Drop in Milk Supply During Period & Waking

[annasmommy]

Hi,
I noticed that someone had posted a thread on having gotten their period, even while EBF. I got my first one when my DD was around 4 months, it stopped, and has now returned again 4 months later! 
She is now almost 8 months.  I typically feed her 4-5 times a day for a couple minutes on each side. She lets me know she's done by pulling herself off, or biting (nibbling really, she hasn't cut teeth yet, though I can certainly feel them!), when I try to put her back on. 

The only real concern I had with my period was that I didn't seem to be producing enough milk, and had to supplement with formula.  My LO was eating every 2 hours, and I finally figured out it was because she wasn't getting enough!  I was never sure how much additional formula I needed to give.  Any advice in that regard?  I'm on my period now (TMI?), and I'm feeding her anywhere between 8-12 oz. a day to supplement, but she's STILL waking up in the middle of the night and at 4:44 (exactly!) in the mornings.  To avoid making it 4 naps a day, which is what it would take to get her to her regular sleeptime between 7:15-7:45, I put her down at 6:00, and she went down around 6:20 after talking to herself last night.  She still woke up at 4:44 which is better, but still only a little over 10 hours.  She napped around 3.5 hours yesterday. 

What to do.... How much breastmilk should she be drinking?  I pumped yesterday to check, and found I was producing about 3.5 oz. total, after having breastfed 3 hours before. 

[Samuel's mum]

I know you will have heard this before but the amount you pump honestly will not represent what she is getting. Babies are much more efficient than pumps. Some breasts which are very used to pumping regularly have more luck. Breasts that are accustomed to a baby's sucking action are usually very fussy! It is very common though to have a natural dip in supply during your period as well as later in the day.

If you look at the sleep boards you will see this sticky:
https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=46.0

which talks about an AVERAGE of 14 hours total sleep at 9 months. 14.5 hours at 6 months.
You're pretty much bang on that!

The 4.44 wake up sounds like a bizarre habit. She has been in bed 10 hours which isn't unusual for a whole night's sleep. Have you tried 'wake to sleep'? The sleep boards give you more advice about that.

You will find that your supply will have decreased further due to supplementing. It's a bit of a Catch 22. Make sure you offer the breast before the bottle or your supply will continue to decrease. I'm not sure about quantities but I bet you'll find some people doing mixed feeding on the bottle feeding board.

[annasmommy]

Thank you for the good advice.  I know 14 hours is average, but when she sleeps 13, and I see other kids sleeping around 15-16 hours, I get myself all frazzled up for nothing.  All babies are different, after all!  

I did try the wake to sleep this morning (though she was already awake, so kinda but not really), with not alot of success.  I think she was ABOUT to fall back asleep, but I stopped too soon.  I'll try it again tonight, (go in at 4:30 a.m.) and hopefully it will work!  Thanks for letting me know about the breast pump, and that it extracts less milk than my baby.  I will try to avoid supplementing as much as I can, and pump after bfing so I can get my supply back up again!  Another question, though I'm wondering if I ought to post this in the Feeding section...

Silly question..She's a big girl (almost 20 lbs around 7.5 months) and the nurses suggested I up her feeding to 3 times a day when she turned about 6.5 mos. She started solids at 5 months.  I regret listening to the doctors and nurses on that one.  As it is, she doesn't eat a whole lot of the solids, but it wouldn't be wise to try and take away a feeding and nurse more, right?

[Samuel's mum]

I think it depends on a few things - like how much quantity of solids she takes and how you schedule them in relation to breastfeeds. I think 3 separate meals can be fine as long as the breastfeed has come first (it doesn't have to literally come first. Some do it an hour or so before a solids meal. The main thing is you don't offer solids and then nurse an hour AFTER.)
I would say 4-5 feeds at 8 months is fine - even though she is very quick. Follow your mommy instincts. If you are concerned she's taking too much solid food then experiment and by all means try and increase her milk.
It's great that you want to try and cut back on supplementing - good luck.