[mumsy]

I am still breastfeeding my 15mth old around 6-8 times a day which I know is quite excessive at his age but then again I worry he will get dehydrated since he refuses to drink water or juice. Also he is allergic to dairy so I have continued to breastfeed on demand to make sure he gets enough calcium from me.

My question is what will happen to my milk supply if my toddler cannot feed directly at my breast for 7 days (due to him being hospitalised). I've never been really that successful at pumping/hand expressing either.

[capital]

Is there a reason you cannot BF him at the hospital? I canot see why you would not be allowed to do that? You milk supply will go down for sure.
At home it is fine to feed on demand, but I wouldn't worry about dehydration either. Your child drinks more milk because it is available to him. My 12 month old was the same way, he BF about every 2 hours during the day, then when I went to work full time when he was 1 and his supply was cut off, he drank and ate very little the first week, but then he was fine, he was still not much of a cows milk drinker until he weaned, but had about 4oz / day of cows milk.A healthy child will not dehydrate themselves, when he gets thirsty he will drink.

[LLL_Sarah]

Dear mumsy,

Your son really needs your milk more while he is hospitalized than he normal would. Not only will it help him fight any germs he meets in hospital (and the germs in hospital tend to be much stronger than the ones in your home) but it will be a great comfort while he is in an unfamiliar environment.

In our last issue of Close to the Heart, a newsletter for breastfeeding mothers in Asia, there was a story of a mother whose baby needed to be hospitalized for heart surgery and how she negotiated with the hospital staff in order to continue breastfeeding. If you are interested I can send you a copy - please e-mail at sihung7@netvigator.com

If, however, you are not able to breastfeeding during his stay the bigger worry is how your breasts will adjust rather than a slowing in your supply. It will be very easy for you to get plugged ducts and maybe mastitis if you don’t try to get the milk out. The most important thing is that if you start to feel uncomfortable that you release the pressure by either hand expressing or pumping the milk out.

Once your milk supply is well established (after about six weeks of breastfeeding) it is usually quite easy to increase the supply again if it reduces by just increasing the amount of breastfeeding that you do.

Best wishes,
SARAH

[mumsy]

Thanks so much for your replies.

Sarah - I am definitely interested in the newsletter and I have sent you an email. Thanks.