Judy Fram writes:
" As Lisa says, it makes a lot of sense that a combination of a baby with a  less-than-stellar latch or suck gets by on the downpour, and when the breasts
 over time begin to really depend on the baby's stimulation alone to maintain  a supply level, the supply ratchets down. At this point, one is dealing with
 a 3 or 4 month old who has a way of nursing that seemed to be working, and is  firmly entrenched, and suck training is unlikely to be amenable to this baby."

This is also consistent w/ what I have seen working w/ very premature babies in NICU. Mom of a 24-28 week baby pumps "tons of milk" (esp as compared to what the baby needs) for several months. Suddenly at about 3-4 mos, milk is gone and mom is on meds to increase milk. I think the moms often pump just long enough to get the first MER and do not continue to stimulate when the milk slows down. Just as the nbaby is getting by on the fast flow, so is the pump. I would have thought down-regulation would affect supply sooner, but it seems to consistently be at 3-4 mos in these cases.
Jennifer Tow, IBCLC, CT, USA

             ***********************************************
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