Lisa writes:

>I received a call from a mother of a 5 month old tonight. Everything she
>told me points to a severe decrease in milk supply; baby is breastfeeding
>constantly and now starting to fuss and arch her back; diaper output down;
>baby is gulping supplemental bottles.

When did the bottles begin?  When she first suspected she had a fall off in
supply?


>From this vantage point, realizing that mom was breastfeeding "24 hours a
>day"

But that is not normal -  long, unsatisfying, round the clock feeds are a
sign bf is going badly. It is qute different from very  frequent feeds,
which are normal.

Lisa, from what you tell us, your speculation on the possibility of a
specific hormonal problem may be correct, but there could also be a very
simple explanation: this mother never got off to a good start with bf
because positioning was poor, and did not stimulate the breasts to make
milk and did not satisfy the baby sufficiently to allow him to feed
normally - ie frequently but contentedly.  She perceived the situation -
correctly - as one of poor supply and started supplementing.  This very
quickly cut down the supply even more, to the point where she has a 'severe
decrease in milk supply'.

If this is the case, then attention to positioning at the breast, attention
to feeding cues, lots of skin to skin contact and a gradual, careful
reduction in the supplements,  plus lots of support, should allow the milk
supply to have a chance of building up again.

You may have already ruled my 'simple' explanation out, sorry - I'm only
going on what you tell us!

Heather Welford Neil
NCT bfc Newcastle upon Tyne UK

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