>I have a Co-Leader who is helping a mom who is taking synthroid
>(levothyroxine sodium) 225 mcg/day.  Her baby has been very fussy and the
>mother is concerned that it is related to the medication.

I worked with a mother who was taking synthroid and had a very fussy baby,
who also was very "sweaty".  She had a serious over supply and accompanying
over-active let down.  We began by cutting down her supply. It took a lot of
work to do this, but when we got the supply down to baby's needs the
symptoms resolved. She had to progress from one breast for any feeding under
3 hours to 5 or 6 hours.  She found that, while she was reducing her supply,
the baby responded better to feeding in a side-lying position.

I believe that when beginning breastfeeding, a mom on synthetic thyroid
needs to be monitored along with baby.

If an underactive thyroid can create under supply, then perhaps these moms
are receiving too much thyroid medication, creating over-supply.

Patricia Gima, IBCLC
Milwaukee
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