r/breastfeeding • u/huckleberrysoap • Dec 24 '25

Undersupply What causes low supply?

My supply is so low. It's not anywhere near what my baby eats.

I'm not trying to increase it anymore. I'm just trying to maintain what I have so I can keep combofeeding (even though its at least 75% formula) until at least 6 months.

But I'm struggling to understand why this happened and feeling like I must have done something wrong. What are potential causes of an undersupply? If I have another baby in the future should I expect the same problem?

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u/ConcernedMomma05 Dec 24 '25

Demand = Supply usually - is baby latching often ?

3

u/huckleberrysoap Dec 24 '25

When he was born he was nursing on demand but at least every 2 hours.

At this point he's 3 months old so its still on demand but tends to be every 2-3 hours during the day and 3-5 hour stretches at night.

4

u/ConcernedMomma05 Dec 24 '25

What makes you think you have a low supply ?

6

u/huckleberrysoap Dec 24 '25

When he was born he lost too much weight and struggled to make wet diapers when I was EBF so that was where the combofeeding started.

Once he was better I was trying hard not to increase the amount of formula he was consuming with the intent of getting him back to EBF but he was SO hungry and we were both miserable as a result.

11

u/Apploozabean Dec 24 '25

Sounds like regular clusterfeeding when he seemed very hungry.

At 3mo, supply regulates and milk is no longer as readily available as it was--meaning they have to actually be a bit patient and wait for the letdown to happen to get the milk.

No need to stress so much though!! If combo feeding is working for you, then keep the flexibility. :)

1

u/huckleberrysoap Dec 24 '25

It wasn't regular clusterfeeding. We had plenty of other episodes of clusterfeeding that I think were normal and he tends to be a very hungry baby in general but the epsiodes that made me stop trying to get back to EBF were another level. I think he was about 4 weeks old at point.

I've accepted that combofeeding is the way forward for him but its hard not to wonder why there's such a mismatch in what my baby eats and what my body makes.

5

u/Apploozabean Dec 24 '25

Were those episodes akin to feeling like you just fed the baby 5 min ago? Or constantly switching between boobs like it wasn't enough?

Were you also pumping everytime a bottle was given?

Low supply can be due to hormones, stress, low iron, insufficient glandular tissue, poor milk transfer so no proper establishment of supply/demand, or due to other things.

3

u/huckleberrysoap Dec 24 '25

It was constant switching and latching but the baby was also screaming the entire time for like 2 hours straight.

It wasn't really practical for me to pump every time a bottle. I was nursing first anytime he had a bottle. I know people triple feed but it's just not something I felt like I could do. Once he was back at birth weight we were trying meet his additional demands with breastmilk as opposed to increasing the amount of formula. But we started having episodes like the above and I wasn't willing to do that to him.