Thursday, April 16, 2009

Of Depleting Breastmilk Supply and Auto-weaning

(Mommy's frozen breastmilk supply)



Of late, Mommy's breastmilk supply has gone down again! How sad!





Below is a quick timeline of Mommy's breastmilk supply history. The number of months indicated refers to the age of Juan Or.





1 month: Quantity was uncertain because Juan Or fed directly from the breast, so Mommy can't see how much breastmilk had been drunk.



2 months: 10-12 oz. within approximately 8 hours.



3-6 months: 12-16 oz. within approximately 8 hours.



7-9 months: 10-13 oz. within approximately 8 hours.



9-10 months: averaging 10.5 oz within approximately 8 hours.



11 months: averaging 7.5 oz within approximately 8 hours.





To date, Mommy's breastmilk supply has further gone down to 7.5 oz which Mommy thinks is attributed to Juan Or's auto-weaning. For all that Mommy knows, Mommy has never tried to wean Juan Or, but somehow Juan Or seems to want to wean himself. On many occasions, when Mommy offered Juan Or the breast, he merely turned his head away. And if Mommy continued to offer him the breast, Juan Or started protesting and fretting. So nowadays, Juan Or has not suckled on Mommy's breast for as long as 17 hours in a row. Obviously, lesser suckling stimulation also means lesser milk supply. Juan Or will only suckle on the breast when he is half asleep and that's during the midnight till the wee hours in the morning.





Anyway, Mommy does not intend to wean Juan Or off totally yet because breastfeeding is so convenient. Breastfeeding can be easily done when the baby wakes up in the middle of the night to feed and you are forced to wake up. So you end up breastfeeding the baby but your eyes are shut because you are still very sleepy. Breastfeeding is also convenient when in the middle of a long car ride, baby goes hungry or thirsty, and all you have to do is just put the baby at the breast and voila, baby gets fed! No pouring, scooping or mixing required! And no mess too in case your hubby makes an emergency brake!


5 comments:

MaryAnneVelasco said...

oh my gosh... when i saw your badge... i felt so happy. you know.. that somehow, i am already able to help other bloggers like you even in just very simple ways.

i am glad you found the tutorial easy to follow. i really tried my best to make every step as easy as possible. when i was starting, there was noone to help me and it was so difficult. i don't want my fellow bloggers to go through those difficulties just to make a badge and create other stuffs. that's why i created that Ovah' Coffee blog. i was really concentrating before on my HealthnBeyond.com www.healthnbeyond.com as i am a pharmacist. but i am really happy now that my Ovah' Coffee blog's been of help to some. thanks for the appreciation!

your badge is so great. mother and son! i'm touched! (i'm really a very sensitive person.. huhu). i love the badge! you're so creative.

cute kid you have there.

and oh, it's my first time to see frozen breastmilk. didn't know one can do that. but it is a great idea though especially when you are away at work or just can't be with your kid for sometime.

first time here in your blog and i love it. especially your posts.

see you around!

maxi of www.healthnbeyond.com and www.ovahcoffee.com

Brittany Liu said...

Congratulation of being breast feeding your child for so long! You shouldn't be sad or sorry over the depleting milk supply, I reckon you have already done a great job as a mother!
I had been through loads of turmoil breastfeeding my babies, I'm sure no one would realise how grateful it's to breastfeed your precious one unless they have been through it!
Sometimes it's really the bonding that we care most. I always enjoy the moment when I fed my child at night, as the world belongs to both of us... how serene it's!
Take it easy, believe in yourself and continue feeding your child at night! All the best!

Alice Phua said...

Maxi,

I'm glad to know you like my badge. And I'm so glad I found your blog, otherwise this badge would not have been made possible. Thanks once again! :-)

Alice Phua said...

Brittany,

Thanks for the encouragement and support. Yes, I agree with you...it's the bonding with the Little One that we care most! That's why I'm not willing to give up breastfeeding just yet (although I have no choice but to start counting the days when breastfeeding will be over because Juan Or seems to be auto-weaning himself).

Anonymous said...

Don't be sad about your depleting milk supply. It's amazing just the effort that you are putting into breastfeeding. You have already long past the average breastfeeding and should feel proud for your efforts.