Stress causing 'dry up'

[Mother Duck]

I have just experienced a very stressfull incident (brown snake bite to my 2yo) and am now suffering from constant anxiety, nerves and headaches etc - I am having trouble sleeping also (I am normally very calm)

My milk was all but gone last Friday and I had to give my 3month son a bottle :crying:

By Sunday night I had developed mastitis again (3rd time) - so I am now on antibiotics again (less than a month ago was hospitalised for a penicillin alergic reaction after mastitis attack number 2)

My milk seems to be coming back now but so slowly - I am having let down now and then but not much

He seems to want the bottle more than the boob

It means so much to me to bf him - this is breaking my heart!

Should I just give up and wean him or do you think I can return to fully breastfeeding?

[bubhub]

(Posted on behalf of Pinky - we are having some temp technical issues!)

Hi Jesse, what a distressing incident - no wonder you are feeling anxious!

The good news is that despite all of your stress, "yes!" you will be able
to return to breastfeeding.

What has happened is that as your stress hormones have flooded your body,
they have temporarily affected your milk 'letdown' hormones but as you
mention you are having some letdowns again, this is a positive sign that
things are starting to come back to 'normal' again and in just a few days
breastfeeding should be improving markedly.

The best thing you can do is to try and work on your anxiety - isnt it an
awful feeling? SLOW DOWN as much as possible -I know this will be hard with
two littlies but one of the primary causes of mastitis is stress and over
tiredness - so rest is in order - even if you need to pay somebody to come
in and help you for a few hours. Go to bed, just as you would if you were
childless and had flu. Pop on a meditation CD or relaxing music and try and
slow your breathing - count 4 as you breathe in and 6 as you breathe out
through your mouth, relax each muscle group in your body and try to focus on
your breath , not on all the things you SHOULD be doing. Try and do this
relaxation at least twice a day for about 15 minutes for the next week (and
continue if possible - its a great habit). If your anxiety doesnt improve
within a week or is really affecting your functioning, please see your GP .
This is a quality of life issue.

Also eat healthy foods (Magnesium rich foods are nature's relaxants -eg,
green leafy vegetables) and drinks.

To address the feeding: try to get your baby to suckle at the breast as long
and often as possible - sucking will stimulate your milk to increase again.
If he is reluctant, you can snuggle him against the breast when he is
sleepy - he will probably suck in his sleep. Taking your baby to bed with
you and snuggling skin to skin, carrying him in a sling ( again skin to skin
is best) will help increase your breastfeeding hormone levels. Dont even
worry about 'bad habits/ breastfeeding to sleep - let him use your breast as
a dummy (dont use a rubber dummy at all, as all sucking needs to be at the
breast). Popping on some gentle music and giving your baby a massage will
also help to elevate your oxytocin levels - and this will help with stress
as well as your milk flow. Or take yourself off for a massage. To help with
your letdown as you feed, rather than focus on your 'supply', close your
eyes, relax your arms and shoulders and breathe deeply in and out as you
imagine milk flowing over a waterfall.

If your baby doesnt suckle for long, you can express after feeds to help
stimulate your milk production - remember the rule of supply and demand - an
'empty' breast will make milk more quickly , the more formula you give your
baby and therefore the less your baby sucks from you, the less milk your
breasts will produce.

If you need to give your baby extra milk ( or expressed milk) for a day (or
longer - be patient), it would be better to do this from a small cup ( a
shot glass works well) rather than a bottle so that most, if not all, of his
sucking is soon at the breast. Squirting a little milk into his mouth with a
syringe as you breastfeed may encourage him to keep sucking.

It can help to gather as much reassurance and support as possible - call
the Australian Breastfeeding Association helpline (its easier to assess the
situation with personal contact than in an email) or a lactation
consultant, as they will be able to give you a more personalised plan to
increase your supply (the ABA have a great booklet that will help you here!)

Hang in there!
Pinky

[bubhub]

Response posted on behalf of Jessie!

Pinky

Thank you so much for your most helpful and appreciated words of wisdom!

Above all just to hear from someone what has 'the know' that I wasn't pushing 'stuff' up hill in my attempt to keep feeding was invaluable.

The past few weeks have been so hard, trying and awful. It has felt literally draining at times but for me personally it was worth the effort. Thankfully though, things are looking up.

I guess all in all if at the end of the day one of my children is now bottle fed so be it - at least I still have two children to feed!

This is not my preference though - and I have managed to get my milk supply back

:smiliedance:

In the interest of helping any others that find themselves in the same tricky spot here is what helped me...

The shot glass thing - I wish I had of known this earlier. Unfortunately he had already experienced the bottle teat and got really frustrated with the shot glass. He would cry too much and seemed to be breathing some of the formula in as well as swallowing it. I gave up on this after a while!

Keeping him on the breast - I would do this as much as I could and always try and caress his head etc while bf to encourage his wanting the breast.

Due to nagging mastitis I didn't want to risk taking supplements like Blessed Thistle etc as I find personally these increase the risk of a flare up

Resting - has been completely impossible!

Not only because of a toddler but mostly due to my horrific fear of snakes under the house - I have been taking ANY spare minute to clean up under there so I can see all floor space, no hiding places for little creatures!

Not that it came from there but if they pass through I want to be able to see them easily!

Anyway - I have to go - my toddler is needing my attention - I am sure I will wish I had written more but for now this will do!

THANK YOU!!!!!

Jessie