How can you tell if your milk supply is low? For the past 3 nights Jack has been waking up. Two of those nights he has been inconsolable. I feed him and he is up again in two or less hours, hysterical. Only one night did he eat and go back to sleep until morning. I am not sure what is wrong exactly. Last night tylenol did not work for him. I did nurse him around 1am and he is still sleeping. That nursing session I actually felt a bit of let down. So I KNOW he got some milk, and since he is obviously still asleep, he was satisfied. But the other times? I am not so sure.I used to get that feeling of let down a lot in the beginning. Every time I nursed or leaked. But after a couple months of my body adjusting, that feeling and the leaking began to subside. We got into a groove I suppose. I never leak now and once in a while I get that let down tingle.
Is it a low milk supply? Is it his teeth? Did he have some gas, because he had some earlier in the day. I just wish I could tell what was wrong with him right away so I could fix it to my best ability. I tried fixing all three of those issues. I hate seeing him upset. It is not the lack of sleep I have been getting that makes me want to solve this, it is his little upset face. It breaks my heart.
I had wanted to go see the lactation consultant last Monday, but I was sick. This does not happen during the day. He is happy during the day after nursing. My plan is to go this Monday, in two days. Yesterday I went running for the first time in about a week. I believe it was also the first time I had worked out at all in a week. Then we walked to the park. After his nap after the park we went to Kohl’s and I wore him as usual. This brings me back to the low supply. Maybe all the physical activity reduced it? Am I just bananas here and reading into things more than I should?
Maybe it is just a phase? Separation anxiety? He hates being away from me most of the time. You know that song “There Ain’t No Sunshine”? It comes on my Pandora mix often and I always say this is how Jackson feels when I even go into the other room! He loves to be around me! I do relish in that, I am not going to lie. We are rarely apart. I stay home with him and pretty much bring him everywhere I go. So maybe that could be a part of it?
I just don’t know. But I want to fix it. Not because of my own needs but because I really don’t like seeing him so upset. He is my world and I like when my world is laughing hysterically, not crying hysterically! I am determined to nurse him until he is a year. I would like to go past a year if it is possible. So this is very important to me. I do not want to have to supplement. I just don’t! I set myself a goal to try it, then to get to 6 months, and now I want it to be past a year. Because of this goal, I wonder am I stressing over something that isn’t even wrong? Because I am so concerned with reaching my goal, am I just blinded by unnecessary worry?
I feel like I have a lot of questions without a lot of answers. I guess that is parenting though!
If you have any ideas what this could be, let me know. Or did you go through something like this with your little one? Like I said I don’t mind having to get up with him. I am not bothered by it, I just want to comfort him and fix it for him so that he gets the good rest his little precious body needs!
First of all, let me say you are doing a GREAT job! I felt like I was reading about myself when you talk about how your son isn’t happy unless he’s with you. I have the same “issue” with my son. I would call it a problem, except…it’s not a problem for me! My son is almost 11 months now and we have been successfully nursing since birth. I, too, no longer feel that “let down” except on rare occasions. My son also wakes during the night (at least once) to nurse. There was a time when he was inconsolable during the night and Mommy was getting NO SLEEP! I was trying to do everything to figure out the problem. I went out and got him a baltic amber necklace after 3 nights of this, and he slept through the night as usual the first night he wore it. I only take it off now for baths, pool and beach time.
Anyhow, thanks for stopping by Happy Baby Chronicles http://happybabychronicles.com and liking my post there…”The Dumbest Thing I Ever Heard…”
Thank you 🙂 I will have to look into that necklace. I agree that it is not a problem him being so attached to me. I actually got out of the house for a couple hours yesterday to go bridesmaid dress shopping. I am standing up in a wedding of a dear friend whom I have been friends with since I was about 14! It was bananas to get out of the house from about 1-4:30 without him! His face lit up as soon as he saw me. Reaching for me. Then hugging me and snuggling me. It felt so great! Thankfully he had a blast while I was gone with his Daddy, but still, it was nice to know he seriously missed me. He is still going strong this week with waking. Last night it was at about 12am. I nursed him and he went back to sleep. He is still asleep, so that is some improvement. At least nursing is helping at this point. That I can manage. It is when I have no idea what is wrong that is stressful for everyone.
Are you planning on going past 12 months with nursing?
I will keep checking out your blog! I enjoyed the read! Thank you for stopping by and commenting here!