# Breastmilk ebb & flow?



## Coggie (Dec 28, 2000)

My son is closing in on five months old. Several weeks ago, he started wanting what my breasts couldn't provide. I wasn't sure if it was more milk or more flow. I always checked and milk always came when I squeezed. But when I gave him a bottle, he gulped it down. He always did much better on a bottle, whether it contained breastmilk or formula, never really clowning around but getting down to business.Now, I have taken to feeding him formula every night before bedtime, which does the trick. I couldn't stand watching him panic because he wanted more and he did not want my nursing.I've heard of other mothers out there unable to nurse because their breasts ran dry, many after birth. I still have breastmilk, but the most in the morning.I thought about pumping but the few times I've tried, not much came out.I always felt my son wanted the bottle no matter what, and now, I'm thinking this is our chance to really give him what he wants.


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## Cindy Pooh (Sep 3, 1999)

Coggie.....Is your son on cereal yet? I nursed both of my girls for a year and as they started taking in food - around 4 months they started on rice cereal - my milk decreased a little bit....I still had lots of milk, evidenced by my milk letting down in the most inconvenient places







.....If he's that hungry then I would certainly give him supplemental formula , but do check with your pediatrcian.....Nursing my girls was one of the greatest things for me - no bottles to wash, no formula to mix, no bottles to warm up in the middle of the night - my youngest just turned 2 and if she had her way she would still nurse at nap and night time....Good luck and I hope you can continue for at least a couple more months, but a full baby is a happy baby and if it takes formula to fill him up I say go for it!!!!


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## Jeanne D (Nov 14, 2001)

I only nursed my oldest son for a month, and I had to also give him the bottle because it was as though he wasn't getting enough.My second son was formula fed from day one.. nursing didn't work for me at all, unfortunately.I used to mix a little bit of rice cereal in with their formula and feed it to them in the evening.. they slept alot longer and seemed so much more satisfied.Jeanne


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## Coggie (Dec 28, 2000)

He's five and a half months old (six by July 21) now and not yet on solids. I talked with his pediatrician and she gave the green light for supplementing, either breastmilk or formula. I tried pumping when she said but nothing happens. It only happens when my baby nurses, and he's only really satisfied in the mornings. Each day, he wants less and less of nursing and more and more of the bottle.So, I'm going by him. He's happier too, so that's a bonus.Here's the link again to our running pictorial and updates on James Scott: http://carolcoggie.tripod.com/firstborn/index.html


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## Lubner (Feb 20, 2001)

The less you nurse, the less breastmilk you will make. There are natural growth spurts when babies need to nurse often (up to every hour) for a day or two to increase the milk supply. When you supplement with formula, it will cause the breastmilk supply to slow down. I would agree that it would be ok to start some rice cereal, but not much other solids for another month. How long were you planning to nurse? Everyone has different goals and you should do what is right for you and your baby. Some people just want the first few months to get the baby off to a good start and others go a year or more. This is up to you, don't let someone make you feel guilty if you decide to wean. You have already nursed longer than most women in the US do. In other countries where women get paid maternity leaves, babies are breastfed much longer. Most hospitals also have lactation consultants who can give you more advice.


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## Coggie (Dec 28, 2000)

That's the thing, I never supplemented. My baby just started rejecting the breast on his own. He wanted, I guess, better flow. I fed him the bottle after that, with breastmilk, formula, didn't matter, if he was hungry for more, he'd eat.I was pumping in between too, as lactation consultants told me, doing everything and still, my baby wanted something besides the nursing.


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## Lubner (Feb 20, 2001)

It probably is physically easier for babies to drink milk from a bottle than to nurse. If the baby is that hungry, add cereal twice a day.


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## Cindy Pooh (Sep 3, 1999)

Coggie......when does your pediatrician recommend that you start cereal? My pediatrician was very picky about starting solids too early, but with both of my girls he started them on rice cereal at 4 months and moved onto 1st stage foods at 6 months....I don't know how you are keeping him full without cereal...My girls were both starving by 4 months for something other than breastmilk....Good luck and don't feel bad about supplementing formula - the most important thing is him being full and happy


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## Coggie (Dec 28, 2000)

His doc said it's okay to wait till 6 months, unless he shows interest when we're eating, can eat sitting up without too much difficulty and seems starving a lot.Today was a BAD day. Screaming until he couldn't breathe kind of crying, I hate those, but I had to go to the bathroom, IBS-D, and when I got to him, he's already disintegrated emotionally. He's hard to console anyway, but he is impossible at that point.I fed him, out of desperation, after having fed him an hour earlier. And halfway through, he fell asleep.I don't know. I'm doing the best I can but when he cries like that, I have no idea if I'm doing anything right. I do the checklist in my head, and then try to let him fall asleep on his own. But when he gets this way, it's not good to leave him alone.Maybe he is getting more hungry.


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## *Luna* (Nov 19, 2001)

I love all the photos on your website! He is such a cutie!! And those are very good photos







Someone(s) definitely have a creative eye. Are you using a digital camera or scanning pics?When you were talking about how he seems inconsolable, I was thinking back to something my mom said about me when I was a baby... She thought I was hypoglycemic even then. If I went too long between feedings, like if I was sleeping peacefully at the usual feeding time, I got VERY upset. When I did wake up, I'd be all out of sorts, and it'd take me a long time to calm down. I know how I feel now when my blood sugar drops below a critical level... lose control of my emotions, easily unglued, takes a while to feel normal again... so maybe your baby is doing the same thing?


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## Coggie (Dec 28, 2000)

Hey, Luna.Mucho gracias for the firstborn compliments. Most of the pic were taken by me on a digital camera, the coolest invention next to tivo. I can pretty much manipulate any shot. Once I figure out how to rewind to previous shots and delete and start over (I'm slow at these techie things), I'll be king of photography. Since I spend most of the time with the baby, with hubby at work and at gigs, I'm the one doing the shots.I think a lot of what you're saying is right. I'm going to up the feeding completely to bottle, because he's not satisfied nursing the one last time I've tried to keep strictly on the breast. Soon, I'm going to have to start that rice cereal.


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