While you’re a nursing mother, there may be times when you
might be concerned that your milk supply is running low. As long as your baby is
gaining weight well and has plenty of wet diapers and bowel movements, your
milk supply is just fine. Because forewarned is forearmed, learn about some of
the false alarms that could lead you to believe that your supply is running
low.
As you read in the lead-in to this article, babies that are
gaining weight and having plenty of wet and dirty diapers are getting all the
milk they need from nursing. But because parenthood in general, and nursing in
particular, are inexact sciences, you may find yourself wondering – or worrying – if you’re
producing enough milk for your baby
Here are some situations that might make you think twice about your milk supply and reasons why you don’t need to worry.
You observe that your baby is …
Nursing a lot – Milk production is a supply and demand situation. If your baby is nursing a lot, then her demand will stimulate increased production. Frequent nursing is not necessarily an indicator that your
milk supply is running low. (Read the next topic..)
Hungry again soon after nursing – Breast milk is very
easy to digest and so passes through a baby’s system much faster than formula
would. Formula takes quite a bit longer to break down, but breast milk has
exactly what a baby needs – and nothing else.
There are two kinds of
breast milk (not counting colostrum). The first milk the baby receives during a
nursing session is called the foremilk, and it’s thin, watery, and plentiful.
As the baby continues to nurse at the same breast, the milk becomes higher in
fat and lower in volume. It’s important that your baby receive the right
balance of fluid (foremilk) and calories (hindmilk). When you allow him to
decide when he’s had enough at the first breast, you’ll know that he’s received
the right balance.
Suddenly nursing more often or for longer periods of
time – Welcome to the wonderful world of growth spurts! Often a baby who has
switched into high gear is in fact gearing up for a period of rapid growth
(usually around two or three weeks, six weeks, and three months of age).
Newborns seem to get it together after a week or two after their birth, and their
feeding demands will pick up to keep pace with their needs.
Suddenly nursing more quickly – Practice makes perfect,
and it could be that your baby has become super-efficient at nursing.
Fussy – There are more reasons for a baby to be
fussy as there are fingers and toes on her little body. It could be a gas
bubble. It could be that she’s too warm or is being pinched by her diaper or
would really like a nap. Sometimes it’s nature’s way to
make sure that your baby is being fed as often as she needs to be. (Refer to
“Hungry again soon after nursing.” Your baby might not be getting enough
hindmilk.)
Sometimes fussiness is just
grumbling. At my house, my first son, my husband, and I went through the baby's “arsenic hour”
every day around dinnertime. Once my husband and I learned that our baby was
just being crabby, we learned not to take it personally.
Taking a bottle after nursing – Some babies just like
to suck, whether it’s at your breast or on a finger, pacifier, or bottle.
You find that …
You don’t experience leakage at all or just leak a little –
Some women leak a lot, some a little, and some not at all. This has absolutely
nothing to do with the amount of milk that your body is producing. It does have
a lot to do with each individual woman. It also has a lot to do with whether you've been nursing for one or 10 months, because leaking usually diminishes once you and your baby have
settled into a nursing routine.
Your breasts seem softer – What a
relief to transition from rock-hard breasts to softer, more normal-feeling breasts. However, just because your breasts have become soft again, it doesn’t mean that you’re running on empty. What it means is that your
body is adjusting its milk production to match your baby’s needs. Nursing is
definitely a supply and demand scenario: the more milk is demanded (i.e., more
frequent nursing or longer nursing sessions), the more milk your body will
produce.
You don’t feel your milk let down or don’t feel it as
strongly as you did before – Some women don’t ever feel their milk let down,
and that’s normal. It’s also normal for the feeling to become much less
noticeable over time. Watch your baby while he nurses: once his sucking and
swallowing switches from fast sucking and infrequent swallowing to slow sucking
and more frequent swallowing, you’ll know that the milk has been delivered.
You can’t express much milk – You’ll need a bit of
experience before you can express milk by hand or with a breast pump … and the
amount you express has nothing to do with your supply. In fact, until you’ve
weaned your child, your breasts will never be truly empty. (There are many
reasons why you might not be able to express much milk – another topic for a
future article!)
If you’re still concerned about your milk supply, contact
your local La Leche League or hospital or birthing center.
Parenthood brings its share of worries, but worrying about whether you’re producing
enough milk for your baby doesn't need to be one of them.
This is a fantastic over view that EVERY new mom needs to read! So many of my Lamaz class students call me in the days and weeks after their babies' births...and breast feeding is often on the list of questions they have to cover. I always find it astounding to think that, while we live in an environment (I'm in Montana, USA but I'm speaking from the perspective of any delveoped country) in which women are well noursished during their pregnancies, and therefore their babies are well nourished, we tend to assume that once the baby is born--we no longer have the ability to coninue feeding them! This is ABSOLUTELY not true in most cases. Women just need to learn the basics, as outlined in this article.
For good info. on how to start off the breast feeding relationship well, how to teach the baby to latch on properly, etc., check out the book: The Ultimate Guide to Breastfeeding, Jack Newman, MD and Teresa Pittman, RN. It's my favorite....which I refer my students to often!
Thanks, Kimmelin! My goal is to support moms in any way I can, whether they nurse or not (although, obviously, I'm an advocate of nursing). Too many of us believe we're on our own, so it's up to us (the experienced moms) to reach out to the new moms with whatever support they need.
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