I doubt I'm pregnant as my husband and I have used condoms and I've been exclusively bfing with no period yet. I have a spare pregnancy test laying around somewhere but I'd be willing to bet dollars to doughnuts that isn't it. (Not to mention, no symptoms of pregnancy; no sore nipples or what-have-you.)
Poor baby... I'm freaking out about the weight loss but I'm hoping you're all right and it's a growth spurt. I've been taking fenugreek all day and I baked some lactation cookies today as well. Hoping that does the trick.
This happened to me, too. Time to give her some formula. Sorry, but she needs the nutrition and you are not making it. You did a good job, but she needs more now
Number 1 is don't panic. If you stress out, your milk will not let down as easy. BE confident!!! Be relaxed!
I agree that it could be a growth spurt OR even teething, which will result in fussy behavior. At 5 months, your breasts have adjusted to what your daughter needs. If she is going through a growth spurt or teething and she is nursing a lot, IT WILL seem like you suddenly have no milk (your body has been making 26 oz a day and suddenly your daughter wants 35ozs - it is going to take a day or two to ramp up your supply).
Make sure you NURSE ON DEMAND (I can't stress that enough). Throw out the clocks and the schedules. Breastfeeding works on supply and demand. If you try to stick to a schedule with a breastfed baby, eventually you will come up on a supply problem. If you give them a binky when they want to suck, that can reduce your supply as well (you are going against mother nature's way of kicking up your supply).
Don't stress about the weight loss - it could be a scale wasn't balanced to zero, she could have had a full bladder when she was weighed before (or a full belly) - that 5 ozs could be attributed to a MILLION things. I mean, 5 ozs is basically a nursing session. So don't panic about that! Like I said, stressing out CAN impact your supply.
Your doing great and your baby is either teething, growing, or getting really active. If you truly nurse her on demand, de-stress yourself and ditch all binkies and supplements, your milk will increase quickly.
I have a 22 month old who is quite the boob-man. I can be flat at a wall one day and rival Pamela Anderson the next day - it just all depends on how much he nurses the day before! Your milk supply can change in a matter of hours. It is normal.
Great job! Peace-Love-Boobies
All 3 of mine lost weight around that age (my twins about a month later) while I exclusively breastfed. They started to become more active, which I attributed the weight loss to, but I wasn't concerned because I was still nursing on demand, despite feeling my production was down. I was never able to pump much, even with the hospital grade pumps, so I had very little frozen to give, but I pumped a few times a day anyway just to increase my production. Also, around that time, I did introduce rice cereal mixed w/ breastmilk. I still nursed them all for 12-13 months, but it was at each little weight loss/growth spurt/more active stage that I gradually introduced solids. I think you're probably at a natural transition, but try to relax & don't beat yourself up over anything. Keep nursing if you will. Chances are, it's a short-lived kink in the system & you'll both be fine :)
Why do you think your milk has suddenly dried up? Is she nursing more often? If so that is because she is probably going into her 6 month growth spurt. Here's something I learned-breastfed babies essential take in the same amount from around age 1 month to around age 6 months then they nurse like crazy to get mom to make more for their intake for the next 6 months.
Keep nursing her on demand.
Is it possible you may be getting ready to start your period? With my son, when I was getting ready to start and while on my period my milk dropped a bit and I would have to supplement him and then once it got to the end it was back to normal. Check out kellymom.com I know there is some good info on there about the subject and how to deal with it and get thru.
Everything everyone said sounds good, so that should help if you try them all. I used to go through periods for a day or two where I would feel like nothing was coming out of my breast (even with compressions), always nursed more and it would just come back. Try to drink extra water, and eat oatmeal (always helps me with extra milk). Since she just started getting fussy at the breast, it could definitely be teething or sickness. When my son teethes, he usually will go through a day or less where he doesn't like to breastfeed as much (I just offer it to him more often).
As for the weight loss, my son didn't gain any weight one month when he was about 3 months old. If she isn't getting enough food, she will be fussy throughout the day. I think that works with pretty much anything with babies, not enough sleep, cuddles, etc., and they are more fussy. Also, if she just started crawling or getting more active, that could be the cause of the weight loss. She may need more food, and your supply just needs to catch up. If she does seem to be fussy even after you breastfeed, give her a little frozen milk (not a huge amount, just an ounce or two), but always breastfeed before doing that.
One more thing, at some point your breasts don't necessarily feel full of milk, even though you still have milk. I had the same thing happen, and was a bit worried, but you get used to it.
So how much are YOU eating to feed your baby? I have a friend who would forget to eat and nurse and nurse and the baby would be unhappy because she was not eating and the baby was gettint too few nutrients.
How do you know it dried up?
If it truly did and its not just a growth spurt, then perhaps you're pregnant. Have you gotten a period yet?
Hopefully it just seems like you've dried up and its really because your baby is drinking more.
I agree with Dori, whatever you do make sure you keep letting her breastfeed. Also try eating a few higher calorie meals and drink LOTS of water- see if that helps.
And if nothing does, then take a pregnancy test!
Good luck momma :)
You may want to increase your water intake, get some Fenugreek and just nurse, nurse, nurse! Maybe try some middle-of-the night pumping (you produce more of a certain hormone at night) and get things going. Good luck... also remember a lot of it is mental... think good thoughts about making milk for your baby :)
Is she starting to crawl? My pediatrician says that causes weight loss (all the sudden energy used).
At 3 months and about 6 months, they tend to go through growth suprts. Also, did the pediatrician us ethe exact same scale? Maybe your baby's bowels were emoty this time and full last time. 5oz is not enough to be worried about as a one tiem loss. Also at about 6 months, I didn't feel let down anymore and questioned how much milk my baby's got, but they did great.
