What happens to your milk when bubs sleeps thru the night?

[Sammilee]

A question for those mums that are BF/ EBM feeding. What happens to your milk when bubs starts to sleep thru the night?

My DS is 3 months and is now sleeping thru the night (yay!!! :yelclap: ) so I have about a 12 hour gap between his last feed at 7:30pm'ish and his first morning feed around 7:30-8:00am'ish. I usually express around midnight 'coz I'm feeling 'full' (not huge but full enough to feel a little uncomfortable) and then I go to bed. By the time I wake up around 7:00am the next morning I'm bulging so I have to express straight away. Will this eventually settle down? Also there are some nights where I would just love to crawl into bed by 10pm, but I'm too scared to 'coz I think if I go the 12 hours between feeds without expressing then my BBs will explode :D or eventually my milk supply might be compromised.

Any thoughts? TIA!!! :flowerz:

[JnA]

the more you express the more you will make. It's a supply and demand thing.

COngrats on baby sleeping through! :yelclap:

[justmum]

If you express at those times, your body may not naturally adjust to the change in demand.

I think the way to deal with it is to have a warm shower before bed and just hand press some off in the shower. :D

Your supply won't be compromised but it will settle down. And that is great - it's your body doing as it is made to :smiliedance:

[Sanzinoz]

Dont worry it will settle down and your boobs will get used to producing the exact amount you need. If you keep expressing I would guess they will keep producing the same amount, so I would stop expressing. Your milk wont dry up, bubs will have plenty, and eventually your boobs will get used to the 12 hr gap. In the meantime however, you will feel like you are going to explode, and be prepared to wake up in a puddle!

[JnA]

and be prepared to wake up in a puddle!

oh yeah.. LOL I'd forgotten...

[Sammilee]

Thanks guys for your replies. I suppose I'm just a bit paranoid that if I go 12 hours then I might muck up my supply, and I don't want to do that. And yeah, waking up in a puddle already happens here... LOL :D. That's another thing, when will the leaking stop? I just have to think about bre@st milk and feeding and I let-down :o so a bra and bre@st pads are a definite 24/7 ATM... so tired of that!

[justmum]

Lucky duck having lots of good milk for your baby. Once your supply settles, the leaking should ease off but it doesn't always stop.

[Tam-I-Am]

By 3 months, your supply should be established enough not to need to express at times when your bub isn't feeding, and breasts are designed to go overnight without a feed at some point :)

JnA is right- the more you express, the more milk you'll make, so if you want to stop waking up feeling really bursting full, stop expression SO much at those times - just let off a little, to ease the pressure, as little as you can, and then wait for your bub's next feed. Soon your supply will settle down.

As for the leaking, its different for every woman. For me, I didn't stop until my DD was about 10 months old, some NEVER leak though.

HTH :)