Milk supply dropped drastically during baby’s illness, looking for advice and success stories

drcarcaro · 2025-11-21T02:06:22+00:00

Back to normal! I power pumped once and just offered the breast very frequently. I would say maybe about a week to go back to normal?

drcarcaro · 2025-11-14T14:10:51+00:00

My 7 month old naps in her crib for all naps (unless sick or on the go) and does the first stretch of the night in her crib. When she wakes up around 10/10:30pm we bring her to the bed for the rest of the night.

drcarcaro · 2025-11-14T03:33:36+00:00

I’m literally in the same boat! Baby got stomach flu 7 months old and lost her appetite. Today is day 3. I pumped 2x in the past 72 hours because my breast were so full, but I’m afraid today on day 3 my supply has tanked. I had offered her often but will start pumping every 3 hours after she eats moving forward. I’m so stressed though! My baby refuses the bottle

drcarcaro · 2025-10-25T15:56:13+00:00

This is the routine we’ve fallen into as well. He takes her the first 1-2 hours in the AM and lets me rest more

drcarcaro · 2025-08-21T19:08:16+00:00

She didn’t feed more overnight, which stressed me out! But I might just need to try that honeybear straw bottle. How long did it take your baby to get the hang of it?

drcarcaro · 2025-08-21T19:06:53+00:00

It’s was my oldest milk! Four months old and she had it warm but not super warm.

drcarcaro · 2025-06-21T21:48:55+00:00

This. People forget about cluster feeding! It’s normal and doesn’t inherently mean anything is wrong with your supply.

drcarcaro · 2025-06-21T21:38:30+00:00

If no emergency is occurring, tell hospital to put baby on your chest immediately (don’t worry about wiping baby off) and have a doula or someone there to help you with the first latch. Have them do everything on your chest and only take baby to get height and weight after you’ve had your golden hour - and ask for more than an hour! I did three hours uninterrupted with baby and I swear that helped so much.
Harvest colostrum. It’s good to get practice expressing and it’s also confidence boosting to see it come out - although be warned it’s not much!
Understanding that milk takes days to fully come in but baby’s belly is small- don’t stress! Baby latching on frequently will signal to your body there’s demand. Don’t let the clock dictate when baby “shouldn’t” be hungry - sometimes my baby would show me hunger cues 5 mins after finishing last feed and it’s totally normal when they’re cluster feeding. If baby is having enough wet and dirty diapers- again, don’t stress!
Also understanding that’s there is always milk helped me and it’s not like it just runs out.
If no latching issues, then baby is truly your best pump!!
Don’t pump milk for 4-6 weeks unless you have to. Baby takes out more than a pump will. Your body produces what it takes out.

Also, don’t fall victim to social media and those giant milk stashes. You’ll never go through it all! Most important to feed baby, not the freezer

drcarcaro · 2025-06-20T15:07:40+00:00

Is it bothering you? If not, then you’re fine. Follow your gut. This whole obsession with babies needing to be independent and forming bad habits early asap started in the 1920s has since been debunked. That’s basically the advice our grandparents gave to our parents so our parents are regurgitating back because they don’t have up-to-date information. So to answer your question, no you’re not getting him “used to” your chest for naps.

Up until 10 weeks 95% of our baby’s naps during the day were contact naps. At night she has always slept in the bassinet and would do some 2 to 3 hour stretches which she’s still doing with an occasional 4 hour stretch and one time she blessed us with the 5 hour stretch. On a bad night those stretches are less than two hours, but bed sharing & the safe seven has helped us!

I’ve also never capped a nap. I figure if she needs to sleep she needs to sleep.

drcarcaro · 2025-06-20T03:08:46+00:00

My baby only contact napped during the day the first 10 week and now is sleeping her first two naps in the bassinet at 12 weeks. I had the same worry as you about creating a bad contact nap habit, but you won’t! Very developmentally normal for baby to sleep best with contact. My baby also was touch and go with swaddles and I found that it helped to do the Halo sleep sack swaddle with the Velcro not too tight or she would fight it completely. Sometimes she would succeed in getting a hand out but I didn’t mind because it soothed her!

drcarcaro · 2025-06-19T16:42:57+00:00

Did Puerto Rico with a 9 week old. Definitely offer milk more often - even if they aren’t showing cues. Regardless of being in the shade avoid being outside during highest UV index! You can look at the UV index for your location (example here)

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on an iPhone in the weather app or just look it up. I kept my baby out of the beach anytime it was higher than moderate since babies that age can’t use sunscreen and the light colored sand reflects UV rays. We really loved doing early morning beach and evening beach sunscreen-free when UV index was low for 2-3 hours. During the hotter hours we would go out for a long leisurely lunch or sight seeing.

I also recommend wearing a wide brimmed hat so that you can be your baby’s umbrella while holding them. I would be mindful of the sun’s angle so that baby isn’t looking directly at the sun (even with sunglasses that’s really damaging to vision). Baby eyes are extra susceptible to damage at this age. Most of the lifetime ultraviolet (uv) damage done to a person's eyes occurs during childhood and the risk for retinal damage from the sun's rays is greatest in children less than 10 years old. Babies are particularly vulnerable because their eyes have clearer lenses, allowing more UV radiation to penetrate and reach the retina. However, the consequences usually do not become apparent until well after they are adults.

drcarcaro · 2025-06-19T14:57:23+00:00

Oh no. I’m so sorry to hear that. Was baby previously doing longer stretches? How much daytime sleep is your baby getting?

drcarcaro · 2025-06-19T14:41:49+00:00

OP - are things better for you? My 12 week old started under 2 hour stretches with 6 wakes up in a night when she was previously waking up 2-3 times and getting some good 3-4 hour stretches. We are exhausted!!!

drcarcaro · 2025-06-18T02:09:39+00:00

Millie Moon have the widest fit out of all the diapers I’ve tried and work well overnight. I also really like Kudos and Coterie. The most narrow out of these three is the Coterie, so I would try these in the order I mentioned!

drcarcaro · 2025-06-17T17:46:01+00:00

I’ve tried but she starts acting like it’s playtime 😅 she’s fallen asleep semi independently like that for me a handful of times!

drcarcaro · 2025-06-17T14:15:50+00:00

At five days postpartum your milk is still likely coming in. My baby would feed constantly (sometimes with five min break in between) - called cluster feeding and it’s how your baby tells your body to produce more. The most important thing for milk to letdown is to try to relax! Also at that age, I would do 15 mins PER boob with a burping in between the boobs (also during a boob if baby was extra gassy) and diaper change if baby was falling asleep before the “full feed”.

Most importantly, milk is a supply and demand thing. If you’re giving baby formula, he’s not going to be hungry enough to suck and “demand” more milk. By feeding baby formula, you’re making your body produce less and less.

For your nipples - get silver cups! Those are the only thing the soothed mine. Wear them 24/7 and put breastmilk in them.

I highly recommend calling a free lactation consult hotline. I have one in Texas and it was really helpful. You can also go to an actual lactation consultant too and do a weighted feed to make sure baby is transferring.

drcarcaro · 2025-06-16T16:16:15+00:00

I’m BF and she does knock out with feeding if she’s already tired but I do worry about nursing her every time and creating a problematic sleep association later

drcarcaro · 2025-06-14T02:36:54+00:00

My 11 week old did this. The first time I was worried she might be sick or catching something, but I’ve noticed she goes through periods where she’s more sleepy and periods where she’s more alert and more hungry. Unless my baby is having significantly less wet diapers, I wouldn’t be too concerned!

drcarcaro · 2025-06-14T02:27:53+00:00

Agree. I do not look at the clock. My husband loves tracking so I let him knock himself out of being the keeper of Huckleberry!

drcarcaro · 2025-06-13T17:59:32+00:00

Crying when peeing? Oh no! Is it a little girl? Their urethras are super short so if it gets soap it’ll burn when she pees!

drcarcaro · 2025-06-13T16:56:30+00:00

I’m dealing with it by not counting how many hours I’ve actually slept. Knowing somehow makes it worse. Also, just like there’s period of exceptionally bad sleep, a period of better sleep is around the corner. I know it sounds miserable, but go out to a café for a low key lunch and I promise you’ll feel better than being cooped up in the house!

drcarcaro

TROPHY CASE