please help.

[workin'mumof2]

im not ready to give up yet. ruby is still suckling when ever she wants.

my body is failing me

im taking blessed thistle twice a day morning and night 2 tablets and so far no improvment.

i normally feel letdown. i am not feeling it. when i am sick i get low supply. but never as low as now.

ive stoped the nasle spray that was a decongestant.

im drinking water like its out of fashion. im so run down its not funny.

Having the FLU sucks!

please help me. what else can i take. what else can i buy. or do i just ride it out as long as ruby is suckling and not crying at my boob and asking for boob and being happy i should be ok untill im well.

im very very worried :(

[traseal]

have you tried the cookies? I have heard they work really well. Have you got a pump? Even if you get nothing out it might help stimulating them...better still when you do feed her try pumping at the same time.
Oh and try not to stress, it wont help...try relaxing, having a warm bath even....
Oh and for your cold i would go buy a lemon and boil it with hot water and drink a few cups...full of vit c and really helps get rid of a cold and blocked nose.
Hope your feeling better soon (let me know when you are and if you are up for coffee?)

[workin'mumof2]

no i havent tried the cookies but that would mean i have to go out. will write them down and get them this afternoon. but im a bad "fun" cook. (which means i suck at cakes,cookies anything fun)
im bad at expressing but i am doing that. getting less then 30mls a day :(

taking vit c tablets, drinking honey lemon. doing everything i can.

and yes i will try and stop stressing because im sure that isnt helping:no:

[LilMissnBoo]

After DD turned 9 months I couldn't feel a let down, my supply was fine and I fed her till she was 17.5 months.

You are probably really run down, exhausted from being sick so I would just let you DD keep feeding when she wants (it's a good sign that she isn't fussing, means she still is getting milk)

Drink lemon as pp suggested, take panadol or drink lem sip every 3-4 hours (totally safe when bf) boil some water, put in a spoonfull of vicks chest rub and then put a towel over your head and breath in the steam.

Hope you feel better soon :)

[JabberJaw]

Do you have allergies? To peanuts? If not i suggest a few handfulls of raw peanuts a day, now they are fairly horrid, but the taste grows on you, trust me...i eat them every day. I had a post a while back about it and a few ladies had results eating peanuts.....but they MUST be raw, they work pretty much right away.

I am sure you will overcome it. or try goggling LACTOGENIC foods which are foods that you can incorporate to your diet to boost your supply and get the nice fatty milk.

If you cant do the cookies, just get some flaxseed meal and put a sprinkle on everything you eat, it dissovels and is pretty much tasteless, flaxseed is great for boobie milk. (its in the cookies)

Try to relax as much as you can, and yep stress will also contribute. You are not getting AF also are you? Because my DD fusses really bad at the breast and seems to feed 24/7 for a whole day and night right before i get AF. Dunno if supply drops or it tastes funny but she is like a starved child for a whole 24 hours (worse than a growth spurt)

Let down may not be a sign of anything, i only feel it occasionally (i think Baillee is just a tad older than Ruby) so dont stress about that. Only other thing i can think of is the panadol with codenie...are you taking that? Coz Bailz fusses if i take it so now i feed her and take it straight after a feed and that helps.

:hugs: Your body is not failing you, you will get through it :hugs: In a day or 2 you will be feeling better and your boobies will work efficiently again

[Manxie]

Can you eat peanuts? After reading a thread on here I gave it a go and ended up producing buckets of milk.

You are meant to eat raw, unsalted peanuts. I couldnt find any raw ones so just ate unsalted peanuts and it worked really quickly.

Obviously a no no, if you or bubs have an allergy:D

[meme]

Have you called or emailed a breastfeeding counsellor?

be reassurred, if you are feeding an older baby (am i wrong? your ticker is counting down to a 2nd birthday?)

it's ok if your lo isn't getting much milk at the moment if she is drinking water and eating other foods. It's unlikely that she would wean if you are still offerring the boob and she seems happy to just suckle.

your milk supply will most likely be even better if she is suckling a lot or more than usual at the moment, as it's the suckling that is most efficient at promoting more milk production.

some other things like hormones may affect milk supply, for some mums the return of AF, or pregnancy can slow milk supply, do you think this could be part of it?

many toddlers are happy to breastfeed even with low supply, they are still getting benefits from the breastmilk as it becomes more concentrated as it lessens ( can't remember where i heard this so don't have any concrete evidence to back this up with but like to believe it). Breastfeeding is more than nutritients, it's also comfort and loving for your lo.

hopw you are feeling better soon being sick is awful.

edited tto add- I had an almost painful let down when bubs was small but in the last year or 2 of feeding her i didn't feel it at all or only rarely if i was very full. we still continued to have a succesful breastfeeding experience (for years)

[JabberJaw]

Here is the peanut (http://www.bubhub.com.au/community/forums/showthread.php?t=249099) thread.

[workin'mumof2]

jj & Manxie - i wish i could eat peanuts but i hate them with a passion. any nuts really. and im not allergic at all. just cant stand chewing and eating them.. *shrug* (we need a shrug emoticon)

myellabella - thank you for that.

Jj - from the advice from the hospital i am on nurofen and panadol for 3 days. ( i had a temp and my throat is red raw.)

could that be upsetting it?
thank you for the info on flaxseed meal
i read that thread on peanuts :thumbsup:
will google LACTOGENIC now

meme - i will ring/email the aba very shortly. but yes ruby is nearly 15months old. however i feed her alot. shes very much attached to "boob" she spits water, thinks its funny. very rarely will she drink another sorce from a bottle or strawcup, open cup or sippy cup.

cant leave her with anyone for more then 1.5hours and she gets distressed. (like she did yesterday when i was in hospital:crying:

thank you for the reassurance. im off to buy the ingreatients for the cookies. ( never had them b4:o)

[Tam-I-Am]

I started a thread like this (nearly identical, in fact!) when my oldest was about 9 months old. I felt my supply was really low - I had tonsilitis, couldn't feel a let down anymore, wasn't able to express as much, and felt overall like I was losing my supply.

I went on to feed her until she was 23 months old.

Supply does dip when you're ill - your bodily resources all go into getting you better - but it almost always comes back once you recover, if you keep your bub to the breast. It's also very normal to stop feeling let down sometime between 9 and 12 months. It doesn't mean it's not happening anymore though, only that you're not feeling it. Remember babies get ever more efficient at feeding from the breasts, and in turn, your breasts get ever more efficent at feeding a baby :)

Fenugreek was a life saver for me, too.

Good luck with it all. Please try not to stress, as stress won't be helping you either :hugs:

[workin'mumof2]

tam-i-am - thank you so much (not for being sick) for sharing about that. thats exactly what i wanted to head (not about you being sick:o) but that you managed to keep feeding.

i managed to get all the ingredients for the cookies and im going to atempt them tomorrow. with help of course

thank you so much to everyone. i guess my body is just trying to take care for itself not thinking of anyone else (aka ruby )

but i am happy she is still asking. by grunting and patting my chest:rolleyes:

[Mrs Nietzsche]

I honestly would not worry about it. I haven't felt a letdown for months, and I didn't with my daughter either. You will be better soon and your supply will bounce back.

If you let your child feed on demand they will get enough.... if your body isn't making milk as fast it might just take longer.

I fed my daughter til she was 3 through all sorts of things including nearly dying from asthma (me not her).

She might also be wanting to feed more because she doesn't feel well herself - you said your daughter had the flu too? And if she is feeding very frequently because she is either sick or recovering from a sickness, that would be another reason why you aren't feeling a letdown - you aren't getting a chance to have the milk build up.

Is someone taking good care of you all? It must be awful if you feel terrible and are trynig to feed a lot and keep on top of anythign else.

Concentrate on getting better! don't worry about your milk.

[workin'mumof2]

dh is as much as he can anyway. he has a mild form of what i have. mil and fil also have the flu except fil has it the least. so the whole household got infected.:eek:

the kids did get it but not as bad as the adults :confused: thank goodness

but yes i do have someone looking after me. (after i yelled at him:o)

[Lastcenturymum]

Just wanted to say sorry to hear you are sick hun - hope you get over it soon and that Ruby doesn't get it.:hugs::hugs: