Low milk supply, feeding every 10 mins, hungry or not??

amother

Thu, Aug 07 2014, 6:12 am

I had low milk supply after mastitis, don't know if it has recovered or not. My 6 week old wants to feed every 20 minutes for a few minutes at the moment. He screams as if he is starving... I know he is getting some milk, but I can't get him to stay on, he pulls off smiling and looking around, and refuses to go on again, or goes on and off, fussing.

When he cries again, sure I could get him to take a paci but what if he's really hungry? How can I get him to take a full meal if he keeps 'snacking', all while I'm doubting my milk supply?? Do I just try and leave him 3 hours without eating, even if he's hungry, so he'll eat properly next time?? Is thta safe??

mo5

Thu, Aug 07 2014, 6:20 am

amother wrote:

If milk is coming out and he's just playing - give him the pacifier and try to space out to at least 2 hours. It's safe. If he's genuinely hungry, the pacifie won't soothe him.
Also he might have gas or something bothering him in his stomach an he can't differentiate hunger vs other stomach pain so he wants to suck but doesn't really want the milk.
Has happened to me before with various kids in the early months.
Ed. For spelling

Last edited by mo5 on Thu, Aug 07 2014, 9:10 am; edited 1 time in total

Lady Bug

Thu, Aug 07 2014, 7:22 am

If you fasted tisha bav then that could contribute to temporary low milk supply. I don't knobwaht a lactation consultant would suggest in your specific case, but I've been in your situation and what I did was this: give the baby a bottle and put him/her to sleep. You eat a good meal and go to sleep too. When you both wake up in a few hours from now, you will hopefully be "reset" with a full milk supply and you can start feeding on a normal schedule again. I always end up with low milk supply towards the end of the day, and if I get into the cycle of low milk-nursing every 20 minutes- even lower milk for each feeding-constant nursing and hungry baby then no one benefits. As soon as I see that my baby is hungry and I don't have enough milk for that feeding, I give one bottle and then I'm ok for the rest of the feedings. (for me, ends up being about 1 bottle every two days)