I have a one month old who is breastfeeding and recently he has begun to sleep longer hours through the night, sometimes 7 hours at a time. I am not nursing as often at night anymore so does this mean that my milk supply is decreasing? I am affraid that I am drying up. During the day I pump when he sleeps longer hours, but during the night I dont pump as often. I just need to know if I will lose my milk supply if I dont breastfeed as often during the night. Thanks.
It's all about supply and demand. Your body will adjust to when your son is eating. You won't loose your supply, it will just be there during the day more and not so much at night as he stops feeding during the night hours. You may find that you are engorged first thing in the morning, now that he isn't feeding through the night and that's a good time to pump after he's done eating first thing in the morning.
No, you won't lose your milk supply from not breastfeeding at night. Your body will adjust so that you don't produce as much milk at night, but you won't dry up. I wouldn't suggest pumping in the middle of the night unless you're engorged, because if you do your body will continue to produce milk for a night feeding and you'll have problems with leaking and engorgement at night. My son is seven months old and sleeps twelve hours at night. I've continued to breastfeed during the day without any problems.
Our bodies are created amazigly! Your milk supply should be just fine, it will catch on to his schedule. If you need help or have more questions you can talk with a Lactation Nurse RN by contacting the Comfort Line @ ###-###-#### it is an answering service leave a message and they will get back to you today (there is no charge). I used this service and they are a GREAT help. I felt comfortable and they took thier time answering all of my qustions. -i am breastfeeding a 2 month old girl GOOD LUCK!!
Hi! I am a first time mom with a three month old daughter who is nursing. She has been sleeping through the night, about 10 hours, since she was 8 weeks old. I have not had any problems with drying up and I also don't pump. I wouldn't worry about going dry as long as he is still eating and seems to be getting enough.
Yes, your milk supply will decrease-you may want to set your alarm in the night so you can at least pump some milk, even if you need to freeze it-I highly recommend doing this, because if it dries up now, and you don't catch it in time, it is very difficult to reestablish your supply-you'd have to rent a hospital grade pump-which I had to do-and it was a lot of work to try to increase my supply. There are websites you can visit online for more detailed info, but if you have any questions, just message me!
Hi G.,
It's a good idea to pump or nurse right before bed and then get up a little early and do the same. If it seems like your milk is drying up then you can try some mothers milk tea or a supplement called Fenugreek. It really helps increase milk production. You can get it at any health food store. Hope this helps.
B.
Your supply should be fine. A lot of babies sleep through the night while they're still nursing and keep nursing for a long time. Like the PP said your body will adjust and make less at night but you want that to happen so you don't get engorged. When my son first started sleeping through the night I woke up in a puddle for a few mornings but then I guess I adjusted because once we got on a set schedule I never leaked again.
