No Milk At Night

Hi,

I've been breastfeeding DS since he was born three months ago with no
problems, but over the past week when it comes to the bedtime feed
(around 9pm) it seems like I have no milk to give him in either breast.
He sucks a bit then gets frustrated and either pulls off or - more
often - keeps sucking while crying; he looks pretty angry and confused

What could be causing this and more importantly how can I prevent it?
Supply doesn't seem to be a problem at any other time during the day or
night.

...oo00OO Sad Loopy OO00oo..

"LoopyNZ" wrote in message
...
Hi,

I've been breastfeeding DS since he was born three months ago with no
problems, but over the past week when it comes to the bedtime feed (around
9pm) it seems like I have no milk to give him in either breast. He sucks a
bit then gets frustrated and either pulls off or - more often - keeps
sucking while crying; he looks pretty angry and confused

What could be causing this and more importantly how can I prevent it?
Supply doesn't seem to be a problem at any other time during the day or
night.

It's a typical time for a growth spurt! Just feed, feed, feed. This is
normal behaviour for the age and the time of day. Supply is most plentiful
in the morning, but has the highest fat content at night. In order to sleep
for longer and increase his calorie intake, he's going to want to stay on
there for longer in the evening.
Try cuddling him in bed in a distraction-free environment with plenty of
skin-to-skin contact. If nothing else is working, he may just be tired and
need some sort of rocking to get to sleep.
Whereabouts in NZ are you? La Leche League is really good over here.


--
Amy
Mum to Carlos born sleeping 20/11/02,
& Ana born screaming 30/06/04
http://www.freewebs.com/carlos2002/
http://www.babiesonline.com/babies/a/ana%5Fj%5F2004/
My blog: http://spaces.msn.com/members/querer-hijo-querer-hija/

Mum of Two wrote:
"LoopyNZ" wrote in message
...
Hi,

I've been breastfeeding DS since he was born three months ago with no
problems, but over the past week when it comes to the bedtime feed (around
9pm) it seems like I have no milk to give him in either breast. He sucks a
bit then gets frustrated and either pulls off or - more often - keeps
sucking while crying; he looks pretty angry and confused

What could be causing this and more importantly how can I prevent it?
Supply doesn't seem to be a problem at any other time during the day or
night.

It's a typical time for a growth spurt! Just feed, feed, feed. This is
normal behaviour for the age and the time of day. Supply is most plentiful
in the morning, but has the highest fat content at night. In order to sleep
for longer and increase his calorie intake, he's going to want to stay on
there for longer in the evening.
Try cuddling him in bed in a distraction-free environment with plenty of
skin-to-skin contact. If nothing else is working, he may just be tired and
need some sort of rocking to get to sleep.
Whereabouts in NZ are you? La Leche League is really good over here.

Thanks Amy I'm in Dunedin and I go to LLL fortnightly, and yep,
they're great!! I might email the leader tomorrow, but he's been crying
_tonight_ and I figured I'd get a quicker response on here. And boy was
I right!

He's actually tried again just now (after a half hour break) and seems
to be getting something (much to his, my, and DH's relief!).

...oo00OO Relieved Loopy OOoo00..

LoopyNZ writes:
: Hi,

: I've been breastfeeding DS since he was born three months ago with no
: problems, but over the past week when it comes to the bedtime feed
: (around 9pm) it seems like I have no milk to give him in either breast.
: He sucks a bit then gets frustrated and either pulls off or - more
: often - keeps sucking while crying; he looks pretty angry and confused

: What could be causing this and more importantly how can I prevent it?
: Supply doesn't seem to be a problem at any other time during the day or
: night.

: ..oo00OO Sad Loopy OO00oo..

If you want to jump start your supply a little, you might try fennel seed
tea, fenugreek capsules, or oatmeal for breakfast.

Larry

"LoopyNZ" wrote in message
...
Hi,

I've been breastfeeding DS since he was born three months ago with no
problems, but over the past week when it comes to the bedtime feed (around
9pm) it seems like I have no milk to give him in either breast. He sucks a
bit then gets frustrated and either pulls off or - more often - keeps
sucking while crying; he looks pretty angry and confused

What could be causing this and more importantly how can I prevent it?
Supply doesn't seem to be a problem at any other time during the day or
night.

..oo00OO Sad Loopy OO00oo..

be sure to eat and drink plenty yourself

Nina Pretty Ballerina wrote:
"LoopyNZ" wrote in message
...
Hi,

I've been breastfeeding DS since he was born three months ago with no
problems, but over the past week when it comes to the bedtime feed (around
9pm) it seems like I have no milk to give him in either breast. He sucks a
bit then gets frustrated and either pulls off or - more often - keeps
sucking while crying; he looks pretty angry and confused

What could be causing this and more importantly how can I prevent it?
Supply doesn't seem to be a problem at any other time during the day or
night.

..oo00OO Sad Loopy OO00oo..

be sure to eat and drink plenty yourself

I've sure been EATING enough...at least!

I've been trying to get plenty of water, but perhaps I'll try even
harder on this front. Thanks!

...oo00OO Loopy OO00oo..

"LoopyNZ" wrote in message
...
Nina Pretty Ballerina wrote:
"LoopyNZ" wrote in message
...
Hi,

I've been breastfeeding DS since he was born three months ago with no
problems, but over the past week when it comes to the bedtime feed
(around 9pm) it seems like I have no milk to give him in either breast.
He sucks a bit then gets frustrated and either pulls off or - more
often - keeps sucking while crying; he looks pretty angry and confused


What could be causing this and more importantly how can I prevent it?
Supply doesn't seem to be a problem at any other time during the day or
night.

..oo00OO Sad Loopy OO00oo..

be sure to eat and drink plenty yourself

I've sure been EATING enough...at least!

I've been trying to get plenty of water, but perhaps I'll try even harder
on this front. Thanks!


Considering how much a baby of that age drinks, 2.8L or so is a good amount
to aim for. I probably only have a couple of litres or so over winter, but
mine is 22 months old and eating a lot of other stuff now.
Oh, and go easy on the caffiene :-)

--
Amy
Mum to Carlos born sleeping 20/11/02,
& Ana born screaming 30/06/04
http://www.freewebs.com/carlos2002/
http://www.babiesonline.com/babies/a/ana%5Fj%5F2004/
My blog: http://spaces.msn.com/members/querer-hijo-querer-hija/

It's good to avoid saying or thinking exaggerated
things like "no milk at night": in fact, a breastfeeding
mother always has milk in her breasts, and each time the
baby suckles he is probably getting some milk every time,
even if it's less than he wants and even if you don't see any
evidence such as dripping milk.

I would also avoid jumping to the conclusion that
his frustration is necessarily related to the amount
of milk. Lots of babies tend to cry in the evening.
I don't think anyone really knows why. There may be
a combination of reasons. Maybe he's crying because
his tummy hurts, and he tries to nurse to make himself
feel better, but cries in frustration because it
doesn't make the pain go away. It seems possible to
me. And there may be other possibilities.

However, babies do tend to nurse more during the
day than at night, and often more during the late
afternoon and evening than eariler in the day,
so the amount of milk may be lower in the evening.
(although never "no milk": the breasts produce
milk at all times, especially during the time
baby is nuirsing).

Here are some suggestions for improving this situation if it's
due to amount of milk. These are just ideas; please
ignore any you don't want to use and just take
any that you think may be useful in your
particular situation.

You can spend more time nursing during the night, waking
baby to nurse if necessary. This will help increase
your milk supply and make the supply and demand more
constant over the 24 hours.

You can pump or manually express some milk in the
mornings or during the night, and either just store it,
or feed it to baby in the evenings. If you use a
cup, spoon, eyedropper or SNS to feed it to him it
won't tend to cause nipple confusion, which can happen
when babies learn to suckle from bottles.

You can spend more time nursing him at all times of day,
both in terms of how often you nurse, and for how long
each time.

When you're about to nurse in the late evening, you can
help the milk stored deep in the breasts to come out
by gently massaging the breasts before nursing, or
going through some of he motions of manual expression,
or putting hot or cold compresses on the breasts.
(Maybe hot, then cold? Or hot works for some people
and cold for others? Hot relaxes the breasts and
makes the fat of breastmilk more liquidy so it can
flow better; cold provides a stimulus which
signals the breast to release milk.

The supposed "growth spurts" may actually
be hormonal changes in the mother. Women who
are menstruating while breastfeeding sometimes find
they have a little less milk on the days they're
having their period. Women who are not menstruating
because they are breastfeeding also go through hormonal
changes: I think it's 6 weeks, 3 months and 6 months
after the baby is born, or something like that.
Women practicing NFP sometimes see evidence of
hormonal changes at those times.
At these times, for a few days the mother seems to
have less milk. It's fine -- you just nurse more often
which stimulates the breasts to produce more milk.
After a few days everything goes back to the way it was.

If you try to pump milk for any reason and don't
get much milk, or any milk, don't worry about it!
Baby is usually far
more efficient at getting milk out of the breast
than a breast pump is.

If you can get baby to nurse a lot at times of day
when there is less milk in the breasts, I think that
stimulates the breasts a lot to produce more milk,
because baby suckles harder.

You might be able to manage by nursing on only one
breast for a few hours in the evening and reserving
the other breast for that late feeding which is
usually a problem. The next evening you could
switch the roles of the two breasts. It's probably
best not to leave one breast too long without
nursing on it, but if baby nurses a few times an
hour apart you can choose to use the same breast
for more than one feeding. Leaving one breast
too long could lead to plugged ducts. Or, just nurse
on one breast only for the second-last feeding of the
evening. You can try to get baby to nurse for a good long
time: it will stimulate the breast to produce more
milk for the next evening.

If you rest a lot and have a nice afternoon nap
it may help you produce milk. (You probably
deserve it, anyway!)

Again, these are just suggestions. Ignore them
if they're not useful to you.

LoopyNZ ) writes:
Hi,

I've been breastfeeding DS since he was born three months ago with no
problems, but over the past week when it comes to the bedtime feed
(around 9pm) it seems like I have no milk to give him in either breast.
He sucks a bit then gets frustrated and either pulls off or - more
often - keeps sucking while crying; he looks pretty angry and confused

What could be causing this and more importantly how can I prevent it?
Supply doesn't seem to be a problem at any other time during the day or
night.

..oo00OO Sad Loopy OO00oo..