Grace (3.5) has said for the last few nights that there is “no milk left”. I’m slightly worried about this on a two different points really. Obviously the first is that if there really is no milk then that’s a problem for Jude, who is still mostly breastfed. I’m certain there is milk during the day - leaking and squirting still often occurs (!) but I’m wondering if there really isn’t any in the evening? Second, if this is Grace’s problem, rather than an actual lack of milk, how do I ease a child who is very attached to nursing (morning and night only now) through the process of loosing her latch, which is what I suspect is happening. It’s strange - she has started to fall asleep after nursing now instead of nursing *to* sleep, and this evening she nearly forgot to ask for milk, but when she can’t get any she gets very distressed :(

Any advice gratefully received.

Angie

It may be that she is loosing her latch.  DD is just 4 and from around 3.5 years nursing her was increasingly uncomfortable for me, as she couldn’t quite get it right, and would nurse for 30 seconds or so and then that would be it, or 30 secs on one switch, 30 secs, switch… You get the idea! This process slowly gave way to other routines for bedtime, and she can now go to sleep in seconds once the routine is complete!  As for demands during the day I started to delay the nursing, if she wanted to nurse I would give a reason why I couldn’t straight away, or suggest something else and more often than not she would forget about it. 

Try and find some other comfort for her, whether it be through cuddles or something else.

Yeah I’d suggest she’s losing her latch too.  Rowan certainly is.  Also, my supply dropped a little recently (enough for Roo to notice and enough for me not to be able to express anything at all) and I suspected I was going to get post partum moon-time, but didn’t.  Talia stayed latched on for two nights and one day straight and my supply is back up again (I feel full again if she doesn’t feed for a while and could express a drop to treat her sore foot after she kicked the door latch).  Perhaps just a little random fluctuation, or a hormonal something.

Is she feeding right after Jude, or before, or at the same time?  Have you had any sign your cycle might be returning much sooner than expected?  xx