BF morning and night only - how long will supply hold up?

L

LeahH

Registered User
I have slowly stopped my son's day breast feeds in anticipation of returning to work in a week and plan to breast feed him morning and evening only (no pumping at work).

My question is, can you sustain your supply for those two feeds indefinitely, or will it dry up quickly with only two feeds?

Most of the time he still feeds once in the night, somewhere between 5 - 6am, with a top up when he wakes at 7.30am.

Occasionally he'll sleep right through and I'm very much hoping this will become more regular now he's started solids (he's 6.5 months).

Now I am a bit worried that a reduced supply will cause him to keep waking in the early morning in genuine hunger. He still has a dream feed of formula at 10.30pm.

I know fatigue is a factor in supply, but I don't think I will be any more tired returning to work (after running around after a toddler and baby all day, if anything returning to the office will be more restful!)

Would be great to hear from anyone who has been in this situation.

Thanks
 
the great thing about breastfeeding is that you should produce as much as you need. that is, if you only feed twice, you'll have enough milk to feed twice.

after the 6 month mark, the ONLY time i could breastfeed was at night (dreamfeed). i just didn't have time for any more. i still produced enough to be able to provide what i wanted/needed for my daughter.
 
I recently went back to work and have cut down breastfeeding my daughter to 2 feedings, once in the morning and once before bed. I too was worried about drying up, but so far its been okay. I know that I still have milk, since I can hear her gulping. I have been doing this for almost a month, she goes to bed around 7pm and occassionally wakes up around 5am for a feed, then dozes off... when she awakes at 7am, I normally feed her again before going off to work.

Like Cara mentioned, your body will know how much milk you need and adapt to it.

=)
 
Great question. I seem to be embarking on this breastfeeding route as well, and was wondering the same thing myself. It does make sense though, with the supply and demand of BM. Plus, do you think all those mommies still breastfeeding their 2 year olds are doing it 8 times a day? I`m sure they`ve got to be only doing it like once or twice a day.
 
Once you have your milk supply well established (usually around the six weeks mark) the way breastfeeding works is that you replace the milk taken out.

If you take eight feeds a day out you replace eight feeds a day.

If you take one feed a day out you replace one feed a day.

If you want to increase the amount of milk you make - take more out.

If you want to reduce the amount of milk you make - take less out.

As long as you baby wants to continue breastfeeding and will drink at the breast then you will continue to make milk.

The problems usually come not from lack of supply but from giving bottles. The baby gets use to the flow from the bottle and sometimes won't drink at the breast because the flow is slower and he has to work harder to get the milk. Often this problem can take a while to surface.

Best wishes,
SARAH
 
i find that video creepy... i could only wonder if the child was a boy would the gov't be going after her for child abuse? as far as i'm concerned almost 8 is WAYYYYYYYY too old. (but that's just me, i'm sure there are those out there that would disagree)
 
LeahH, I returned to work when mine was about 6.5 months, too. I was doing 3 BFs a day at that stage (morning, lunch, before bed) with 1-2 milk formula feeds. I pumped at work at lunchtime for a few weeks, but then it all got a bit much and I dropped to 2 BFs as you plan to do. I managed to do this for about another 2 months, then dropped to just 1 BF (in the morning) for another 2 months. Then was fully weaned just before 12 months, as I had a work trip coming up. It worked out well for us all. Good luck!
 
carang said:
i find that video creepy... i could only wonder if the child was a boy would the gov't be going after her for child abuse? as far as i'm concerned almost 8 is WAYYYYYYYY too old. (but that's just me, i'm sure there are those out there that would disagree)
Click to expand...

I do! :smile:

I thought it was lovely.

My son is just on 20mnths and I love it that he can now verbalise how much he enjoys BFing, he tells me it's yummy! I hope he BFs long enough to remember it when he's older, like the older daughter in the video does.

The whole video gave me the warm fuzzies. Thanks for posting, thanka2.
 
tstmum and Katelynbb - when you cut back on the number of breastfeeds during the work week what did you do on weekends, public holidays or other days off? Did you also BF only twice a day. I suppose if your breasts are only producing enough milk for two feeds a day Mondays to Fridays, then on weekends, they won't magically produce enough for five feeds.

tstmum - When you cut out the pumping at work, were you very uncomfortable in the beginning? Right now I work reduced hours (9-4) and pump twice at work. But because my work load is getting heavier, I am thinking about stopping my pumping at work and only feeding him directly when I am at home (which would be one feed in the morning before work, 1 in the late afternoon when I get home and 2 in the evening). But if I all of a sudden cut out the pumping at work, I'm afraid that I will feel very full and uncomfortable in the afternoon at work. How did you deal with that?

Thanks!!
 
FutureHKmom said:
tstmum and Katelynbb - when you cut back on the number of breastfeeds during the work week what did you do on weekends, public holidays or other days off? Did you also BF only twice a day. I suppose if your breasts are only producing enough milk for two feeds a day Mondays to Fridays, then on weekends, they won't magically produce enough for five feeds.
Click to expand...

I know lots of mothers who have returned to work and just feed in the morning and evening during the week and whenever the baby wants at the weekends.

Remember - your body replaces the milk taken out. So if you take more out at the weekends you replace more at the weekends.

Please don't worry about your milk supply - it will look after itself.

FutureHKmom said:
tstmum - When you cut out the pumping at work, were you very uncomfortable in the beginning? Right now I work reduced hours (9-4) and pump twice at work. But because my work load is getting heavier, I am thinking about stopping my pumping at work and only feeding him directly when I am at home (which would be one feed in the morning before work, 1 in the late afternoon when I get home and 2 in the evening). But if I all of a sudden cut out the pumping at work, I'm afraid that I will feel very full and uncomfortable in the afternoon at work. How did you deal with that?
Click to expand...

If you feel full and uncomfortable at work. Express a little, not a full feed, just enough to be comfortabl again. This will stop unpleasent things happening like plugged ducts and mastitis and will let your body slowly adjust to the fact you aren't expressing during the day.

Best wishes,
SARAH
 
FutureHKmom said:
tstmum and Katelynbb - when you cut back on the number of breastfeeds during the work week what did you do on weekends, public holidays or other days off? Did you also BF only twice a day. I suppose if your breasts are only producing enough milk for two feeds a day Mondays to Fridays, then on weekends, they won't magically produce enough for five feeds.
Click to expand...

FutureHKmom: I don't add feedings on the weekend, so she only gets the morning and night feedings on the breast and formula during the day. I probably don't have enough supply to feed her the entire day on Sat and Sun... plus weaning her off the daytime feedings was a bit hard on me and her (since I love breastfeeding her), I didn't want her confused. So I kept her routine the same throughout the entire week.

Not sure how long I will be doing this for, she's 13 months now and I think I'll let her decide when she wants to quit...or until I have very low supply.

HTH
 
FutureHKMom:
When I cut back on the midday feed during the week, I also cut this out at the weekend.
I was only pumping once at work, and over a few weeks noticed that the amount I was pumping slowly started to decrease. Once I cut this out I think I felt a bit full (it was a few years ago, so memory hazy!) for the first few days but never uncomfortable. If you're pumping twice at work, why don't you cut it to once for a week and see how you go, then cut it altogether if you need to. Wear breast pads if you are prone to leaking!
 
Shenzhennifer said:
But Koan, does your son like it better than mangos?:agree:
Click to expand...

:haha:

I'll ask!

Boob is his favourite thing in the world. It's so cute. :lovedface

BTW, I agree with TSTMum about pumping once a day for a week or so. If you do it slowly, and reduce the time pumping every day you should be OK and not get engorged.
 
Koan said:
I do! :smile:

I thought it was lovely.

My son is just on 20mnths and I love it that he can now verbalise how much he enjoys BFing, he tells me it's yummy! I hope he BFs long enough to remember it when he's older, like the older daughter in the video does.

The whole video gave me the warm fuzzies. Thanks for posting, thanka2.
Click to expand...

*chuckle**chuckle*
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top