Debi wrote about a mother whose milk supply has suddenly dropped
drastically:

".  For example, she used to nurse this current little guy on one
breast, and pump 6-8 ounces from the other.
    No hormonal contraceptives, no scheduled feeds, no long stretches
without
breastfeeding (still nurses every 2-3 hours around the clock), no solid
foods, no formula supplementation, no medications, and no clue! as to why
this is happening AGAIN."

Others may disagree with me, but to my mind and experience, nursing every 2
to 3 hours around the clock at three months is what I would call long
stretches between breastfeeding. When I think about my own four, and about
many of my friends, our babies at that age were nursing much more frequently
than that. Perhaps, if we were lucky, they would nurse every 2 or 3 hours at
night. But during the day it was likely to be nurse, change diapers, nurse
again, play for a while on mommy's lap, nurse again, carry around in the
sling, nurse again, nap for ten or fifteen minutes, wake up and nurse again,
nurse while being carried in the sling, etc.  So rather than 8 to 12 times
in 24 hours, the baby would come to the breast at least briefly closer to 24
to 36 times in 24 hours.

I have stated before that I think some women need this very frequent
stimulation at the breast in the early weeks to have ongoing milk
production. Obviously many women do not. It's the idea of mothering at the
breast, not just feeding at the breast.

My second question about this situation is why was the mother pumping? Was
the baby getting some bottles of pumped milk? If so, this may have affected
the baby's latch and therefore milk transfer and production.

Teresa Pitman
Guelph, Ontario

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