Help! Period Back 6 Wks Postpartum and Milk Supply Low.

The following article talks about breastfeeding and menstruation. It mentions that you can take a calcium and magnesium supplement to offset the milk reduction that often accompanies it.

http://www.breastfeed-essentials.com/menstruation.html

Keep nursing him on demand. Six weeks is a normal growth spurt, and he is probably hungry. I'd let him continue to nurse nurse nurse and not worry about pumping (unless you need a supply of frozen milk on hand) for a week or two until he gets past the growth spurt.

If you nurse on demand, your supply will meet his needs. Also, by nursing on demand at this point, you will help ensure that your milk supply stays abundant at 6 months as well. The early weeks of nursing are very important for establishing your long term supply.

Good luck and keep nursing!

Jessica

The mother-child relationship that develops during this time is important. You already know that since you have nursed your other children. I will give you a link to an article that I read in 1985 that changed my life. It’s written by a doctor, father of 11 for Mother Earth News. I am homeopathic and a mother of 12. I am a peer lactation consultant and I am happy to help you.

Fussy babies aren't necessarily hungry. Sometimes during a growth spurt...the baby is fussy a day or two before they need more milk, so you are forced to sit and nurse him. Not to 'feed him' but for him to suck and be comforted and for you to have more milk tomorrow. Instead, you are using the pump to empty your breasts. You may be giving him a pacifier to comfort him, which undermines the supply and demand of the breast and you will have less milk tomorrow. A nursing baby will always pull harder than a pump (I know, it doesn't seem like it) and they need the touch and you need the rest.

Your body is on a healing process just as he is on a growing process. Pacifiers and pumps and food sources often usurp the natural process of rest in mommy and growth in baby. The first bite of anything other than breast milk is the beginning of weaning. That’s a scientific fact. Sadly, most hospital delivered babies are given sugar water before colostrum and the usurping of the liver flush and the need for a bilirubin lamp to help the yellow baby before you take him home is in order. Throw in the sugar pulsing through his system and I’m surprised anyone can nurse successfully.

American women do too much after they have a baby and the medical system has adopted the false notion that women have post partum bleeding for five to six weeks as the norm. Anything after a week to ten days is not normal slothing of the uterine lining. Where the baby adhered to the wall of the womb, and the placental slothed off after birth (hopefully, naturally rather the scraping and pulling of a professional who is in a hurry), leaves a good size 'wound' that oozes and bleeds. Just like any wound, say on your leg.....if you over exercised and did too much...the wound would bleed and you would know that you did too much and get off of it. Right? Any vaginal bleeding after ten days is not ‘normal’ so to speak. It’s that wound bleeding and mommy needs to take it easy.

What’s exciting to me, as a rabbit trail here, is that an autopsy can research the uterus and know if the woman has had an IUD or a DNC or abortion or a C-section. Scarring of the uterus from outside sources are scars forever and any subsequent pregnancies can be at risk if the new life adheres to a scar! But, an autopsy can’t tell how many babies a woman had! The wound mentioned above from the placenta? No scar! The natural process of conception and birth is supposed to leave our bodies well so we can have more children! I have to believe in intelligent design! We are fearfully and wonderfully made.

La Leche League recommends introducing solids at six months and too many people believe that. The first bite of solid food (or juice or anything other than breast milk) is the beginning of weaning. I believed that too and was pregnant again when my baby was 7 ½ months old. My first four children were 17 months apart. That is no picnic! Then I read the article mentioned above and decided to nurse, nurse, nurse and nurse some more!
If the human body does not need anything but mothers milk for 18 months (when the first flat tooth arrives…..ironically the old timers called that tooth the ‘stomach tooth) then my babies weren’t going to get food until that tooth arrived. I decided to trust the science of our bodies and ignore the culture and the medical system that too often profits from what they endorse. I have found child-led weaning to work! My next eight children came four years a part. MUCH BETTER! Nothing like getting my brains back between children!

That seems extreme, I know, but I promise that some time between being able to open the refrigerator to pour him self a drink and Junior High School…your child will wean himself!

Here is a tea recipe that works: caraway, fennel and anise…sip hot and rest!

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Natural-Health/1985-01-01/...

Don’t hesitate to contact me if I can help.

D.

Breast feeding works on supply and demand. The more demand for the milk the more supply will be produced. Are you drinking enough fluids like water, juice or milk. If you are drinking a lot of coffee, tea or soda that can dehydrate you along with the breastfeeding. When I had my 3rd child it seemed that I was so busy that I forgot to drink healthy fluids like I should. At the hospital they gave everyone a large cup with the ounces marked on it. I would fill it in the morning with ice and water, that way I could see how much was left in it and know whether I needed to drink more. The other thing I did was drink water or juice everytime I nursed the baby. Have you ever heard of La Leche League? It is a breastfeeding support group. If you type it into your search bar you should be able to locate a local group in your area along with a leader that you can call to help you.

You should try Fenugreek. My lacation consultant recommended and it seems to work. You can get it at gnc or any health store. There is a side effect of your sweat and urine smelling like maple syrup because i guess it the same thing they put in maple syrup. I use it and it has increased my milk.

I agree with Jessica. Most likely like she said it's his growth spurt and he was telling you "I want you to make more mom so put me to breast I'll get your body working on it!"

You can't tell your supply based on what you pump. Baby is far more efficient than the pump will ever be.

you will never ever be able to pump what your baby can nurse out. I was never able to pump more than 2oz at a time, and I nursed my boys well into their second year of life and obviously they nursed more than 2oz. Even a hospital grade pump will not be as efficient as your baby. He can nurse 2+oz more out of you than any pump. And you will respond to the pump different with each baby, so even if you got a good response with your last baby, you might not this time.

6weeks is growth spurt time. Nurse him on demand, forget about bottle feeding. Its not about ounces, its about feeding your baby when he needs it.

Also check your letdown, if its forceful, he will be getting more foremilk which will make him fussy, gassy, and can present like colic or reflux. With each child your supply will increase, and htis will come down to your letdown at first. If its forceful, you may have to suppress it. Let him nurse until you letdown, then unlatch him and let the milk spray into a cup or towel until it slows, then let him relatch. only nurse him from one side so he gets the foremilk and the hindmilk.

But remember this is a growth spurt, so nurse him when he wants for as long as he wants. Don't compare what you pump to what he is really eating. Babies eat way more from a bottle anyway, because they don't have to work at it, it just falls into their mouths. Couple that with not being able to pump as much as your baby can nurse.

Stress is usually the #1 factor in low milk production. If you like Miso soup, drink/eat it at least 3 to 4 times a day. Also, molther's milk tea helps. Try to drink at least 8 cups of water a day if not more (I drank at least 1 gallon a day while breast feeding). Also, call the lactation specialist at the hospital where your son was delivered or call the laleche league. They are very helpful and supportive. Every pregnancy & child is different. Try not to worry and reach out for help!! Sending you happy thoughts!

;

Six weeks was also a growth spurt for mine, so I agree with the poster below about that. I also got my period back at 6 weeks. Lucky us, huh? I went to my 6 week checkup and they were surprised I was still bleeding, and didn't really believe me when I told them no, I was pretty sure it was my period. Being on your period will cause a temporary reduction in your milk supply from the hormones, according to my lactation consultant. So that is totally normal. Mine always came back up afterwards, but it does stink when it coincides with a growth spurt. Just keep offering the breast, drink extra water, don't stress about it. And I don't agree that in every case offering a bottle early will reduce your milk supply. I started pumping at one week because I was pretty much a milk cow, I had so much milk. So at about a month we offered bottles, only occasionally so that I could get some rest and so we could leave him with my mom for a couple hours sometimes. I saw no ill effects from that. I also gave a pacifier. And I had more milk than I knew what to do with. And I am still breastfeeding at 2+ years. If mine was still hungry, I would also give a bottle, I can't not feed a hungry baby.

I did have a pretty drastic reduction in milk supply when my son was nine months due to stress from my husband being laid off. I used More Milk Plus capsules that had fenugreek and blessed thistle and they helped (I got them at Whole Foods). But I was told the effects wear off, so they are more of a temporary fix, you still have to work to get your supply back up. The thing that helped me the most was putting him to nurse on one side, let him drain it, then do the other side,then go back to the first side, then the second side again. The LC told me you have multiple let-downs and my son was able to get extra milk from both breasts by doing this. It also increases the production. Then if he was still hungry I would offer a bottle, but only afterwards. Good luck, and call a lactation consultant if nothing improves in a couple days. My hospital gave me numbers for a couple and the phone call was free, and I got lots of help. Hope that helps!

Drink lots of water. Dehydration can lower your milk supply. With my first son, I had a period at 6 weeks and did not have another one until after I stopped nursing, almost a year later. I went to the doctor and she told me, it happens sometimes.

Hi L.,

Congratulations on the birth of your son! I don't have anything new to add because you've received great information from the moms that have responded. I agree with it all.

Nurse on demand.
Take Fenugreek
Drink Mother's Milk Tea
Eat Oatmeal
Stay hydrated
Limit stress
Limit bottles of EBM to times you're away from your son.
Limit seperation so that you can nurse on demand.
Find local support through La Leche League, a lactation consultant or other breastfeeding moms.
And most importantly, rest when you can.

J.

.

Nurse more often. Supply and demand. It shouldn't take to long for your body to learn to make more milk. I was nursing almost every hour to two hours during the day (and pumping) for the first 2-3 months which established an incredible supply.