Breast milk drying up
I feel disappointed I’m doing everything I can to increase my calories and hydration so I can exclusively breast feed my 3weeks old baby. But my milk is drying out at certain hours & my baby becomes distressed & cries a lot due to hunger. I have tried to supplement with formula milk & the two days we’ve used formula has been very challenging.
I believe my baby either has an allergy with cow milk protein as that’s the same allergy I have or is lactose intolerant. Everytime he has the formula, he will crunch his stomach, scream & start crying a lot for long. This is followed by lots of farting, vomiting & diarrhoea. I have been giving him infacol before every bottle feed & burping in between & after the feed to minimise the gas but even with that the problem still persists. I have been giving him Cow & Gate the colic & constipation one. The last formula feed was stressful as he has been crying a lot all evening. I have decided to give him any more formula as it’s causing more distress to him & even myself as he is very unsettled.
At the same time the challenge with breastfeeding is persisting despite increasing calories & hydration. I’m also taking fenugreek supplements but nothing is working yet. I just feel defeated and stressed.
Anyone had a similar experience & was able to resolve it?
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What makes you think your supply has dipped? Unless you're not feeding, it's unlikely to dip. It may have regulated by now which means you're not feeling encouraged but the milk is still there. It might just be cluster feeding. I know I have a good supply and a quick letdown, when I pump I can get 4oz in a few minutes so I know my daughter is getting plenty however some days she doesn't seem satisfied for hours, others she will after a few minutes. A lot of their fussiness and feeding is developmental x
it’s not me thinking or assuming but actually seeing there’s no milk. He will suckle and suckle and nothing comes out. I even check & hand express but nothing comes out. It gets to a point where he runs out of patience as he has been going on & nothing comes out. It’s very disappointing. I have also tried to pump & at certain times of the day esp the afternoon & early evening & I can have the pump on for 20-30mins & nothing comes out.
We had to switch to combi feeding as my little one dropped too much weight i was gutted, still pumping though and breastfeeding before a feed if i can. I found pumping first thing or even 3am if I can gives me a little more, it's still not much but enough to get an ounce or 2 for a bottle later in the day just don't want it to dry up as its such a good way of comforting him
Lots of videos on tiktok of how to increase your supply and also found a few good Facebook groups with lots of advice
We also have now given him a dummy as he was doing the same thing with the scrunching and crying and he seems to suckle through the farts now rather than crying and stressing himself out
I have had exactly the same issues. For me, I seem to only produce milk properly when I’m sleeping. Which is so stressful as it’s so hard to sleep properly with a newborn. Have you noticed your sleep has been worse the days before your supply has dipped?
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