SUMMARY:
Are you practicing combined feeding but have noticed a sudden drop in your milk supply? A temporary drop in milk supply is often a sign of insufficient breast stimulation by your baby, resulting in reduced milk production.
It is important to respond quickly and take steps to boost your supply if you want to continue breastfeeding. Let’s explore together how to achieve this in the best possible way!
Reminder of what combined feeding is
Combined feeding offers the possibility to:
- breastfeed your child,
- let baby enjoy all the benefits provided by your body
- and also feed them directly with a bottle!
For bottle-fed meals, you can offer your baby pumped breast milk—using a manual or electric breast pump—or give them formula, sold at supermarkets or pharmacies.
Combined feeding allows you to combine more freedom with intimate moments between mother and child. Sometimes, milk production can decrease or temporarily stop when practicing combined feeding. This can happen for different reasons.
Let’s take a look at what those might be!
Causes and solutions for boosting your milk supply and continuing combined feeding
Different reasons may cause a reduction in your milk supply. We offer solutions for each to help you continue your combined feeding journey.
Cause #1: You no longer have time to nurse your baby directly, impacting your milk supply
Although you started combined feeding—maybe even right after you returned home from the hospital—you are nursing your baby less and less, either due to lack of time or even lack of motivation.
The problem is that if your milk supply goes down, it's because you're skipping pumping sessions with a breast pump when your body naturally produces milk at mealtime. Your breasts, lacking stimulation, receive the signal to stop producing milk. 🥛
The less you nurse your child, the less milk you will produce! This is the law of supply and demand. This request is not a favor granted by your employer, but a legal obligation on their part, for one hour per day (which can be divided).
- Solution 1: If it's a time problem, you'll need to reorganize your schedule to continue combined feeding.
Can you reduce your work hours? Or take paid (or even unpaid) leave to fulfill your breastfeeding goals? Do you plan to pump regularly? If so, ask your employer for a special room designed for this purpose.
- Solution 2 : If it's a motivation issue, the approach will be entirely different!
The time for weaning may have come. Mind and body are closely connected. Your milk supply is decreasing due to your lack of enthusiasm for breastfeeding. But you should not feel guilty about it! Whether you breastfed for one year, three months, or just a few days, it doesn't matter.
- The most important thing is to listen to yourself as a mother, and also as a woman.
Cause #2: You offer your breast to your baby but they turn away, lowering your milk supply
On the other hand, you're still in a good dynamic with breastfeeding and regularly offer your baby the breast at mealtimes. Unfortunately, your little one doesn't seem very interested and is reluctant to nurse. They even seem to ask for their bottle… How frustrating! Once again, your breasts are not being stimulated enough and your milk supply naturally decreases.
Did you know this phenomenon has a name in the amazing world of parenting? Nursing strike... ✊ No, you’re not dreaming. The love of your life, so small, so fragile, and especially so adorable, is already expressing their preferences and making their displeasure known!
:Simply work your mom magic and gently—with no pressure—encourage your baby to take the breast again with soft words and cuddles. However, check that your baby does not have some issue. A refusal to nurse at the breast may be due to something other than a preference—such as an invisible pain that parents might not see, for example:
- Infant colic,
- teething,
- postural pain or KISS syndrome,
- stuffy nose,
- eyelash in the eye,
- cut finger,
- ear infection,
- acid reflux,
- stomach aches,
- stress,
- inadequate room temperature or fever...
Go over every little detail that could disrupt your baby's comfort. If the nursing strike continues, consult your pediatrician and pump your milk to avoid engorgement or (rarely) mastitis. This way, you’ll maintain your milk supply until things go back to normal.
Cause #3: You are sick, tired, or nutrient-deficient, which is affecting your milk supply
One last possibility that could explain why your milk production is declining: you are simply tired, sick, or lacking nutrients. Producing milk requires energy resources (nutrients) that your body naturally draws on.
But the main role is played by the hormone prolactin—this wonder of nature that makes breastfeeding possible! When you’re weak (cold, lack of sleep, stress, etc.), your strength and vitality diminish. If you’re not in the best health, feeling tired, have headaches, or just general lack of motivation, this will slow prolactin production and by extension, your milk supply.
- Eat healthy during your combined feeding journey.
- Don’t smoke, or get help to quit! Having a child is the perfect time to lead by example and adopt healthy habits. 😉
- If possible, go to bed early and get the sleep you need.
- Minimize sources of stress as much as possible. Treat yourself and enjoy relaxing activities (shopping, walks, movies, etc.)
If you're feeling close to depression or even postpartum depression, it's important to have support and to react quickly to break the vicious circle. It’s not always easy to confide in loved ones. And taking some vitamin C is not enough to fix things in times of real distress. Raising a baby brings an astronomical flood of responsibilities in the first few weeks. No parent is ever really prepared for it.
📳 For your information, a toll-free number called “Allo Parents bébé” lets you ask any questions about your infant or child up to 3 years old, all anonymously! To call this number, dial 0800 00 3456, Monday through Friday from 10am to 9pm.
Key takeaways from this article
- Combined feeding is valuable because it offers the freedom of bottle-feeding along with the closeness created by breastfeeding.
- Sometimes, milk supply decreases, as a result of either insufficient breastfeeding or missed pumping sessions.
- It's important to reorganize your days and make time to encourage milk production, but also to make sure the slowdown isn't caused by your child rejecting the breast.
- If as a mom, you think you're the "reason" for this lack of milk, we recommend you take a look at your emotions, health, and habits to identify any obstacles affecting your combined feeding experience. Don’t struggle alone with your doubts and concerns.
- Finally, it's perfectly possible to move on to the next stage and wean your baby if that's what you want. Have you considered getting a bottle that matches the physical characteristics of the breast?
At Elhée, we manufacture and sell bottles designed to mimic the shape of the breastfeeding breast in order to best satisfy both weaned and partially breastfed babies.
