> > I have been searching the archives to find out why a mom's >supply would >be dropping off after bringing home her son who was born at barely 32 >weeks gestation. Apparently had copious supply while pumping during >hospital stay ( this stash has been seeing her through the past couple of >weeks). Once baby came home she noticed a drop from 4-6 oz. per pumping >to 2-2.5. She sometimes gets only 40cc. Well, all the other stuff you mention may also have a bearing on the situation, Cyndi, but the sort of thing you describe above is what some mothers discover on pumping long term.....not all of them, but a good many of them. For these mothers, the pump just doesn't cut it, when it comes to maintaining a constant, reliable, copious supply. In my experience, they have to resort to strategies to overcome this - more frequent pumping sessions, pumping and then waiting a short while and pumping again, shorter sessions at each breast and then switching, double pumping.... There's bound to be a physiological explanation, and I would suggest part of it is the pump does not give the same physiological 'experience' to the breasts. Also, as we know, mothers in early bf tend to over-produce, then they tend to make what the baby needs, in direct response to the feeds. When that period of over-production dies away, the amount of milk available for the pump is less at any one time. Heather Welford Neil NCT bfc Newcastle upon Tyne UK *********************************************** The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html