drop in supply at almost 7 weeks

[megham]

Hello,
I have a questions regarding my recent drop in supply. My daughter is almost 7 weeks old and then last few days I've noticed a decrease in the amount of milk that I'm able to pump. I pump once a day, usually at night in order to build up a supply for when I head back to work in another week or so. my daughter feeds about 2-3 hours during the day and about 3-4 at night. We give her a 3oz bottle of expressed milk during the two night time feedings.

For the last 7 weeks, I've been able to pump about 9 oz (6oz from the right and 3oz from the left) rather quickly less then 10 minutes. In fact the right best had so much that I stopped after pumping 6oz whether it took 3 minutes or 10 minutes at times.
However within the past few days, I've only been able to pump about 3 oz from the right breast and 2 oz from the left. I"m worried about building up my milk supply for when i go back to work and why the sudden decrease. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

[KerryS]

Around 6-12 weeks, women go through a natural normalization of their milk supply. In the first month or two, most women *over*produce because their body doesn't yet know how much milk their baby will need. At around the second to third month, their body goes through a change so that now, it becomes much more efficient at milk production, now making only what baby needs, based on supply and demand (this will increase and decrease, though, as baby goes through growth spurts and nurses more frequently).

Where a woman may have been able to pump many oz. in a short time during those first couple months, that amount may decrease after her body goes through that adjustment. Being able to pump 9 oz. in 10 minutes is A LOT. Being able to pump 5 oz. at a time, while a decrease for you, is still actually a lot, and more than most women are able to pump in one session, especially at night.

I would not worry that you're not producing enough. It sounds to me like you still have quite an abundant milk supply.

[megham]

Thanks so much for the response- I really appreciate it! It is helpful to know that this is simply by body's way of normalizing the milk supply- (which I"m hoping will also help with engorgment) Hopefully, I will be able to continue to pump and freeze for my return to work, as I'd really like to continue to breastfeed! Thanks!