Hi there, I am hoping someone in here can give me some direction here.

My dd has been exclusively b/f (she is 7.5mths) and is on solids 3x day with 4-5 b/f's. I am unsure if they've become like little snacks to her except for the first morning and last evening one. She has a quick feed at morning tea, usually just water at lunch time and then another quick b/f at afternoon tea. I feed her at bedtime, though not to sleep.

Thing is, last week I had to prepare to leave her for Saturday and tried to express enough for even one bottle. I got barely 100ml in three days and think I've stuffed up my supply now as well DH gave her what I'd expressed and also a bottle of formula - her first one and I had to take a deep breath and just accept that, as she couldn't come with me so it had to be done (just a mental block for me, having lost our first dd I wanted to bf as long as possible with DD2).

She has seemed very cranky every day for a couple of weeks now and I am mortified that it might be (not teething nor a growth spurt or any other sort of change) that she has been hungry all this time??? Maybe my supply has really diminished? I have had AF since Saturday - third month it's been back - does your supply drop with the onset of AF or from when it's coming up? DH said after her bottle of formula she was most settled and seemed full and content.

Would I be able to give her a morning and an evening feed and formula for the remainder of the day?
I am not confident that I have enough to keep her satisfied during the day anymore. She has plenty of water throughout the day and is really enjoying solids now.
Perhaps she is naturally weaning from me? I admit to not having done much reading up on it as I thought I'd start looking into weaning her after her 1st birthday.

But do you think it sounds like my body and hormones and her are all adjusting to make the break sooner rather than later? I just don't know if I'd be doing the right thing by giving her a bottle of formula even once a day - it would affect my supply, right?? Aaah, help please?!

Hiya MB

Great to see you about!!

When AF first returned I noticed a drop in my supply for a few days and then it would return to normal. And for the first few months Bay would get really unsettled. (Apparently the milk tastes different when you have AF)

I am looking to drop a feed in the middle of the day and replacing it with formula as expressing twice at work two days a week is a killer when trying to fit into short breaks. Anyway I was told that it shouldn't affect my supply as I have been BFing for so long. (Mum also has a friend who just BF morning and night and FF during the day and it is working for her.)

Could you look at comping for the daytime feed if you are worried about your supply? Offer breast first and then top DD up with formula to make sure she is not still hungry. I did this for a couple of months at about the 3 month mark as my supply dropped really low of an evening and that seemed to help Bay.

I guess you can just play around with a few options and see what works. Especially if you are not ready to give up. Have you tried spending a day just BFing on and off at short intervals (tiring) to try and increase your supply? Maybe give that a go and see if it works. If not then maybe try comping to supplement your BM. Then if that doesn't work try replacing maybe just one feed and so on until you find a solution.

Good luck!

Hey thanks Sparrow I was wondering if it was ok to do that feed at the beginning and end of each day with FF during the day. I'm so pleased, I will try this. I've never had supply issues before this past couple of weeks, even though DD does fuss around AF and O time.

Think my head is telling me to comp feed during the day but my heart is saying "B/F 24/7!!" But in reality I just can't.

Cheers again. Bay is so sweet, I love your new sig