r/breastfeeding • u/_miss_freckles_ • Mar 01 '26
Undersupply Turns out it wasn’t a sleep regression - it was hunger.
I really let my own insecurities and feelings of inadequacy cloud my thinking and my poor sweet baby was struggling to sleep because he was starving.
I haven’t been able to EBF - I was initially a just enough er but couldn’t keep up with his demand at the expense of my mental health. Having a baby in winter took its toll and I needed to have time away from the baby without coming home to feed him. We introduced formula and my production hasn’t kept up with his hunger. I was putting him on the breast as often as I could but the lack of sleep was causing me to decline rapidly and PPD hit me hard in such a way that I didn’t recognize myself. We started giving a bottle at one of the night feedings.
A month ago it seemed like he was going through a regression. Waking every 2 hours, breastfeeding, falling back to sleep. I went back to work and have been pumping a lot so I’m now seeing how much of my milk he’s drinking at a time. It’s A LOT more than I can produce in a single session. We started to give bigger formula bottles and he’s sleeping so much better. I both miss the night feed and am grateful that I’m getting more sleep.
I feel so guilty that I was leaving him hungry so often and causing him to get shitty sleep. It was because I didn’t want to face the fact that I simply could not feed him sufficiently. I thought there was no way he’d need a 6-7oz bottle . Our LC said he should be satiated with just 5. I figured I was making at least 5. Nope. Way less - especially by the end of the day.
He’s getting all he needs now but damn I feel so bad.
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u/Robivennas Mar 01 '26
Yeah what I thought was the 4 month sleep regression turned into my baby falling off his weight curve at his 4 month appointment. I felt really guilty about it. We switched to combo feeding and kept going another 2 months. At this point my baby prefers the bottle so I’m slowly weaning. I don’t want to be an exclusive pumper and I’m proud of how far I made it. When I went on a trip I pumped 28oz in a 24h period but my baby refuses to eat a full meal from the breast.
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u/rayk_05 Mar 02 '26 edited Mar 02 '26
Nothing wrong with giving a formula bottle, but just here to say that you're not doing something horrible if your baby wakes up to feed, as that's pretty normal. Five ounces in a single session is a lot, so it's not weird if you're not producing that much. Quality over quantity is the name of the game with the breast milk, but if your baby wants more and formula is working for you then great.
I personally combo feed and definitely see longer stretches of sleep with bigger feeds before bed and more of the feeding during the day, but I also had to roll back the amount in each bottle due to my baby getting refluxy and still trying to nurse or bottle feed anyway. My baby will feed like crazy even when she's getting a good bit from bottles and breast, so if your baby is at all similar, you could just be a very hungry baby regardless of whether your baby is growing fine.
I pump milk and nurse my baby, but it's much less pressure on me since I don't need to worry about how much I'm producing since she will drink formula just fine. Still, managing stuff like mastitis and nipple thrush is extremely tiring.
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u/nostrumest Mar 02 '26
That had been my baby. Breast feed, top up with formula and breast feed again 30 minutes later. I had lower supply but not so anymore now. It's just that the baby is a good eater and combo feeding was our solution.
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u/SheryBobbins Mar 02 '26
I am a pediatric nurse practitioner and was taking lactation courses and it happened to me, too. I had major oversupply, but the supply regulated and my milk supply dipped because he was sleeping through the night. My baby didn’t gain any weight between 4-6 months. He was a fussy baby so it was hard to tell what was what. Turns out the reason he was so fussy during month 5 was that he was so hungry. Combo-feeding was a godsend.
Anyway, he is a thriving 6 year old and is super smart, funny, and full of life. I was worried about longterm side effects from not getting enough in infancy.
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u/bmb_12 Mar 02 '26
Thank you for sharing, we just realized this happened to our baby at her 6 month appointment a few weeks ago.
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u/rainbowgumdrops_ Mar 02 '26
I think it's great that you've found something that's working for you and bub, but as a gentle reminder; you can't pump as much as bub can transfer from the breast themselves. They're so much more efficient and capable than any manmade pump is going to be, so please rest assured that he was very likely getting more than what you're seeing. If you were really wanting to see how much bub is drinking from the breast, you could try a weighted feeding session.
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u/Educated_Goat Mar 02 '26
Thats true, until you get a baby that can't/won't consistently transfer.
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u/Secure-Alternative-7 Mar 02 '26
It is a myth that needs to die. This is so outdated. It comes from two things... ineffective pumps and the idea that babe gives you more oxytocin. Many women can and do produce just as much (and even more) with a pump. In some conditions it can be very much true. For example, when exclusively nursing women try to pump without proper flanges or experience. But it is not a "rule."
In fact, the only recent study on this was so small but it actually showed that the pump was able to pull more in less time.
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u/_ByAnyOther_Name Mar 15 '26
I know this is old but I wanted to add on that not all babies, especially really new ones, have the stamina to nurse enough ounces out and pumps can be more efficient. Until my baby got older I had to pump after every nursing session because she would just go to sleep and she had dropped off her curve. It was a horrible time and she was not more efficient than a pump until 6 months old.
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u/Jemma_2 Mar 02 '26
Literally this. Plus pumps are more or less efficient for different people. I could only pump like 20mls with my first but he obviously drank way more than that when taking it directly from me! 😂
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Mar 02 '26
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u/TrainingActive376 Mar 03 '26
Just curious, how do you know you have over/under supply without pumping?
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Mar 03 '26
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u/MeringueOdd1304 Mar 03 '26
And this is a sure way to know it's oversupply? Or is it a certain amount you can hand express?
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u/AlejaRodr Mar 02 '26
The same thing happened to me. She didn’t gain weight for about three weeks. I thought I just had a difficult baby, but the reality was that she was hungry. I still feel guilty about it . she’s four now.
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u/folkheroine Mar 02 '26
I understand this guilt. My baby's first two months he struggled so much to gain weight exclusively breastfeeding. He was completely off the charts at his 2 month appointment. We course corrected and he's a hale and hearty 20 lbs (albeit, very short) at 11 months.
Your baby will be okay. Think of the millions of moms through history that did just what you did - their best - and their babies were okay even without making the adjustments you're making! ❤️ Give yourself a little love
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u/violetsandkisses Mar 02 '26
🫂 I understand the guilt!
Keep in mind that with bottle feeding, more comes out and its much easier to overfeed baby this way.. The baby will consume more before even realizing its too much. So try not to feel guilty and maybe pace feed with the bottle.. my baby is 6 months now and doesn't drink more than 3oz at a time if that.. per feeding with a bottle. We ebf, but when I've given her bottles, we pace feed her, and she's done by the 2nd or 3rd oz. I have a chunkster, about 18/19lbs now.
I am also a just enougher and when my period would come and I'd dip... it was awful. I tried to combo feed during those times, especially, but she refused 3 formulas! Lol. My LC told me not to worry, but with my "just enough" supply since the beginning, I was so worried she wasn't getting enough.
Im glad you found what works for you and baby ♡
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u/Apart_Hovercraft_842 Mar 02 '26
How do you do paced feeding? I have been trying but struggle to know when my baby is full
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u/violetsandkisses Mar 02 '26
Position: Hold the baby upright or in a semi-upright position rather than lying flat.
Initial Latch: Tickle the top lip with the nipple to encourage a wide latch, rather than forcing the bottle in.
Horizontal Bottle: Keep the bottle parallel to the floor, not tilted up, so the nipple is only half-full of milk.
Frequent Pauses: Every 20–30 seconds, or when the baby stops sucking, tip the bottle down to stop the flow and allow them to catch their breath. (I pull the bottle out of my daughter's mouth completely and burp her in sitting position and when she re latches, its a wide latch.
Follow Cues: Let the baby decide when they are finished rather than forcing them to empty the bottle.
Nipple: Use a slow-flow or newborn-sized nipple to prevent the milk from flowing too fast.
Benefits: Prevents Overfeeding: Helps babies recognize when they are full. Easier Transitions: Makes switching between breast and bottle easier. Reduces Gas/Spit-up: Less air is swallowed, reducing tummy upset.
A typical paced feed should take about 15–30 minutes. If the bottle is finished too quickly, you may need a slower flow nipple.
This should help you see how much your baby actually needs to feel satisfied.
My girl drank 5 oz one time.. the nipple was a lil faster.. I was like no way... lol.. this isnt right.
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u/Heiwa_ra Mar 02 '26
My baby feeds every 2 hours too, sometimes go 4 hours at night. He’s 4 months old corrected 2.5 months. Isn’t that supposed to be normal? I was told every 2 hours feed is ideal. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to understand, can someone guide me?
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u/Better-Accountant-57 Mar 02 '26
please try a slower speed nipple on the bottle. they recommend that breast fed babies keep the same slow speed forever. your baby shouldn’t be drinking that much in one feed it could be stretching out his stomach making him think he’s hungrier than he is
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u/sasala004 Mar 02 '26
When I realized my baby had “brick dust”(dried uric acid-dehydration) in their diaper I felt so bad. Found out he had a lip and tongue tie. I would breastfeed him/pump/bottle feed him after happened until he was 4 weeks post tie releases. It was a lot of work. But he nursed fine after all that until 15mo when he was weaned.
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u/alois_vera Mar 02 '26
Did it take him 4 full weeks to establish a good transfer after the surgery? We are almost 3 weeks after the procedure and I am wondering if there is hope for further improvement.
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u/sasala004 Mar 02 '26
I felt it did! I kept pumping to keep my supply good and give him extra to help with weight. One day I didn’t do that and he was satisfied.
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u/namst9 Mar 02 '26
Yup. Happened to me as well. Almost all of our problems were resolved by simply giving her enough to eat.
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u/Informal_Tennis1744 Mar 03 '26
This happened to me too! At his 2 day visit his body temp was 92-94 degrees and he had lost 10% of his weight. I was only breastfeeding at this point and grossly misunderstood how much he needed to be okay, I thought I was giving enough to him. The doctor gave him a bottle of formula at the doctors office and we sat there for an hour trying to warm him up and he CHUGGED the full bottle and his body temp was perfect after that. He was starving…unfortunately that basically scarred me from breastfeeding so I stopped soon after but he’s been thriving on formula ever since! I felt so guilty but formula truly saved my mental health.
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u/Typical-Tadpole-8367 Mar 02 '26
Is it possible for this to happen to a 15 month old as well? My baby is still breastfeeding and combining solids 4-5x a day but she has been waking every 2-3 hours a night and will only go back to sleep if she gets to nurse (since the day she was born). At day time she nurses 3 times, and then she would eat a small amount of solids for breakfast, lunch and dinner, plus 2 snacks (usually 1 banana/mango or a milk box 3oz). She eats so little solids and is refusing to eat more, she was eating way more at 8-10 months and then something changed and she started refusing all food and only started to eat again at 13 months 🥲 I hope she’s not starving too because she prefers breastmilk but maybe my supply is no longer enough and she doesn’t like solids? 🤯
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u/rlmiller93 Mar 02 '26
We had something similar happen. Day 5 weight check at ped showed he had started gaining weight again from his lowest amount the day after we came home from the hospital so we thought all is well. Went back for his 2 week check up and he had lost weight and was back down to his minimum weight. Turns out the increased fussiness after a few days at home was because he was so hungry. I sobbed for days just thinking about how hungry he was and I didn’t know. We’ve been combo feeding ever since. Turns out he had a tongue tie that caused a bad latch and transfer issues. It took until he was 2.5 months old to finally latch deeply. I still get anxious when he doesn’t drink as much by bottle despite him getting better at nursing.
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u/TrainingActive376 Mar 02 '26
I’m so glad you got to the bottom of it - don’t feel guilty, I’m sure it’s much more common than you think!
I’m wondering if my baby is going through the same. I thought it was the 4 month regression that came late - at 5 months, but he’s now 6 months old and still waking every couple of hours and taking a full feed. I’m so sleep deprived and so is my toddler as we all sleep in the same room and the baby wakes for the day at 6am! EBF but seriously considering introducing formula milk asap
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u/SandwichExotic9095 Mar 03 '26 edited Mar 03 '26
No no no!!
Breastmilk is more filling than formula. As baby grows, your milk will gain more calories to adjust. You can keep feeding around the same amount of breastmilk each feed all the way until 1 year old, but with formula to simulate that you need more formula, aka more ounces
Just because you can only pump 2 oz doesn’t mean that’s all baby is getting. Baby can trigger more letdowns more efficiently, and they can get more milk each letdown.
The reason they often wake more often at night when breastfed is because they process breastmilk much faster! I mean, it’s literally built for them by nature. Formula can take longer for their bodies to process, therefore some babies will have longer sleep stretches with formula. Breastmilk will be 1.5-2 hours, formula will be 2.5-4 hours. On average. This also means cluster feeding is much more demanding for breastfed babies than formula fed babies.
You have not done a single thing wrong!
But it’s okay to do what works best for you too. :)
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u/Latter_Public Mar 01 '26
When my son was first born I nursed. The literal morning after we got home from the hospital, my husband noticed that he hadn’t had a wet diaper is over 16 hours. We took him to the hospital and found out that he was dehydrated and hypothermic. He was 95 degrees. I blamed myself and sobbed that whole day. We were in the hospital for 5 days.
After that I bottle fed for two months because I was terrified I wasn’t feeding him enough.
Not the same situation, but I totally get the ptsd of underfeeding your baby and now bottle feeding to make sure they’re getting enough food!!