Does your period affect Milk Supply?

[@llli*newmommabear]

My LO is now 13 weeks old and throughout BF (pumping and bottle feeding), I've had an over abundance of milk... up until about 1 month ago. During that time, I was producing 7-8 oz each session. I felt like it started to dwindle after I took some Advil for a migraine. From that day on, I've been struggling to produce 2-3 oz!

The one thing I did change, was to stop pumping at night (so I pump before going to bed and once I wake up). This was to train for when I go back to work and can get some sleep! I still pump every 3-4 hours for 15 mins each during the day, but it's very disheartening to see 2 oz from these sessions!

My diet hasn't changed and I continue to drink tons of water... what's going on?!? My period has also come back which is a real bummer. It also started last month and came twice . Sadly, Aunt Flow is here AGAIN as of yesterday.

I would like to know if this has happened to anyone when your started menstruating and what can I do to up my milk supply again? Will my milk production go back up once my body figures out what it wants to do?

THANK YOU in advance!

[@llli*auderey]

hi mama! yes, your period can lower your supply, but i think the MAIN thing that you're seeing right now is the normal supply adjustment that happens right around this age of your baby. almost everyone starts with some oversupply (to make sure the newborn gets fed) and then sometime around 3 months things regulate so your body doesn't have to keep overproducing. 2-3 oz per session is a much more normal amount to pump than 7-8.

you are exclusively pumping, right? i think that if you want to increase your supply again you're going to have to pump more. every 3-4 hours is just not enough. you'll want to aim for 8-10 pump sessions per 24 hours, and yes, the night pumping is important. you might be able to get away without it if you get in enough pumping during the day, but that will also be tough.

i'm sorry to bring bad news, mama!

ps - why are you exclusively pumping? do you want to work on getting baby back to the breast, which is generally a much easier way of providing milk and keeping up supply? we're pretty good at helping with that too.

[@llli*mommal]

with Auderey. This definitely sounds like a normal adjustment- most moms start out overproducing and eventually get to the point where they make just what the baby or the pump takes. Add in more pump sessions, and you should see improved output.

[@llli*newmommabear]

Thank you so much for your replies! I'm happy to hear that the low supply is normal. I kept thinking it's something I did to make it happen!

Yes, I'm exclusively pumping... we had some issues when I tried to BF at the beginning and have been pumping ever since. Baby has a good latch and suck, but it was "too good" and my poor nipples wouldn't stop bleeding. I sucked it up until I saw streams of blood/milk coming from Baby's mouth that's when I stopped trying to BF. I pumped until they healed (about 1 week), and tried to BF again, but Baby didn't want it anymore. At first I was devastated Baby wouldn't take to the breast, but it was more important to me that she was at least getting enough to eat. Whew, that's the story. However, thank you for your offer to help with BF! I think I'm happy with just pumping right now. I'm back at work, so really don't have much choice.

I'm going to try to pump every 2-3 hours to see if my supply will go back up.

THANK YOU!!!

[@llli*auderey]

awesome, good for you! sounds like you had some painful times early on.

you can also do "power Pumps" occasionally to keep up your supply, where you pump say every hour on the hour for 10 mins for a whole weekend. and adding back in that pump between 2-5 am really makes a difference for most people.

this is also a really helpful resource: http://kellymom.com/bf/pumpingmoms/p...ping_decrease/