Why is breast milk decreasing

After a baby is born, it needs its mother's milk to provide it with nutrition. Babies who regularly drink breast milk are healthier than other babies. Children who grow up drinking breast milk not only grow fast, but also have stronger immunity, so they rarely get sick, because the mother's milk contains most of the antibodies. However, some women will find that as the baby drinks breast milk for longer and longer, the breast milk becomes less and less. Let's take a look at why breast milk is decreasing.

Reason 1: Baby's nipple confusion

Nipple confusion occurs when a baby refuses to suck from the mother's breast after drinking from a bottle. Because the bottle has a large flow rate and is easy to drink from, the mother has to use force to drink from the breast. Smart babies have tried the easy way and naturally will not want to drink from it with force.

If the baby has nipple confusion and becomes unwilling to suck the mother's breast, even using a breast pump will not be able to constantly stimulate milk secretion, which will cause a decrease in milk supply over time.

Solutions for nipple confusion

1. Frequent skin contact

Whenever mothers are free, they can have more skin contact with their babies, or simply use a sling to let the baby stay on their chest so that they can get familiar with their breasts and smell.

2. Try to feed your baby when he is in a good mood

Don't wait until your baby is hungry to feed him. Your baby won't have the patience to learn how to suckle on his nipple. You can bring your baby close to your chest in the early morning, in the middle of the night, or when he or she just wakes up from a nap during the day, so that he or she will naturally be brought to the nipple by the mouth.

3. Reduce bottle feeding appropriately and stick to the correct bottle feeding method

Remember, the mother should not bottle-feed, but let other family members feed the baby with a bottle. To prevent your baby from learning to suck from both your mother's nipple and an artificial pacifier at the same time, you can also try using a lactation aid.

Tip: It is worthwhile to spend some time helping your baby relearn to suckle breast milk, so that your baby can get enough breast milk and stimulate milk secretion.

Reason 2: Reduced water intake

A large part of breast milk is water, so drinking more water will definitely help the secretion of milk. The recommended daily amount is 2500~3000ml, which is equivalent to 10~12 glasses of water. You can drink juice, milk, soup, warm water, etc.

Reason three: menstruation during breastfeeding

The fluctuation of hormones before menstruation causes changes in the blood calcium concentration in the body. Some mothers may experience a decrease in milk supply in the first few days of menstruation, and they need to increase the frequency of breastfeeding and milk expression to get the required amount.

A little reminder: Moms don’t have to worry too much about menstruation affecting the amount of milk they will give their babies. As long as they breastfeed and express milk frequently, their hormone secretions will be balanced after a few days and their milk supply will return to normal.

Reason 4: Breast blockage

Due to fat clumping, milk accumulates in the mammary glands, causing blockage of the mammary glands, and the supply and secretion of breast milk will decrease. When mammary duct blockage occurs, breastfeeding should still be continued. Stopping breastfeeding may cause milk stagnation for too long and form abscesses, leading to mastitis.

Causes of breast blockage:

1. Abnormal diet or lack of milk discharge

2. External pressure causes breast obstruction

Small methods to improve breast blockage:

1. Rest and continue breastfeeding

2. Sufficient water

3. Nutritious food will help strengthen the mother’s immune system

4. Ask a lactation consultant to help unclog the breast