Expert: ruth kraft - 1/25/2009

Question
my baby is 4month old and she take only 5min milk and she relax,and she suck her thumb iam confused bcoz its sign of hungry.im feel may be i have no enough milk my breast are softer before her feeding but when i press breast some less quantity milk leak.iam tensed so i started formula but again she take 30 to 60 ml after long time in whole day 4:pm to 12 pm she take 90ml for and 15min breast feeding.she pass stool after 3days green thicker sometime yellow with green.please answer my question immediately.thanx

Answer
Your baby is using thumb sucking as a source of self comfort. its not a bad thing. there are other signs that go along with hunger, she will root and you will have known how long it had been since she had eaten before... she will act at 4 months old like she wants to nurse directly from you. At 4 months if she has been exclusively breastfeed and is on target, you likely don't have the full breasts you did at first. your body has adjusted to what your baby needs. that is a good thing.  

It is normal for her to not pass stool for 3 days if she is nursing... as long as she has wet diapers you know she is getting enough. If the milk is yellow, its breast milk... if it changes color after formula its because you are adding formula and its harder to digest for her. if you are only nursing, and it turns green , she should nurse more on one side. so if she nurses 5-15 minutes on your right breast then 10 minutes later she acts hungry again, give her your right breast again. then a couple hours later give her your left breast... this should solve that problem if that is what it is. I am not clear if the color change is formula related or milk related. If you supplement with formula, you should be pumping every time you give her formula or your breasts will not make that amount of milk. its all done on supply and demand.

If you truly think your milk is that low, you can take fenugreek or mothers milk tea ( sold at health food stores ) to help build up more supply. they can give you directions while you are there.

I hope that helped!
Ruth Kraft
www.honoringwomen.com