Hi Tammie,

Just a confirmation of what you have probably already received as answers to
your questions.

If mother has a thyroid problem it could affect milk supply but medication
would just bring her levels to normal and would not cause harm to the baby.
(But of course, check the type of medication and the references, Hale, etc.)

Thirst and sleepiness are signs that the breastfeeding is working right. In
fact these are two things to ask a mother - if she feels thirsty and sleepy
while nursing, hence have a glass of water,juice or tea while nursing and
nap with your baby. (I think you knew this by the statement that it was the
last few things that didn't sound right, but just in case, I am reinforcing
that thirst and sleep are normal.)

Not feeling full, not feeling letdown and not leaking are very normal for
many mothers who are feeding effective, gaining, healthy nursers, and
feeding 'constantly'.  I was very surprised years ago to ask about letdown
and learned that so many women don't feel any letdown but have lots of milk.
I had such a painful, strong letdown that I couldn't imagine not feeling
anything. And leaking!  Some don't even need nursing pads while nursing on
the other side.  I needed bath towels.  Again, the range of normal is so
wide. And when she was weaning she did feel fullness.  Which just means that
her little one was probably getting what he needed, he just kept her
comfortable.

Did all of this happen to this family in the first week or two or month?
How long did she give it a try?  Even a formula fed baby will probably give
her 3 or more sleepless nights. Maybe the baby slept a couple of 6 hour long
nights the first couple of days home, but then baby woke up and started a
more normal pattern of nursing so mom 'thought' her milk supply wasn't
enough now.

New babies are a shock to so many parents when their experiences don't meet
their expectations.

If she kept a log, what were her actual times of nursing, and how many times
in 24 hours was the little one at breast?  Did the baby actually have a
couple of 2-1/2 to 4 hour or more sleep periods?  Was she possibly
experiencing cluster feeds and not noting the sleep times because they
didn't seem long enough to her and her family?   Of course the baby will
appear satisfied after a heavy bottle of formula but soon the formula may
cause the baby to spit up, be sick and keep them up at night and they will
start the switching to different brands to find the right one. Breastmilk
digests very quickly and easily in a newborns system, this is the reason for
frequent nursing.  And it assures the baby of spending more time in mother's
arms or sleeping with mom allowing more skin to skin time, and less time to
enter into a deep sleep increasing the risk of SIDS.

Oh, and was mom monitoring the number of bowel movements (3-5 or more each
day) and the number of wets (6-8)?  And if they tried for any amount of
time, like two weeks, were they able to see a normal weight gain. (Like back
to birthweight at 2 week check up or a 4oz.- 8oz. weight gain per week.)

Just some thoughts and ideas that might help the family (and you) to realize
that their experiences might have been normal just not as they had expected.

Unfortunately, her health problems and possible lack of support from family
and doctor, implying to her that something was wrong with her, probably just
aggravated her self confidence and breastfeeding experience.

Maybe if she understands more she will try again.  Maybe.

Warmly,

Cheryl Marian, CLC, CLE

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