# When did your milk dry up during pregnancy?



## squeakermansmom (Sep 17, 2002)

When did your milk dry up during pregnancy? I'm 15 weeks and I'm wondering if my supply has dropped some. My ds is only 15months but still nurses a lot. I'm just not sure how much he's getting - he seems to switch side really frequently. I'm really worried about it - I really don't him to wean this early.


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## RachelGS (Sep 29, 2002)

Mine was gone completely at 12 weeks. I think this is a YMMV situation.


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## squeakermansmom (Sep 17, 2002)

What is YMMV?


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## squeakermansmom (Sep 17, 2002)

And how does one tell that they're supply has dropped or that there milk supply is gone altogether. Other than the obvious.....a child who self weans.


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## Free Thinker (Jan 1, 2003)

MIne dried up in the first weeks of hte second trimester. I think by the time I was 16-17 weeks there was literally nothing at all there. DD "dry nursed" some but it was frustrating for her so she weaned at 16 months (or me being 4 months PG). This time my DD weaned the month before I got PG.


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## Ruthe (May 31, 2005)

One pregnancy, I had a good supply until 7 months; this pregnancy, I had a major supply drop around 16 weeks. You can try to eat more, drink more, and sleep more and things might improve slightly.
My supply stayed pretty low, but my daughter is still willing to nurse a few times a day (I'm 6 months pregnant now) and I don't think she'll wean completely before the baby comes.


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## zjande (Nov 4, 2002)

YMMV = "your mileage may vary"

I will be 16 weeks tomorrow & I think my milk has dried up or nearly so in the last 2 weeks. I can tell because my son isn't gulping & swallowing anymore







 , he asks me for water to drink a LOT more, even in the middle of the night, and my boobs are not full feeling or looking, they're just kind of floppy. He's still nursing as much, & I do hope he sticks it out.


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## SuperMoM2GTO (Dec 13, 2006)

Im 22 weeks now and my milk is just about completely gone







DS (21 mos) went from nursing 8-10+ times a day (before pregnancy) to about once a day now (right before bed) any even then its just for a few minutes. Im pretty sure he is going to self wean before this baby comes in the fall


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## Juvysen (Apr 25, 2007)

I'm not sure my milk did completely dry up. The supply went waaaaaay down, but I think it had more to do w/nursing dd so much less (b/c it's soooo uncomfortable). Even last week I expressed to see if it was colostrum or milk and some white stuff came out w/the colostrum. This week it seems to be just colostrum, though, but it'd better be switching over... I'm 39 weeks tomorrow!


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## ellymay (Aug 4, 2005)

Well I am 10 wks and I can still hand express a good 4-5 good streams so I know I still have a bit but I don't "feel heavy" like I did if that makes sense.


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## LittleLlama (Feb 27, 2006)

I'm 19 weeks and I think it dried up today







: I've wanted to wean but hadn't really done anything and today DS jsut didn't want to nurse. I'm so glad it was mostly his idea though!


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## tamagotchi (Oct 16, 2005)

Mine dried up around 18-19 weeks I think. DS still nurses to sleep, but he isn't getting milk any more. I can tell because
- he isn't swallowing
- I can't express milk
- he is much much hungrier and thirstier than he was when I had milk!!


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## cheeseRjedi (Jun 5, 2005)

Mine was gone by 14 weeks. Colostrum came in at 21 weeks.


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## IfMamaAintHappy (Apr 15, 2002)

my milk began decreasing at 16 weeks all 3 times, and was gone by 20 weeks. My oldest weaned when I was about 6 months pregnant, and my second oldest weaned when I was 32 weeks pregnant. My 20 month old has not yet weaned and I am 27 weeks today.


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## pamama (May 22, 2005)

Mine dried up really early both times. I'm pretty sure it had at least decreased dramatically by 8-10 weeks when I was pg with my dd. My ds was 2 and still getting 99% of his food from breastmilk. I could just sort of tell by the way he acted and suddenly he wanted food and drink. He had refused most of it before then. He was completely nonverbal till he was 4 so it was hard to ask him. He didn't wean while I was pg, though. I tandem nursed for 18 months. With this pg I'm pretty sure my milk dried up at around the same time. My dd is 3 and I'm 16 weeks tomorrow. She told me that the nursies were empty pretty early on, but said "that's okay mama I still like nursies." LOL! She nursed about 5 times a day still (and ate tons of food!) before I got pg. She doesn't seem to have any intentoins of weaning during this pg, so I'm preparing myself to tandem nurse again. She told me the other day that it will be fun when the baby brings more milk because then they can share!


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## springmama (Aug 30, 2006)

15 weeks.


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## Metiswoman (Jul 4, 2007)

Around 8 to 10 weeks. We were working on weaning anyway, this just put it in the fast lane.


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## Tattiana (Feb 17, 2006)

My supply took a huge hit right away. I can't say for sure when it completely dried up because I had to night wean (at about 9-10 weeks) so I could get enough sleep so that probably added to the drying up. She continued to nurse to sleep for awhile, but I don't think she was getting anything.


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## dinah (Aug 12, 2004)

Mine dried up somewhere between 10-20 weeks. I'm not really sure. No colostrum yet and I'm 28 weeks now. However, my DS is still going strong with nursing. The only nursing he dropped were the night time ones - and I'm VERY happy about that.


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## hubris (Mar 8, 2003)

When pg with DS2: DS1 weaned when I was about 13 or 14 weeks pg. A week later I was unable to express anything.

This time (baby #3): DS2 only occasionally nurses, it's been a few days. I'm 20 weeks pg and haven't been able to express anything for a while, but when DS2 nurses, I can see milk in his mouth and on my nipple when he's done. So it's there, but probably not copious.


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## AccidentaLactivist (Sep 12, 2004)

29 weeks and no sign of drying up yet. My DS is almost 3.5 and nurses 2-3 times a day (wakeup, bedtime, sometimes one overnight); he's had no complaints.

Marie


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## jandj+1 (Sep 14, 2004)

My milk dried up around 13-14 weeks. My daughter dry nursed until the colostrum came in about 26 weeks. However, she did cut back on nursing quite a bit, going from about 8 times a day to about 3. She even night-weaned, thank the gods.


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## ~PurityLake~ (Jul 31, 2005)

I was 3 months pregnant and didn't realize my milk supply was dwindling. Abigail kep screaming while nursing, like she was mad, and I thought it was due to her teething (she was cutting her first two teeth at 8 months). A week of this and the WIC lactation consultant suggested my milk supply could be dwindling due to my pregnancy. Sadly, it was true. I had a lot of frozen breast milk, but eventually I ran out and had to put Abigail on formula.







After Sophia was born (Abigail was 15 months) I hoped Abigail would breastfeed again. She wasn't interested. But when she was almost 2 yrs, she becamse interested and is now nursing along with her sister.


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## stlmomof2 (Mar 30, 2006)

I'd say I was totally dry by 17 weeks and was seriously dwindling in the couple weeks before that time, but I was trying to wean her so that may have contributed. I let her "nurse" today and she lost interest after about a minute.


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## spruce (Dec 11, 2004)

Just keep at it, it may come back, especially if he's an enthusiastic nurser.

My kids weaned when I was around 26 weeks...but they were older. You have the advantage of a younger babe who may be pretty dedicated to making it work.







Keep up the hydration and don't stress!

love, penelope


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## GooeyRN (Apr 24, 2006)

I was an EPer pumping around 9 times a day with a FABULOUS supply. I was bone dry by 7 weeks. I couldn't even squeeze out a drop past 7 weeks.







Its how I knew I was pregnant. I went from having so much milk, to not enough, and then none.


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## Jennah_Gole (Dec 12, 2001)

I am 13 weeks and the past two weeks my poor ds (14 months) has been screaming at the breast, switching from side to side desperately, and even reaching out and hitting my breast like as to say where is the milk!!! I feel so terribly bad but I want him to keep breastfeeding so he can nurse with his sibling.

I feel its so terribly early for me to lose my milk but I guess there is nothing i can do...

I just hope he hangs on until the baby is born but that is soooo far away


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## spu (Dec 6, 2002)

after your supply dried up or decreased, what did you feed you babe? cow's milk? soy milk? water? did they want to nurse even though there was no milk?

susan


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## ~PurityLake~ (Jul 31, 2005)

After my milk dried up, I fed Abigail formula for four months(until she was a year old) then switched to cow's milk. But she wouldn't drink cow's milk. She didn't have any milk in any form from the age of one year to the age of 14 months. Then she started drinking cow's milk. Sophia was born when Abiigail was 15 months old, but I couldn't interest Abigail in nursing. She only began nursing again at 23 months old (when Sophia was 8 months old).
When I had no more milk, Abigail would try to nurse, and I'd let her try, but she wasn't getting much and would just get frustrated and I'd give her the formula. She actually lost 2 pounds in one week from my low milk supply, but easily regained the weight.


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## HennaLady (Aug 28, 2006)

My supply dropped off at around 13 weeks and I had a 5 month old who began rapidly losing weight. It was incredibly traumatizing and scary for us both. Fortunately, though, since I did NOT want to wean her that early, she took donated breastmilk and then some formula and continued to comfort nurse. After my birth she returned to full-time nursing and I've been tandem nursing ever since and lovin' it (2+ years now). So there is definitely hope that your little one won't wean completely or may only temporarily. I would say encourage them to continue comfort nursing, which is easier at night with an active toddler. That will keep them "in practice" at the breast.

I'm now 6w3d pregnant with our 3rd (and maybe 4th) child(ren) and have already begun to notice some extra-hungry kids nursing a lot more often. If they wean in this pregnancy that would be okay, especially if I have a new set of tandem nursers at the end of it! Although, I do think it would be hilarious to be triple or quadruple nursing!

Best to you, I know it's heart-wrenching to lose your supply and not be able to do anything about it. The most comforting thing is to know that your child is a LOT more flexible and adjusting than you are about it. My first and I do have some issues around her loss of milk, but our case was pretty extreme due to how unusually young she was. And we're getting through it with a lot of love.

-Keleigh


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## forestrymom (Jul 13, 2006)

My supply dwindled between 20 and 22 weeks. My left breast dried up completely around the 10th week, but it was always a pretty low producer due to a severe case of mastitis early on. I have been able to express milk drops from the right breast throughout, and I can still hear dd swallowing occasionally, but I certainly wouldn't say she is getting very much. Yesterday, I tried the left and viola! a droplet of milk from there too. I am 29 weeks. Dd has continued to comfort nurse.


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## Storm Bride (Mar 2, 2005)

DD quit nursing when I was about 4-5 months pregnant with ds2. I don't know if my milk actually dried up, though - I think she just didn't like the taste, anymore.

I'm now about 6 months along with baby-under-construction and ds2 is still happily nursing for about an hour every morning, plus an occasional mid-day or nighttime snack.


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## Belle (Feb 6, 2005)

I think that I started drying up around 13 weeks or so. I'm 24 weeks now and my dd is completely weaned.


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## hellen (Sep 24, 2004)

I guess I'm in the minority. Mine didn't dry up at all. I'm 37 weeks now so I think I'll make it to the end. I may have had a supply drop in the 2nd trimester but there is no way I can know for sure. I did decrease nursing sessions just because I'm kind of done breastfeeding a 2.5 year old and sometimes it hurt. He's still nursing though.


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## Dov'sMom (Jan 24, 2007)

My supply dropped a lot at 6-7 weeks, but now at 11 it has remained steady. DS will NOT take a bottle (we got soy formula for him), nor will he drink formula or water out of a cup. So I think he must be getting more milk than I think he is. Basically, we've been offering much more solid food, and he drinks a little water out of my straw. We try as much as possible to give him wet foods -- fruits, veggies, applesauce, cereal (so that he gets the formula), etc.

He'll be 14 months when the baby's born, so I really hope I don't lose my milk all the way any time soon.


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