Home Forums Breastfeeding Breastfeeding Not enough milk - 3 month old baby

I have a lot of trouble breastfeeding in the beggining. But for the past month it has been perfect. My baby is turning 4 months old, sleeps 12 hours/ night and has been breastfeeding 4 times a day.

For the past week, at the afternoon feed she empties both my breasts and sometimes wants more. She latches on and off the breast and cries. At the night feeding I never have enough milk to fullfill her. What is happening?

Did you give birth to her? Are you feeding her anything else? Just breast? Have you had your latch checked? Normally they have a growth spurt at around 4 months. I would say nurse her more. Offer your breast first for everything. Breastfeeding is supply and demand so lots of nursing on demand is good. 4 times a day is not much for a 4 month old. She should be nursing at least every 3 hours or more. Nurse on one side until she is satisfied. then burp her, change her etc... and nurse her on the 2nd side until she is satisfied. No timing how long just nurse until she is full.

I was going to say that 4 times a day does not seem like enough. Even my bio baby who slept through the night 12 hours still nursed 6 or more times at 4 months. I am adoptive breastfeeding our 7 month old right now and she still nurses 5-6 times a day.
As Laurie said, the more you nurse, the more your supply will build. Nurse more frequently in the afternoon and evening. The more your breasts are emptied, the more milk they will produce.
Good luck.

Tks a lot for your answers! I will try from today to feed her every 3 hours instead of every 4 hours - as I've been doing and hope for more milk to feed her and store, cause I will be going back to work!

I gave birth to her - via vaginal. She had trouble latching on, so I had sore nipples and mastitis in both breasts in our 2nd week. I had to use formula in this period, but for the past month I was able to go back to breastfeeding exclusivly. Once in a while, if I was away from home or didin't have enought milk I'd suplement with formula - using either finger feeding or the straw in my breast. I never used a bottle to avoid nipple confusion or weaning. I also don't pump to avoid hurting my nipples again. When needed (either engorged breasts or if there is enough milk to store) I manualy express milk.

I am concerned that there is not enough time between feedings for the breast to fill with milk. In the moring - after 12h of production, there is always lots of milk. But then, during the day 4 hours between feedings are not being enough for me to produce the amount of milk she wants.

Keeping your breasts emptied is a good thing. You don't have to feel full to have lots of milk. I would get her latch checked. If she isn't properly latched she won't be getting all the milk and stimulating more. She should be taking most of the areola into her mouth. Tickle her lips with your nipple to get her to open really wide and then latch her. There are some good videos on this site in the breastfeeding section.

I had a problem with my first son. He wasn't latching right and by 4 months was doing what your daughter is. My milk was getting less and less. Making sure she is latching correctly will help your supply, that and let her nurse until she is full like I said in the earlier post.

I was having the same problem with my 2 month old. My lactation consultant told me to try to pump for 10 min after every feeding. We also checked her latch. Once we got her latching on well and I started pumping, things improved. Good luck!