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Offline Djala

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Not enough milk?
« on: June 27, 2007, 23:59:16 pm »
My 4 month old son receintly started a new pattern: he would suck one breast for 5-7 min and then goes on and off, on and off the breast, like he would like more but there is none left. I offer him second breast and sometimes it satisfies him, but usually in the evening it is not and after 5-10 min on the second breast he goes on and off again. Is it an indication that I haven't got enough milk? He is on 4h EASY receintly. When he was on 3.5h EASY I only fed him 1 breast at a time and it was OK.

Thanks
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Offline EllenS

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Re: Not enough milk?
« Reply #1 on: June 28, 2007, 00:27:14 am »
Sometimes popping off is distraction, sometimes they actually have finished more quickly because they're more efficient. They also get a growth spurt at 4 months, so he could be temporarily more hungry till your production catches up.
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Offline kerry,(kaceys mum)

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Re: Not enough milk?
« Reply #2 on: June 28, 2007, 09:09:23 am »
at  four months mark my dd was hungry all day long,, it sorted itself out once my supply increased.
 as my dd  was over 16pounds at four months, i introduced some solids, i know that this is not the norm but me as her mother felt she was ready,, dd gets her milk first then her solids,, this way we are not cutting out any bf,,, solids are the top up, not the milk
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Offline Samuel's mum

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Re: Not enough milk?
« Reply #3 on: June 28, 2007, 15:53:00 pm »
I agree with Ellen. He's at the age where it could be a lot of things, possibly coming together at the same time  - distraction because the world is too interesting, learning to feed more efficiently (and 5-7 minutes could be a full feed), and the 4 month growth spurt.

Tracy mentions that babies will often begin to need to second side if you've been previously one-sided so continue to change to the second side and after that side is finished - return to the first one again. He will stimulate your supply and get a new letdown rich in hindmilk. It's common for letdown to slow as the day goes on so breast compression might help in the evenings (see our FAQ on breast compression). Milk continues during the feed so a tiny trickle continues indefinitely - breast compression will speed up what he gets.

Is he happy with the new feeding interval? Or does it seems struggle for him to get to 4 hrs? You may need to reduce the intervals later in the day which isn't an uncommon pattern as people find their supply varies. Longer intervals are usually easier with the improved supply of the mornings.

I would just wonder how confident you are that 'he wants more but it's not enough'. Is he crying? Showing clear hunger cues? Continuing to show hunger cues after the feed has ended and then not lasting his usual interval afterwards? Is he waking more hungrily at night than he was?

If it is the growth spurt it usually lasts about 2-5 days (sometimes longer).
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Offline Djala

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Re: Not enough milk?
« Reply #4 on: June 29, 2007, 02:42:04 am »
Thank you very much for your answers. Did not know that there's a growth spurt at 4 month...
I would say he seems happy with AM and early PM time. It is the last stretch that he really becomes grumpy, after he wakes up from his catnap. I do not feed him then and wait till 7pm and it is extremely hard to keep him intertained cos he is not in good mood. I would suspect he wants to be fed, because in my usuall routine he gets bf everytime after his S time (well, now except for catnap). May be I should try and feed him after catnap and again at around 7pm just before going to bed?
Thanks
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Offline Kate A

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Re: Not enough milk?
« Reply #5 on: June 29, 2007, 04:43:39 am »
My dd is fussy too later in the day and is not usually hungry, mostly tired.  I do the same as you, don't feed after catnap and then at 7.  I usually have to walk around with her or distract her.

we haven't moved to 4 hr yet so it's a little different for us.
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Offline Djala

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Re: Not enough milk?
« Reply #6 on: June 29, 2007, 07:07:46 am »
That is exactly what I do - after his catnap I mostly just walk with him and show different things, nothing else seems to be working as good as this, but it is hard to do it for 1-1.5 hours.... and again I understand that his activity at this time should be low key so he does not get excited. It is almost imposible to just quietly sit with him (too boring, mom!!!), I have tried this and it ends up in real grampiness or cry.
May be a cluster feed after the catnap will help?
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Offline Rachelmac

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Re: Not enough milk?
« Reply #7 on: June 29, 2007, 09:22:17 am »
Hi, I had a similar problem, feeling like my LO was still hungry and posted here on the 26th june title- 'low milk supply'. You might find more info to help you out.

Hope things get better for you  :)
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