My Baby Started Solids and My Milk Is All Messed Up!

My daughter is almost 8 months and we started feeding her at 6months. Until than she was only breastfed(she is still breastfed). After introducing solids your milk production slows. Milk production is supply and demand. With your daughter getting calories elsewhere, your milk will slow down because its not needed as much. Don't get me wrong, breastmilk should be the major (and most important) part of her diet even after you introduce solids. but since starting solids my milk has dropped too and i don't get that engorged feeling very much at all, but she is getting plenty of milk for herself, I just don't have all the extra that I used to have. I confirmed this with my doctor, and she eased my mind. She simply said, because my daughter has a backup calorie intake, my body didn't need to overproduce milk, unfortunately this also cause my menstrual cycle to return. If you are extremely worried you should talk to your doctor or your daughter's doctor, i found that sometimes her pedi gives better advice than my obgyn on matters like this.

Hey Cystal,

You're not drying up. Just keep trying and nurse as much as possible. You can try fenugreek and/or the nursing mom tea that someone else recommended. I was taking both and it made a big difference. Fenugreek comes in drops or capsules; you can find the drops in the Birth Boutique in Denville, and if you prefer the tea or the capsules, then look in the organic food store "Grassroots", in Denville as well. I found that the drops worked better for me because they seemed to absorb better but, if the taste bothers you then go with the capsules.
As far as pumping is concerned, try not to pay attention to the amount of milk during the actual pumping and it might be better if you pump double-sided. I was only able to have let-downs when I was pumping double-sided. And RELAX, read something while the pump does the work.
GOOD LUCK! YOU ARE DOING A GREAT JOB!

HI Crystal,
I'm a mother of one who is just turning 4months on the 22nd and boy did we actually have issues with breastfeading. she was a month early and when we brought her home from the hospital i couldn't get her to nurse... determined to still give her breast milk i began using the pump... that was fine up until about a month and a half ago, when i noticed that I started to get less milk especially if i was over tired. I have since the 2nd month of her life been able to nurse semi-effectivly but she almost never seems to get enough from the breast. Out of desperation i had to turn to formula. what i have discovered talking to other friends of mine that are mothers is that pumping, even though you are expressing milk is an altegether differnt sensation than that of breastfeading, and that your body reacts differently to it; than to nursing directly from the breast. I tried pumping every two hours for weeks and it didn't help to increase my supply it just made me frustrated. And now, since i've started to actually breastfead rather than pump, i've found that my breasts don't react well to the pump and i actually get LESS milk than i used to. From what i hear(my aunt has a dauther that she just started introducing to solids) that does happen, the milk will drop off, somehow your body knows what's happening. I don't know how much of this is actuall advice, or just sharing my experience with breastfeading, but they say that each child is different, so maybe each breast feeding experience is different with a different child, even if it's the same mother.

sorry this is so long, -N.

hi crystal, my name is D. and ive breastfed both my kids forever, and yes, it is very normal for your supply to drop off once you start solids. its also reasonable for your baby to refuse the breast since eating solids is much easier for her, she fills up faster and with less work. neither of my kids ever refused, so im not speaking from experience, but i have had to boost my supply to save up a stash for vacations and surgeries....since you have already tried putting her to the breast first and it didnt work, i would try to feed her a few spoonfulls of cereal to take the edge off, then try to nurse her before finishing the meal. she might just be too hungry at that time to want to deal with nursing then. i hope that helps. i can tell you that when i wanted to boost my supply, i ate oatmeal with maple syrup, the fake kind, it has fenugreek in it, and the oatmeal works too... i really saw a difference with that, and of course drinking tons of water and no caffiene. and keep pumping, of course. im assuming you are pumping both breasts at once, drink a lot before and during pumping, relax during pumping, and when you pump, massage your breasts toward the center, and move/turn the pump funnel thingy on your breast to stimulate more ducts. and of course adequate sleep and eating will also help your supply, as impossible as it seems! if you can manage to nurse on one breast and pump on the other, it will help, but i always found that really awkward. make sure that you pump or nurse every 3 hours or so, so if she refuses you, be sure to pump. i hope this helps, best of luck, D.

First of all I think it's great you want to breastfeed longer. I am also a big breastfeeding advocate and believe that has made all the difference for the health of my preemie daughter. She has only had one cold since she came home from the hospital! Anyway, we started solids when she was 8 months (I wanted to go by 6 months corrected age) and I think my supply dropped then too. She actually didn't gain any weight for over a month, but did grow 2 inches. I think babies instinctively know what they need and if the pediatrician isn't worried, she's probably OK. Also, if you really want to increase your supply I've heard fenugreek, an herb, works. But I'd ask a doctor before trying anything like that. Good luck and I hope you continue breastfeeding and your daughter stays healthy!
P.S. That's great you're donating milk!

Hey Crystal!

Maybe try drinking some tea, there's a "Nursing Mommy" tea by Yogi Tea. If you're able to get to a Health Food Store, grab some Marshmallow Root tea, that also helps produce milk. Good luck!

R.

Hi Crystal:)
Did you stop pumping through the holidays, while you were using up your frozen supply? If you did stop, I'm afraid you have probably compromised your natural supply, since your body thought you didn't need to produce as much milk. Therefore, it has started to shut down production. You can try to get production back up by pumping regularly, but I'm not sure that always works:( The supply shouldn't drop off after introducing solids unless she was drinking less from your breast, or you were pumping less. I'm not sure what else to say, since I'm sure I haven't conveyed any good news. I'm sorry!!! Good luck, and remember, if you have to turn to formula, a few months of breastmilk is still greatly beneficial.

hello Crystal,
Glad to hear someone is serious about breastfeeding as you are. i have 11 1/2 month daughter and still nursing. i had similar situation at around 4-5 months of breastfeeding, my daughter ate a little solids and nursed a little less. When you nurse around the clock in the first months you have a constant milk supply. later on the supply is reduces according to Supply and demand. so feed your baby after cereal, nursing is the best way to produce milk. Drink plenty of water, diet helps as well. Also when you actually pump milk the amount you get is not an actual amount your baby gets when she nurses, the pump is unable to get it all out , but your baby is probably getting double or triple of what you pump. I was told by few specialist, pediatrician when i was freaking out my milk. However i'm nursing for almost a Year now, and still have milk, just enough for my baby (3-5 times in 24 hrs), even though she eats a lot more real food now. Offering my breast after cereal was actually best option for us because i knew she wasn't hungry and was getting enough nutrition. hope it helps! keep nursing, don't give up it's the best thing for your daughter!!! good luck!!!!!

Hi Crystal,
Visit the Le Leche League website, www.lalecheleague.org. There you will find excellent advice regarding supply/demand or you can enter your zip code to locate a LLL leader to speak to. You can email or call a leader free of charge. You can also locate a lactation consultant at the International Lactation Consultant website, http://www.ilca.org. A lactation consultant will charge you only if they come to your home.

I too am an advocate of breastfeeding and have successfully breastfed my fisrt daughter for 14 months and am in the process with my 5 month old.

Good Luck!

Unfortunately, I have never had the choice to breastfeed exclusively because I have never had a great milk supply, with either of my sons. No matter how much I pump, I don't get more than an ounce or so, and that is after waiting like four hours!! So I have had to give one formula bottle a day to my son, which is less than I had to give to the first. Anyway, my sister had a baby six weeks before me. She could have fed both our kids at every sitting and still had some to spare (which I was TOTALLY jealous of!!!) But when she went back to work and could only pump three times a day, her supply started dropping off too. Now that she was starting cereal, she was afraid that her supply would drop even more. Our lactation consultant told her to try Mother's Milk Tea. You can get it at any healthfood store. You have to drink it three times a day and follow the instructions explicitly, but she said that a lot of women she knows swear by it. It is only my sister's first week on it, and I just got some today, but I figured it was worth a shot!! good luck!