Decrease in milk. If you’re concerned that your breast milk is drying up, here are the causes of a sudden decrease in milk supply and what you can do.
Why you may think your breast milk is drying up
Moms sometimes lose confidence in their milk supply when it’s actually fine. When the engorgement common in the early weeks of breastfeeding subsides, you may interpret this as a sign of a dwindling decrease in milk supply because you associate breast fullness with having milk. But a smaller, softer breast is just as capable of providing milk as an engorged breast. In fact, most of the milk your baby drinks is produced while they’re feeding.
You may also worry that your milk supply is low if your baby suddenly needs to eat more often than usual, and you interpret this to mean your baby’s not getting enough breast milk. But what’s often happening is that your baby’s going through a growth spurt – they’re growing rapidly and need to be fed more frequently. Growth spurts are common at 3 weeks, 6 weeks, and 3 months of age.
When you introduce solid foods (around 6 months), you might expect decrease in milk supply to diminish, but at first it won’t. That’s because when a baby starts eating solids, more goes on their chin than into their stomach! But as your baby takes in more solid food, they’ll require less milk, so naturally you’ll produce less.
Sometimes a mother is producing so little (decrease in milk) that her breasts begin to dry up. The most common cause of a low milk supply is not breastfeeding often enough – but there are many other factors that can affect milk supply. Always talk to your baby’s doctor or a lactation consultant if you need help producing more milk.
It can be physically and emotionally draining to deal with a low decrease in milk supply. Sometimes your body just needs a kick-start. Find out what worked for these moms.
Signs your milk supply is decreasing
If decrease in milk supply, you’ll notice:
- Your baby stops gaining or begins to lose weight. Younger babies will gain between 1.5 and 2 pounds each month. Weight gain slows down to 1 to 1.25 pounds each month from 4 to 6 months, 1 pound each month from 7 to 9 months, and 13 ounces a month during months 10 to 12.
- Your baby is showing signs of dehydration. This could include wetting fewer diapers than normal, crying without tears, or having dark urine. Dry skin and a dry mouth, along with rapid breathing, are also signs they’re not getting enough breast milk.
- Your baby is fussy or lethargic and struggling to stay awake while breastfeeding.
Reasons for a sudden decrease in milk supply
If you observe a sudden decrease in; milk supply, you may be able to pinpoint the cause and correct it, increase your supply, and continue to breastfeed your baby.
Here are some possible reasons for a decrease in milk supply:
- Stress can cause decrease in milk or your milk supply to drop very suddenly. If you’re dealing with something difficult or struggling in your day-to-day life, it could cause your body to produce less milk.
- Sleep deprivation could also affect your milk supply. Getting enough sleep is important to support your body while you’re breastfeeding, but this is often impossible for new parents.
- Spending time away from your baby could cause a decrease in milk production. Breast milk supply is maintained by frequent nursing. Some moms experience a sudden drop in supply when they return to work or if they’re away from their baby for other reasons.
- Not pumping often enough. If your pumping frequency doesn’t match your little one’s demand, you might see your supply dropping.
- Dieting. It’s important to have a nutritious, satisfying diet while breastfeeding. You need more calories than usual to fuel breast milk production, and not eating enough can hurt your milk supply. In general, most breastfeeding moms need 450 to 500 extra calories a day, for a total of around 2,500 calories daily.
- Medications. There are many medicines that are safe while breastfeeding, but even those considered safe for your baby could decrease your milk supply. Antihistamines, steroids, and pseudoephedrine are all examples of medications that could cause a sudden drop in your milk supply. Certain herbs while breastfeeding and birth control pills could also affect your milk supply.
- Hormonal changes. When your period returns, your milk supply may diminish during some parts of your cycle. (If you’re exclusively breastfeeding, you usually won’t have a period for 3 to 6 months after birth or longer.) If you’re breastfeeding while pregnant, you may see a temporary dip in milk supply around 4 months.
- Thyroid issues. The thyroid gland secretes hormones that play an important role in lactation. If you have an underactive thyroid (hypothyroidism) or an overactive thyroid (hyperthyroidism), you might experience a sudden drop in milk supply or have trouble with your letdown reflex.
- Breastfeeding problems. Engorged breasts, clogged ducts, and mastitis can reduce your milk supply. If your baby goes on a nursing strike and breastfeeds less, this will also affect your supply.
What to do if your milk supply has dropped
If you’ve confirmed that you’re no longer producing enough milk for your baby, that doesn’t mean your breastfeeding journey is over. Here are some ideas for increasing your milk supply:
- Take care of yourself. Breastfeeding is a demanding job, so make sure you’re getting as much sleep as you can, eating and drinking enough, and keeping your stress levels low. If you’re struggling, ask for help from your friends and family so you can make time for yourself.
- Get mental health support. Many moms experience postpartum blues, postpartum anxiety and/or postpartum depression. If you’re having any mental health changes, talk to your healthcare provider. They might suggest therapy or medication.
- Breastfeed more. A healthy milk supply requires frequently expressing milk by nursing and/or pumping. If your milk supply has dropped, add additional feedings, encourage your little one to breastfeed for longer than usual, and/or pump more frequently.
- Take a nursing vacation. A few low-key days spent skin-to-skin with your little one, nursing on demand, can help rescue a dropping milk supply. Working moms might take a long weekend and ask their partner or relatives to step in and help out with household tasks and older children.
- Meet with a lactation consultant. A lactation consultant can help you troubleshoot any issues, like a poor breastfeeding latch, and help you get back to producing enough milk.
What if you’re exclusively pumping and your milk is drying up?
If you’re exclusively pumping, dealing with a sudden drop in milk supply might look a little different. Here are ways to increase your milk supply:
- Add another pumping session to your day. Some moms choose to wake before their baby to pump early in the morning.
- Prioritize pumping at work, especially if your job makes it hard to pump often and for a long-enough amount of time. If possible, schedule your pumping breaks and don’t put them off no matter what.
- Check your pump. Over time, your electric breast pump could become less effective. Or, you may need to adjust the settings or use different flanges. If you troubleshoot but don’t find solutions, you can reach out to the pump manufacturer and/or ask a lactation consultant for help.
- Spend lots of time skin-to-skin with your baby when you’re together. Exclusive pumping doesn’t mean you can’t take advantage of the benefits of getting cozy with your little one, which may boost your milk production.
- Try power pumping, a pumping strategy specifically focused on increasing breast milk output. The basic idea is to pump frequently over an hour to increase supply. One commonly suggested power pumping schedule is pump for 20 minutes, rest for 10 minutes, pump for 10 minutes, rest for 10 minutes, pump for 10 minutes. You can power pump once or twice a day.
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