milk supply question

[@llli*bapbrb]

My LO is almost 4 moths old, we are exclusively breastfeeding, seeing as I am a stay at home mom for the first time. I have noticed him in it a small growth spurt, nursing every couple hours again, and I am able to keep up with him, he is gaining weight like he should (currently 14lbs). What I want to know is, once we get through this spurt, and my supply is up to where to where it is meeting his demands, and he goes back to nursing every few hours, will the milk supply decrease again?

I have been pumping after he nurses to make sure both breasts are completely drained, and he is doing a pretty good job of it. I am getting very little when I pump. He nurses for about 5-10 min on each side. I will say one side produces double what the other side does, but he is very good at nursing, so I know he is mostly draining the breast at each feeding.

Thanks for the information!

[@llli*morgan11]

Yes, your supply will go up and down as baby dictates with his feedings. I remember when we first got my daughter sleeping through the night how full my breasts were in the morning. But it only took a couple of nights for them to figure it out and now I don't wake up with engorged breasts. It's amazing what they can do.

Sidenote: I don't think the pumping is necessary. As long as you aren't limiting his time at your breasts, he will get what he needs. Pumping could lead to an oversupply problem.

[@llli*mommal]

Whether or not your supply stays high depends on the baby's needs post-growth spurt. If he needs more milk, he will maintain a higher supply by either a) feeding more frequently or b) draining the breast more completely at each feeding. Honestly, it's more likely that if he needs more milk he'll feed more often, so if you got used to a certain feeding frequency now is probably the time to let go of the idea that your baby will eventually go back to it. He might, but he might not.

If you are staying home with your baby and feeding on demand, there's no need to be mucking around with the pump. You don't need to completely drain the breast at every feeding. You can just rely on your baby to drain the breast as thoroughly as he needs to, and to boost supply by increasing his nursing frequency if he needs more milk. If it were me, I'd put the pump on the shelf and stop stressing.

[@llli*bapbrb]

I noticed the same thing when he went from nursing every couple hours over night to just a couple times a night. Can't really tell you how often he nurses at night, since he sleeps with us. We have 3 school aged children as well, and this seems to work well for us, so I get some sleep too! My husband gets up super early and works lots of long hours so that I can stay home with the kids. So the baby nurses as long as he wants at night, and mostly the same during the day, unless I need to go get the kids at school. He nurses well, and doesn't take to terribly long to drain the breast, and like I said at 4 months old he weighs 14 pounds. He was almost 7lbs at birth, so he is for sure getting enough, to support his growth the way he should

I was just thinking about it the other day, and couldn't remember if it would go back down once he is through this spurt of his.

Oh! and I'm not stressed about it at all, I know there are times you produce more, and times you don't depending on the baby's needs. I was thinking about it today as well when I was pumping because he's teething and wasn't feeling well, and I didn't want to get to full. Thankfully tonight he is feeling much better and back to his normal nursing.

Thanks for the thoughts on this, our bodies are amazing things aren't they?