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Are you worried you have a low milk supply?

It’s common to worry that your baby isn’t getting enough breast milk. This is especially true if you had set ideas of how long and often your baby would feed.

Your baby’s feeding pattern will be just as individual as their personality.

What’s normal for one baby is not for another.

Your milk supply is only considered to be low when you’re not producing enough breast milk to meet baby’s nutritional needs. There are general rules you should follow to ensure your baby feeding well. Use these to compare with your situation to judge whether you should seek advice about low milk supply.

If you find yourself with any concerns about the signs of low milk supply then please contact your health care provider or lactation advisor. They will be able to give you face to face assessment based on your individual situation.

Let’s discuss the 4 signs your need to watch for.

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Signs of a True Low Milk Supply | Read my guide to the signs your breast milk supply is low. It’s easy to improve your supply if you don't see any of these signs in your baby. Plus 8 common low milk supply myths for breastfeeding moms. Stork Mama

Do You Have a Low Milk Supply?

1. How often does baby feed?

Breast milk production relies on how often and how well your breasts are being emptied. Your body produces a ‘milk stimulating’ hormone known as prolactin. When your baby suckles and empties your breast frequently, the prolactin is stimulated and makes more milk.

You’ll notice that when baby needs more milk, such as during a growth spurt, they will feed more often. It’s a simple case of supply and demand, the more baby feeds the more milk you make.

  • It’s normal for a newborn to feed 8-12 times in 24 hours
  • This helps your body adjust and produce enough to meet baby’s needs
  • Frequent feeding in the early weeks vital to building a good milk supply

It is common for newborns to be sleepy and uninterested in feeding, particularly after a long, medicated birth. Be aware of signs of dehydration in a baby so you can alert a health care professional if you are concerned:

  • Listlessness
  • Lethargy
  • Skin losing its resiliency (when pinched, it stays pinched looking)
  • Dry mouth, dry eyes
  • Weak cry
  • Minimal urine output
  • Fever

2. How often is baby peeing?

One of the best ways for you to quash any concerns of a low milk supply is to monitor how often your baby diapers. Keeping a diary of how often you feed and how many wet or dirty diapers you change in 24 hrs gives a good impression of how much baby is taking in.

What to expect from Newborn baby wet diapers. Stork Mama

These are the volumes you should expect to see in a 24 hour period. If your  baby does more this is good as it’s a sign they are well hydrated. If your using cloth diapers you should look for 6-8 wet diapers by day 4.

The number may differ slightly if your milk takes longer to ‘come in’. As a rule of thumb if you’re still producing colostrum 1-2 wet nappies is ok. When your milk changes to mature milk you should see at least 5-6 wet diapers per day.

At any age any baby urine should be pale or colourless and mild smelling. Contact your health care provider if your baby’s pee is consistently dark or smells offensive.

It’s not unusual for baby girls to have a small amount of blood in their diaper after birth. This is simply a pseudo menstruation and caused by moms hormones in baby’s system.

You may also notice an orange discharge, particularity in boys’ diapers. These are known as urate crystals and should clear with increased feeds. If the urates persist it may be a sign baby is not receiving enough milk to flush them out.

If you’re unsure of how ‘wet’ a diaper should be, pour 2oz (30-60ml) in a dry diaper and feel how heavy and full it is.

At around 6 weeks old the number of wet diapers should decrease again to around 4-5 wet diapers per day (5-6 is using cloth diapers). However, the diapers will feel around 2-4 times heavier as urine output increases to 4oz or more (116ml +).

3. Is the poo changing?

Meconium is the name given to the first poo your baby will do. This one may be a shock to you as it’s sticky, black and tar like.

At around 3 days old your baby’s nappy will change from black to brown/green colour. Then around day 4-5 it will change to a yellow colour, loose and almost ‘seedy’ in consistency.

The change of stool color is normal and is a good sign baby is getting enough milk. As your breast milk is a natural laxative it will help to kick start baby’s digestive system.

What to expect in your newborn babys dirty diaper. Newborn poo color changes, texture and amount. Stork Mama

This diagram shows volumes you should see in a 24 hour period. All stools should be at least the size of a US Quarter (UK 10p) and should be mild smelling (not offensive).

The occasional green or tan coloured stool is normal and is mostly likely the result of your diet. This pattern will normally continue for as long as your baby is breastfeeding.

If your baby is under 6 weeks and is doing less than 3 stools per day it’s important to ensure they are still gaining weight. Reduced stools may be a sign your baby is not feeding for long enough to get the fat, calorie rich milk (hind milk).

Check with your paediatrician to ensure weight gain is within normal range for your baby.

Related: Best Lactation Tea to Supercharge Your Milk Supply

4. Is baby gaining weight?

It’s normal for all babies, whether breast or formula feed, to lose up to 10% of their birth weight within the first 5 days.

Although within the normal range it is best to monitor the milk intake breastfed baby who has lost more than 8% of their birth weight. Your baby should regain their birth weight by 10-14 days old. From this age your baby should begin to gain weight at around 5-6oz (140-170g) per week.

Check out our article for more information on weight gain for breastfed babies.

You should have regular appointments with your baby doctor to keep track of baby’s weight and ensure they are on the correct growth centile.

If you prefer to track baby’s weight at home, you can purchase some electronic baby scales. It’s recommended you use these minimally, preferably no more than fortnightly, to prevent unnecessary worry.

You can read my reviews of the best home baby scales here.

8 Common Concerns About Low Milk Supply

Low milk supply is one of the biggest misconceptions by new mothers. In fact it’s often cited as the reason mothers give up breastfeeding.

By familiarizing yourself with normal behaviour and patterns of your breastfed baby, you’ll reduce your worry.

If your baby is feeding regularly, draining the breast well, peeing, pooping and gaining weight then it is unlikely you have any issue with low milk supply.

Here are some situations you may be concerned about and why you don’t need to worry.

1. Your Baby feeds a lot

It’s normal for your breastfed baby to feed 2-3 hourly. Breast milk digests a lot quickly than formula so your baby needs to feed more often.

This is normal as it helps to maintain your milk supply, and doesn’t mean your baby is still hungry. If your baby is still unsettled between feeds or showing signs of dehydration contact a lactation advisor. They can watch you feed to ensure correct positioning and attachment.

2. Your Baby suddenly wants to feed ‘all the time’

It’s normal for your baby to have occasional growth spurts. These usually occur around 2 weeks and 6 weeks old.

During this time you will feel like you have spent your whole day with your baby attached to you. This is normal and ensures your breast increase your milk supply to met baby’s growing needs.

Growth spurt usually happen for around 3 days and then your baby will settle back into a normal routine.

3. Your Baby doesn’t feed for long

Breastfeeding is a learning curve for you and your baby.

A feed can last from 5-40 minutes. Think of it like your own eating habits. You don’t always eat a full meal whn your hungry. Or sometimes you may be thirsty.

A short feed is like a snack or qunchincing your babys thirst. A longer feed get them the calorie rich fatty milk thats mroe like a full meal. YOur baby should feed for a variety of lengths through the day.

As they get older they simply get more efficient at feeding. A decrease in feeding length is usually a sign baby is getting better at extracting the breast milk.

4. Your Baby is fussy at the breast

Up until the age of 12 weeks your breastfed baby will have at least one fussy period during the day. This is often the same time each day and quite common in the evenings.

No one really knows what causes this but it is thought to be an evolutionary trait to ensure mom tends to baby.

It’s common to be concerned that this fussiness is due to lack of milk. However placid babies are much more likely to take in less milk and lose weight.

5. Your breasts leak little (or not at all)

The amount your breasts leak is not related to how much milk you produce. Leaking is much more common in the first few weeks as your milk is over-abundant and not yet regulated to your babies needs.

Once your breast milk supply is established and regulated to your babies needs, it’s normal for leaking to slow down or cease.

6. Your breasts are always soft

The feeling of heaviness and fullness you experience in the first few weeks will go away once your milk supply establishes.

Your breast will produce just enough for baby are normally remain soft between feeds unless there has been a long period.

In fact at this stage if your breasts become full or hard it’s a sign you need to feed baby or express your milk.

7. You don’t feel a ‘let down’

It’s normal for some moms to never experience a ‘let down’. This is the tingling sensation of your milk being released from your breast tissue.

It’s also normal for the sensation to decrease over time if you have previously experienced it. A way for you to recognise when it happens is to watch your baby feed.

You will first notice they start with short fast sucks and then change to long slow sucks. The point at which they change the pattern is when your ‘let down’ occurs.

Check out my 7 tips for helping your let down reflex.

8. You don’t get much when you pump

The amount of milk you express is not a reflection of how good your supply is.

Expressing milk is a skill which improves with practice. It’s common to express very little or no milk the first few times you try.

Although modern pumps are getting more advanced as extracting breast milk, a baby will always be much more efficient.

Some moms produce very little purely on the fact they are not comfortable with a machine at their breast. Expressed volumes may also depend on the type of expression used or how effective the pump is.