Is my milk supply not enough?

M

mavislohsp

Registered User
Hi,

I am solely breast-feeding my lil one, he is 5 months and 1 week old now. Lately he kept banging on my chest and bite my nipple towards the end of the feeding, when I say end of feeding, is because he will stop drinking after a few try. At first I was thinking he may be teething, but I don't feel anything hard or whitish at his gum.

However, what suddenly stuck me is that is my milk supply not enough for him. I tried suppressed my breast and there are still milk coming out, and I tried to let him latch again, and he bite me again. After that I tried to make 3 oz of formula for him, and he finished the bottle within minutes. Anyone have any advice for me? I am still very keen on breast-feeding my lil guy but I can't stand him biting me on every feed.

Besides, he has been waking up early nowadays. 1 week ago he still sleeping straight 10-12 hours from 7-7am, few nights ago he woke up at 3am and drink hungrily. another night he woke up at 1 am for milk. Yesterday night he woke up at 10.30 pm for a feed and woke up at around 5.50am this morning.

I breast-feed him around 6 times a day, not including the unexpected wake up at night.

What could be the reason for his lately night waking and biting? Appreciate your advice, thank you!!
 
first thing is to stop giving him formula. let him suck longer... the stimulation will take a few days but eventually, you will produce more milk.
 
If he bites, instead of instinctly push him away, pull him closer to your breast. Because of the stuffiness and slight lack of air, baby will open up the mouth and suck again. You then have to firmly tell your little one not to bite and that it hurts. Not even with a smile.
 
All good advice. He may just be experimenting with biting and there are a couple of ways of dealing with that, as bonita suggested or taking him off and putting him down with a firm no so he associates biting with being taken away from lovely mummy cuddles.

It could be a growth spurt in which case Carang is absolutely spot on, the only way your supply will increase to meet his need is if you allow him to suckle to increase the supply. Supplementing will reduce it.

Also their sleep pattern does change as they develop, good sleepers don't always stay good sleepers so if you're sure it's hunger then it probably is a growth spurt but it could be just a phase he's going through as well.
 
Sounds to me like he is experimenting with biting. A firm "NO!" and remove him from the breast. He'll learn soon enough not to bite. My LO did the same thing recently, but now has stopped after a few No's.

Nursing strikes are common around this age, he could be getting frustrated with waiting for your let down if he has gotten accustomed to the much quicker and easier bottle. Stop giving bottles all together and only let him nurse. He'll learn to be patient and that the breast is his only source of milk.

As for night feeds... Sounds like a growth spurt. Or that he's not sleeping as soundly, happens as they get older, and needs/ wants you to nurse him back to sleep.
 
Hi all,
Thanks! I shall try the method to stop him from biting me, it really hurt. One thing really weird is I couldn't pump my milk out nowadays, or I should say very minimum being pump out, about 1 -2 oz after 4 hours from the last feed. I thought my medela swing has spoiled so I bought a Avent hand pump, slightly better than Medela. However, when I used my hand to suppressed, the milk do flow out. I am puzzled. Did any of you have the same problem?
 
It's quite common for someone who produces plenty of milk while breastfeeding can't express much, it's about what your body is used to.
 
I never had any luck pumping with the Medela Swing, but have successfully nursed two babies so I wouldn't worry to much about it.
 
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