Some signs of low milk supply 7 days after your baby is born.

1. Less than 6 wet/dirty diapers in 24 hours.

2. The baby is hungary more than every 2-3 hours. His hunger cues are chewing on his hands and rooting.

3. He is not maintaining or gaining weight.

4. Your breasts have not ever felt full or heavier.

5. You may not hear many swallows or gulping when he is breastfeeding.

Start with calling your health care provider or Lactation consultant to obtain a weight on the baby.

The first step should be assessing how the baby looks, his he pink, with good muscle tone, and well hydrated? Or does he appear to be lethargic or too tired to eat and dehydrated? Then before the feeding get a weight on the baby. Have the baby breastfeed then get another weight to see how much the baby has taken. We call these pre and post feeding weights. It will tell us how much the baby is getting at each breastfeed. Also, at this feeding observe how well the baby is latched and how efficient he is at breastfeeding. If the baby appears latched on well and suckling well, then you might have a low milk supply.

A low milk supply can happen for many, many reasons. Here are a few:

1. Hypoplastic breast. The breast tissues did not develop so the mammary gland did not develop which causes very little or no milk to be made. Usaully if there are changes in your breast size during pregnancy this should not be an issue.

2. Undiagnosed thyroid disorders.

3. Pituatary disorders.

4. Retained placenta. Sometimes if a tiny bit of placenta remains in your uterus it still is making hormones to sustain a pregnancy. The hormones needed to make milk, prolacin, is the opposite of the hormone, progesterone, which maintains pregnancy.

5. Poor latch. If your milk is unable to be removed frequently your breast become engorged causing your body to reabsorb any milk not used and your breasts to produce less.

6. Not enough fluid intake. You do not have to drink milk to make milk. But you need enough fluids to stay well hydrated.

7. Severe long term stress.

8. Breast reduction.

9. Possibly breast implants. This would depend on how and where the implants were inserted.

10.Unusally large amount of blood loss at delivery.

11.Holiday stress.

12.Going back to work.

To INCREASE your milk try some of these suggestions:

1. Breastfeed your baby or pump every 2-3 hours to empty your breast on a regular basis.

2. Pump after you breastfeed your baby to keep your hormone levels up longer and stimulate your breasts.

3. Drink fluids, water preferrably.

4. If, you are pumping to increase your supply obtain a good hospital grade pump. Medela and Ameda are two of the better pumps to rent or buy.