Nearly all nursing mothers worry at one time or another about whether their babies are getting enough milk. Since we can’t measure breastmilk intake the way we can formula intake, it is easy to be insecure about the adequacy of our milk supplies. The “perception” of insufficient breastmilk production is the most common reason mothers give for weaning or early introduction of solids or supplements.

Although there is a very small percentage of women who can’t produce enough milk no matter what they do, this is extremely rare. It is even more unusual for a mother not to be able to produce any milk at all. Mothers can almost always produce some milk to give their babies, even if they have to supplement with formula.

The first thing to determine is whether your supply is really low or not. Some mothers have unrealistic expectations, and feel that if their baby isn’t on a three hour schedule, or sleeping through the night by six weeks, they must not have enough milk. There is a tendency for a nursing mother to blame everything on her breastmilk – for example, if the baby spits up or is gassy, it must be something she ate…if he has a day when he feeds more often than usual, it must be because she doesn’t have enough milk…

Be careful not to get into the habit of attributing everything your baby does to nursing. All babies, formula or breastfed, have some laid back, easy days, and some fussy and cranky days. Often, your baby’s behavior is not related to breastfeeding at all.

Mothers often worry about their milk supply if:

• The baby nurses often, or seems hungry soon after being fed. Remember it is normal for babies to feed often. They have a strong need to suck, and love to be held close. Breastmilk is digested faster than formula, so nursing babies tend to eat more often. Nursing 10-12 times or more in 24 hours is not unusual. In fact, we lactation consultants worry a lot more about the baby who is sleeping long stretches than we do about the baby who wants to nurse “all the time”. Growth spurts commonly occur at around 10 days to 2 weeks, at 3 weeks, at 6 weeks, at 3 months, and again at 6 months. The baby will nurse more frequently during a time of rapid growth and not seem satisfied. After nursing frequently (okay, all the time) for a few days, your supply will increase to meet the demand, and most babies will level off and go back to a more predictable schedule. Also, many babies will ‘cluster feed’ in the evenings before going to sleep. This is a normal pattern for a breastfed baby. Formula fed babies also have fussy periods in the evening, but their mothers don’t have a built-in way to comfort them, so they cry more.
• The baby spends less time at the breast (maybe 5-10 minutes rather than 15-20), takes one breast rather than both at a feeding, or mom’s breasts feel softer and don’t leak as much as they did in the early weeks of nursing. These changes are normal and just mean that your body is adjusting your supply to meet your baby’s needs.
• They compare their baby’s nursing patterns, weight gain, or sleep habits to other people’s babies, or even their previous baby. Remember that each baby is an individual, and the same rules don’t apply to everyone, just as the same rules don’t apply to formula-fed and breastfed babies.